Fight Club (1999)
February 3, 2017 7:36 AM - Subscribe

An insomniac office worker, looking for a way to change his life, crosses paths with a devil-may-care soap maker, forming an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more.

Hey, everybody, let's all talk about Fight Club! What's your favorite IKEA furniture, and what do you think it says about you?
posted by Huffy Puffy (77 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
My IKEA hack is to use their outdoor furniture inside. Its sturdy and real wood. APPLARO for the win.

Also, the IVAR stuff is real wood and pretty damn cheap. Cheaper than the particle board stuff for the square footage of shelf space.
posted by ian1977 at 7:39 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Man, maybe I'm misunderstanding the meta and/or inside joke here but since this will [maybe] be less soul crushing than the political thread that spawned it and brought the likes of me to fanfare, I'll play.

My Poang. It says I like to fidget and bounce while I'm sitting and that's ok damnit.

Bury me with it.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:41 AM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


I bought a real wood open shelf from IKEA years ago. The kind where its 3/4" strips of wood glued together. Kinda like a butcher block. It has 4 shelves and these reinforced squares at either end to hold the next shelf up. It is a tank. I would buy another one in a heart beat but they stopped making it.
posted by ian1977 at 7:43 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I do kinda sorta need a couch recommendation since I'm heading to the corporate office for my monthly-slash-quarterly visit with my boss/team and there's an Ikea there and we need something that's decent but livable while not being awful and not breaking the bank but if it wasn't disposable level quality that'd be great too. Bonus points for sectional and/or fitting in a Subaru Outback. /mouthful
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:43 AM on February 3, 2017


I have a MALM bedframe. I love it. It feels very solid. I've never moved with it, but I can't see it falling apart any time soon.
posted by INFJ at 7:44 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also no spoilers please. I haven't seen Fight Club yet.
posted by ian1977 at 7:45 AM on February 3, 2017 [6 favorites]


I am a plain and simple soul, so for me it is the Billy bookcase. I currently have five. When I am rich beyond words (sadly unlikely) I will have a library of them.
posted by threetwentytwo at 7:45 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Big Benno fan. When all the other dedicated CD shelving round here was either stupidly expensive, terrible quality or both (I'm looking at you, Argos), they were a delight.

Sure, several years later I'm buying hardwood furniture and replacing my IKEA bookshelves where I can, but I think the Bennos can stay.

(No doubt I'd also be singing the praises of Kallax for vinyl storage, except it was vetoed on grounds of being too ugly. My poor records still don't have a proper home.)
posted by mushhushshu at 7:45 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I want to get 3 of these to divide up a room but still let light through. From the Applaro line.
posted by ian1977 at 7:46 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


So we're not observing the first rule?
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:48 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]




We threw a family post-wedding reception for my stepdaughter this summer, and for the centerpieces I bought three different sizes of wineglasses, turned them upside down over cut flowers from a bodega bouquet, and stuck Ikea candles on top, like this. 12 tables, cost about $40 total, and we have 3 dozen wineglasses if anyone needs some.

My favorite Ikea furniture has all lasted over a decade now (almost two for my glass display cabinets), so I don't know their names and they don't make them anymore.
posted by Mchelly at 7:52 AM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


This isn't actually a safe space to talk about IKEA is it? It will be taken away from us. :(
posted by ian1977 at 7:53 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


As long as nobody dynamites the thread, we should be able to hold on to our IKEA way of life.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:00 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm going to my cave. I'm going to find my power animal.
posted by ian1977 at 8:02 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm going to find my power animal.

I hope it's a groovy panda.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:16 AM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


As the nesting instinct has given way to just having too many pets, we've jettisoned most of our IKEA and replaced it with more expensive, sturdier furniture made in North America. Ethical consumption, right?
posted by infinitewindow at 8:19 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ethical consumption, right?

If you're even slightly handy with any inclination to DIY at all I recommend Chris Schwartz's Anarchist Design book. I built the bedframe out of there and I'm certain that my great grandkids will be using it after I'm dead and gone.

Bonus that the author is jessamyn's cousin.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:30 AM on February 3, 2017 [16 favorites]


I am elderly and about to start foster parenting babies and toddlers. IKEA makes this sweet pouf that looks to me like it's going to save my muscular and skeletal structures from complete ruin. Anyone have any experience to confirm or deny?

