Argos V Ikea V B&Q
Another weekend has passed. Despite being a 'free' weekend, it was no less busy than every other.
PM's brother was off travelling for two months so we met him in London for a farewell drink and then returned to Streatham to buy some furniture so we can finally finish unpacking (it is worrying me how domesticated I am becoming!).
We wanted a bookshelf to match the one I had brought from home so we went to our local B&Q in West Norwood. Unfortunately it wasn't a very big one and they only had a very limited amount of stock full stop let alone bookshelves.
So we travelled back to Streatham and I went into Argos to get a bookshelf, a computer desk and a cd tower. These were duly acquired and taken home. As we went to the gym Saturday evening, I didn't start putting the furniture together until Sunday.
I started with the CD tower and I was disappointed. Whenever I have bought items from ikea, admittedly they are veneered MDF, but they feel very solid. The cd tower from Argos was made of veneered cheap chip board which present a number of problems when I had to screw the back panel in but they hadn't provided holes so some were ruining the inside of the tower. Its together and it looks ok, but for the price I would have expected something a little more solid.
Needless to say, the computer desk and bookshelf were no better.
The bookshelf was in my eyes a big disappointment. My bookshelf from B&Q is a pine bookshelf. Its a nice pine colour which I have become accustomed to. Therefore when I bought a 'pine effect' bookshelf I expected it to be the same kind of colour. When I opened it last night to put it together and was shocked to see some throw back 80's coloured thing.
According to PM who once worked at B&Q, pine effect is colour as if the pine was stained, not its natural colour. Not that impressed. Now it is together it doesn't look too bad. At least it will be hidden by the dinning table!
So my gripe I guess, why is Ikea cheap yet more sturdy that Argos who charge more? And why aren't there more B&Q warehouses about! My nearest one is either in Croydon or Greenwich!And why don't Argos supply allen keys for products that require them for assembly?
My advice, for value for money go to Ikea or B&Q.
PM's brother was off travelling for two months so we met him in London for a farewell drink and then returned to Streatham to buy some furniture so we can finally finish unpacking (it is worrying me how domesticated I am becoming!).
We wanted a bookshelf to match the one I had brought from home so we went to our local B&Q in West Norwood. Unfortunately it wasn't a very big one and they only had a very limited amount of stock full stop let alone bookshelves.
So we travelled back to Streatham and I went into Argos to get a bookshelf, a computer desk and a cd tower. These were duly acquired and taken home. As we went to the gym Saturday evening, I didn't start putting the furniture together until Sunday.
I started with the CD tower and I was disappointed. Whenever I have bought items from ikea, admittedly they are veneered MDF, but they feel very solid. The cd tower from Argos was made of veneered cheap chip board which present a number of problems when I had to screw the back panel in but they hadn't provided holes so some were ruining the inside of the tower. Its together and it looks ok, but for the price I would have expected something a little more solid.
Needless to say, the computer desk and bookshelf were no better.
The bookshelf was in my eyes a big disappointment. My bookshelf from B&Q is a pine bookshelf. Its a nice pine colour which I have become accustomed to. Therefore when I bought a 'pine effect' bookshelf I expected it to be the same kind of colour. When I opened it last night to put it together and was shocked to see some throw back 80's coloured thing.
According to PM who once worked at B&Q, pine effect is colour as if the pine was stained, not its natural colour. Not that impressed. Now it is together it doesn't look too bad. At least it will be hidden by the dinning table!
So my gripe I guess, why is Ikea cheap yet more sturdy that Argos who charge more? And why aren't there more B&Q warehouses about! My nearest one is either in Croydon or Greenwich!And why don't Argos supply allen keys for products that require them for assembly?
My advice, for value for money go to Ikea or B&Q.
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