#resist
posted by The Noble Goofy Elk at 8:38 AM on February 3, 2017


I feel like for the sake of posterity I should link to the Blue thread that spawned all this.

So five years from now, if somebody wants to talk about toxic masculinity in the context of late-20th-century Gen X-ism, they'll know what all the IKEA stuff is about.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:45 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


They are opening THE LARGEST IKEA IN NORTH AMERICA about 5 miles from me and next door to my favorite Trader Joe's. It opens next week. Long live Billy.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:52 AM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Mod note: If anybody asks, I didn't see this, don't know this is happening, and definitely don't approve of this sort of tomfoolery.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:12 AM on February 3, 2017 [47 favorites]


We also don't love you, Cortex.
posted by Sophie1 at 9:13 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Anyone mind if I do an IKEA post in the blue later today?
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:16 AM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


definitely don't approve of this sort of tomfoolery

I think this means we're officially the cool kids.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:18 AM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


So we're not observing the first rule?

This thread is literally observing the first rule (and second) and I think we absolutely should continue to do so.

I have attached wheels to my poang to turn into a desk chair.
It has a tendency to tip because the shape of the legs means you can only get the front wheels so far forward. But no one wants to sit on the front edge of a poang do you?

Also, poang arms are big enough, just to use as a mousemat.
It's a very comfy desk chair.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 9:52 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Shoutout to Deadpool, which went in big on using the correct pronunciation of IKEA product names.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:58 AM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


I have attached wheels to my poang to turn into a desk chair.

Pictures or it didn't happen.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:05 AM on February 3, 2017


Here you go
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 10:19 AM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Thanks!

Would you rate that mod as friendly for someone who perhaps has less dainty feet? I'm going to go ahead and go out on a limb and say that it wouldn't be much good on carpet, but that's to be expected honestly.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:23 AM on February 3, 2017


Those feet are not my feet.
My feet are far less dainty.

I think you might need different wheels for carpet, but the Poang legs are nice and broad so it's quite easy to get wheels on there. It actually rolls quite freely, so it might well work just as is on carpet.
The only issue is the slightly terrifying toppling on top of you if you sit too far forward.

I thought about sticking them a little sticky out front bit on so they're further forward, but it was a 2 minute job, so I'm quite fond of the simplicity of it, and it mostly doesn't topple over. Mostly.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 10:29 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


The only Ikea furniture I've ever bought for myself is a chair that refused to fasten together cleanly no matter how closely I followed the instructions, making the legs wobble whenever I put any weight on it. So instead of holding up a person it supports my recycling bin in the garage.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:46 AM on February 3, 2017


Well it's a testament to my incredible patience that I'm not in prison due to a domestic standoff with the police in the middle of a couple of overly complex assemblies/re-assemblies (never ever take one of those things apart, just get a bud to post a youtube video of you tossing it off the balcony) but as for ikea, I finally got used to one of their small bowls and with a single one remaining to get a code off, it seems to not be available.

I've seen bits and pieces of the film, still perplexed about the glove scene, do wonder if there is a tenth or thirty third rule.
posted by sammyo at 11:21 AM on February 3, 2017


One of my happiest furniture decisions was the time I realized that I could put a Klippan sofa against the wall of my kitchen and stick the dining table in front of it with a couple chairs - and sit on a couch at dinnertime with the TV on and still sitting be at a table like a grownup. Plus you could take the slipcover off and wash it when it got too crumby.

My ex-husband kept it in the divorce.
posted by Mchelly at 11:21 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


regarding the roller poang....You could put little roller skate brakes on the front just barely above the ground so it rests on those instead of toppling.
posted by ian1977 at 11:29 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


regarding the roller poang....You could put little roller skate brakes on

#unintentionalFlugtag
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:37 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I love the scratch & dent section & got a great area rug there.

But my real love is the food; the meatballs, the Swedish pancakes, the muesli, the desserts (especially those little green cylinders with the ends dipped in chocolate), their jams, and their pick-a-mix candies. I always bring a cooler bag so I can stock up.
posted by mogget at 11:45 AM on February 3, 2017


I liked the scratch & dent section at my local IKEA until it started getting picked over regularly.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:26 PM on February 3, 2017


You guys have me seriously considering buying a poang. I don't even need a chair to sit in.
posted by INFJ at 12:32 PM on February 3, 2017


I don't even need a chair to sit in.

One (well me at least) does not merely sit in a Poang. In a Poang one simply lounges.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:39 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I went to IKEA on Wednesday and as I was walking through the warehouse knew I was forgetting something. Before I got in the checkout line I looked through the As Is section and found a LINNMON table with 4 ADILS legs for $13 because the table top had a two inch dent along the side. That was when I remembered that the thing I was forgetting was 4 ADILS table legs, which retail for $4 each. So I saved $3 and I got an easily repairable table top for free. Score!
posted by elsietheeel at 12:47 PM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


especially those little green cylinders with the ends dipped in chocolate

Vacuum cleaner cookies!
posted by elsietheeel at 12:50 PM on February 3, 2017


Vacuum cleaner cookies!

They have these chocolate oat crisp cookie things. They are heaven sent.
posted by INFJ at 1:49 PM on February 3, 2017


Poang is love. Poang is life.

I love Ikea unreservedly. If any DFW Mefites need help assembling Ikea furniture, Memail me, and I'll come over and do it for fun.
posted by Uncle Ira at 1:51 PM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


I feel like we should talk about other aspects of the movie a little, though. Like, I really think there's something iconic, maybe even timeless, about the statement of the central thesis of Durden's ideological stance on membership in a cause in his into-the-lens mid-film monologue:
You're not your Jubla. You're not how much Minda you have in the Brankis. You're not the Karlsö you drive. You're not the contents of your Välbekant. You're not your fucking Kaustby. You are the all-Sinnerlig, all-Dannskär Klipsk of the world.
posted by cortex at 2:07 PM on February 3, 2017 [7 favorites]


I have owned a Poang for 4 years. I have not sat in it for about 3 years and 11 months because my cat discovered that it makes a great cat-perch. I could kick her out but at this point the cushion is so thoroughly en-Catted that it just isn't worth it, and she knows it's hers so I suspect any replacement cushion or second Poang would suffer a similar fate.
posted by Alterscape at 2:10 PM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


Cortex, I feel like you didn't take the first and second rules to heart.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:22 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sophie1, lucky you at 5 miles. It's opening less than one mile from my workplace and my usual exit ramp and onramp. RIP my morning and evening commutes.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:53 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


In a POÄNG one simply lounges.

You see, one has absolutely nowhere else to lounge.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:56 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


There was an IKEA movie? That seems odd. I feel like people would have talked about it.
posted by Etrigan at 3:26 PM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


The first rule of Project IKEA is you do not ask questions.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:55 PM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]


I used to have a great little laptop desk; his name was Dave.

His name was Dave.
posted by meese at 4:53 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


infinitewindow: BUT you gain the opportunity to do IKEA runs during your lunch break! IKEA is pretty much dead in the first few hours on weekdays.
posted by elsietheeel at 5:19 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I've had two Poangs and loved them both. I only got rid of the first one because it was unnecessarily bulky to move across country, so I sold it for $40 or something, and got a new one as soon as I had a place to live.

My desk is some kind of aspen table top that I haven't ever seen in an IKEA since buying mine, mounted on a couple of unfinished pine trestle legs that have pegs so the table height can be adjusted, which basically makes it a cheapo drafting table. It is awesome, and I've been using this setup for over ten years in three states at 8 different residences.

I have a halogen reading light I love that I got around the same time as the desk. I don't think they make it any more. I've never seen another lamp that I'd want to replace it with, and I look at lamps fairly often because I want another one.

I have a Kurs nightstand that I've had longer than the lamp and desk, but the melamine fell off the front of the tabletop on it. They don't make it any more, but it's just a simple black box with two drawers.

My wife and I used to use Gorm shelving all over the place, and it was super basic, but pretty cool, especially just for storage shelving in the basement or something. You could even get wine rack shelves for it. They don't make it any more.

We have a Stockholm dining table with two Stockholm chairs. The table is kind of neat, but I might like to rebuild it out of solid wood and make it bigger - we moved into a house with a much bigger dining room and the table looks small now. The chairs are meh. And guess what? They don't make the table or chairs any more.

I have a 6-drawer Malm dresser, but it kills people so they don't make it any more.

We had a 4x4 Expedit that we used as a combo bookshelf/room divider. Those are pretty neat and not too hard to move.

Other stuff that I really liked that they don't make any more: I used to have a Nicklas (?) shelving unit - it was a modular ladder frame thing, so you bought just the pieces you wanted; from the Askedal line, I had the dresser and a queen bed frame - we got a larger bed and the dresser couldn't handle another move; I used to love the Benno cd shelves too (at one point I had 600+ cds, requiring 4 of them), but somewhere between getting my original 3 and the 4th one, they changed the construction of them so the newcomer was always a little bit off.

My wife and I have basically graduated to a more permanent living situation and hopefully nicer furniture now. We've gotten a couple things from West Elm, but it's also a problem that the closest IKEA is over two hours away, and their stuff is generally not as reliably modernistic as it used to be so we're not as interested in the first place. IKEA served us well for a long time though.
posted by LionIndex at 5:32 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I loved my Varde with all my heart. It was big and sturdy and teeming with storage and counter space. It was also too big to move out of the kitchen in whence it was built, and so, as the song goes, I left my Varde in San Francisco.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:50 PM on February 3, 2017 [5 favorites]


ian1977, I have that same bookshelf and it is awesome. I've had it for a decade, dis- and-re assembled it five times, loaded it up with books and records and electronics, and it still looks great. Sure, there's plenty of stuff at Ilea that will fall apart after a year, but you can also get really solid pieces.
posted by Tentacle of Trust at 11:36 PM on February 3, 2017


Billy is the International System unit for bookshelves. Metre kilogram second ampere kelvin mole candela billy.
posted by kandinski at 12:55 AM on February 4, 2017 [6 favorites]


I have a whole Malm suite and 2 Lacks. Also a bookcase from 1987. All of this stuff has made it through some moves and a puppy. It's functional, but I really wish I could afford nicer furniture. I also need a new couch.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 5:30 AM on February 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have a Tidafors sofa, and it is very comfy. Mostly I got it because I needed to get it into an upstairs flat and I had visions of a Dirk Gently-style incident, and IKEA were the only place I could find that did a flat pack sofa, but it is really pretty good. I now lounge exclusively on my Tidafors and the Poang sits unloved in a corner.
posted by penguinliz at 5:54 AM on February 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have to say I'm very surprised how the Billys are hanging on in this damp hole. At this point, I was expecting them to crumble when a heavy truck drives past here.
posted by lmfsilva at 6:29 AM on February 4, 2017


Among other pieces, I have two Ikea desks: the venerable Jerker (1st gen even); and its replacement, the Frederik. Both make excellent two person projects.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:02 AM on February 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also no spoilers please. I haven't seen Fight Club yet.

Tyler Durden is his sled.

Just to stay on topic, I'll say that I've always had good experiences with the Ikea products I've owned. I had a Malm for a bunch of years until I tragically lost it to a bedbug infestation. And now I've got a set of 2x2 Kallax units that, yes, do a wonderful job of holding vinyl records.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:09 AM on February 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


I have an Expedit that holds about half my record collection and serves as a room divider. I'm at least the fifth owner, most of the previous owners lived in shared punk houses, and, in lieu of disassembling it when I moved it, I just put it in the back of my truck.

It's not pretty--there are dents and gouges all over the place. But it's one of the most sturdy and stable things I own.

For the last decade or so, I've been gradually replacing my hand-me-down and thrift-store furniture with, mostly, modern metal made-in-USA stuff. But I'll probably keep that Expedit forever.
posted by box at 8:35 AM on February 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


If you want to discuss Fight Club, here's an IKEA post ;)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:23 AM on February 4, 2017 [8 favorites]


I'm reclining on my KIVIK sectional right this second. A+ sofa, would purchase again.

I never remember the names of the other stuff, though. We've got a ton of new IKEA stuff because we moved into a bigger house this summer and suddenly were like um all the rooms are empty and there's nowhere to sit. One two hour trip to IKEA and a scheduled delivery layer and we have a new desk, rolling chair, wingback, sectional sofa, bedframe and toy chest.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:37 AM on February 4, 2017


Man I love that this documentary about flat pack furniture is called Fight Club!

Doh! Sorry, Spoilers!
posted by evilDoug at 10:24 AM on February 4, 2017


Also, my bed, which is the best bed I've ever owned:
http://storage.kellybranan.com/comfortable-ikea-malm-storage-bed/
posted by evilDoug at 10:33 AM on February 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


There was an IKEA movie?

The success of the IKEA movie lead to the Lego movie.

(Do we have a Lego movie thread? Seems like a great place to discuss tacos)
posted by nubs at 10:33 AM on February 4, 2017 [3 favorites]


IME Malms are garbage and Ikea's chairs are tiny nightmares.

I love the Expedit though. I have five of them (for 54 total cubes), and I regret nothing.
posted by fleacircus at 3:18 PM on February 4, 2017


Mmm, IKEA. I developed mad IKEA skills as a child to save my parents' marriage* and it has served me very well in a lot of ways in adulthood.

Just about all of my furniture is IKEA, put together by myself, and it's such a nice feeling. Sure, I could have spent a bit more, but why? Flat packs are easy to get up stairs and Billy do survive multiple moves if you tighten the screws beforehand just to be sure.

*They still try to help. I still have to throw them out as soon as I open the manual.
posted by E. Whitehall at 5:05 PM on February 4, 2017 [4 favorites]


I have a Hemnes bed and while I adore the way it looks, it sucks for any kind of recreational activities. I think I need to take a tub of crisco to every seam and joint to make it not alert the neighborhood that I have company.
posted by tryniti at 6:59 PM on February 4, 2017


I love you guys. That is all.
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 10:46 PM on February 4, 2017


You people. I came in here to read about Fight Club.

I don't know what I expected.
posted by Justinian at 3:22 AM on February 5, 2017 [3 favorites]


Only Ikea I have is a 4 x 4 Kallax shelving setup, which is primarily for boardgames and secondarily for books, and I primarily like it because it fits boardgames perfectly, but I secondarily don't like it as it's really shitty for storing books in unless you want to have double ranks. So I guess it's like...70% good, 30% bad? Chaotic good perhaps?
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:37 PM on February 5, 2017


But how does everyone feel about the Hurdal?
Personally, I would take a Hemnes or a Trysil over a Hurdal.

https://youtu.be/k7uK7VQCA3I?t=27s
posted by alchemist at 12:36 AM on February 6, 2017


I noticed Fight Club on TV and came over to MetaFilter to see if we'd ever done this movie.

Could not have dreamed a better thread.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:56 AM on May 11, 2019


I think my thoughts regarding this movie require an update.

I got divorced a couple years ago, so a lot of the IKEA stuff I mentioned previously was abandoned in the house and I've regressed from a West Elm lifestyle back to an "I'm only living in this apartment for a limited time" IKEA one. I did take my desk, so it's got 18 years of service now, a few end tables that I'd gotten at the IKEA across the street from the Mall of America when I first moved to Wisconsin, and of course the Poang. My awesome halogen reading lamp fell apart not too long after my previous post, but thankfully current LED technology has made finding a replacement lamp easy - I got one at Target. Otherwise, I had to furnish almost an entire apartment in one go, so IKEA was the obvious solution.

As mentioned previously, the closest IKEA is 2 hours away (in the metro Detroit area), so I rented a small U-haul van and headed out after combing through the IKEA website and making a list of everything I'd need and potential pieces to fit the bill. Those included: a bed frame and mattress, nightstand, dresser, bookshelf, sofa/loveseat, entertainment center, and dining table/chairs.

All the "wood" stuff I got (dresser, entertainment center, bed frame (plus under-frame drawers), nightstand, bookshelf) was from the SONGESAND line. My kitchen is small with limited counter space, so I figured I'd get a high top table and use that as an extra counter when needed - I ended up with the FANBYN table and a couple chairs from the same line. I also got a KIVIK loveseat.

With all that stuff, and even with IKEA's flatpacking ethos, it took me 4 trips through the store to get everything I needed, since a cart is only so big and I'm only one person. First trip I did the whole store walkthrough, taking down bin numbers for the warehouse; after that I was just doing laps between the warehouse, checkout and the U-Haul. It's been about 2 years and things are holding up well.
posted by LionIndex at 7:28 AM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


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