Desperate times call for desperate measures, the saying goes. And it couldn’t be truer in the case of furnishing our home.
Do you know how tough it is for a young couple with a limited budget to find something that fits their style without breaking the bank in a country that’s all about appearances and what’s more expensive and fits with a specific attitude on decor? I’ll make it easier for you- it’s impossible!
Especially when you’ve spent your whole life hearing the magical four-letter word uttered around you at every occasion: IKEA. So you know the solution is out there, you just can’t get it because the store simply does not exist in this country. Guess the industry was scared of a bit of tough competition.
Well, today, I spent the better part of my morning on Viber with the fiance, who is away for the weekend, picking out curtains and lighting fixtures for our home- because he happens to be in a country with the magical IKEA.
The last time he was there, I sent him with an infamous 10 page list for all my kitchen items (my reasoning: you want me to cook, get these things). This time, due to time constraints, I didn’t do that- but I kind of sorta wanted to.
I think the people behind IKEA understand that there a lot of people in our situation, so they’ve brilliantly put up their entire collection online. As I was talking to Ahmad, I had the website open in front of me and was browsing according to the section he was in.
Our conversation went something like this: he would give me the product name, spelling it (because who can actually know these things?), I’d look it up,and then we’d have a discussion if it fits in our home and where. Or I would suggest something I saw online and we’d go through the process.
If I wasn’t sold on something, I’d ask him to send me a picture of it to see how it looks, so I can also envision it in the space. We also had to account for it being able to fit in his luggage, so a lot of the fixtures with shades had to be a no-go. Too bad.
How I wish we could just do that. It would also spare me trying to find single-seats for the living room because of the amazing collection IKEA has.
Of course, because the internet sucks, the majority of the conversation was screaming to the other end CAN YOU HEAR ME? ALLO ALLO ALLO? I’M STILL HERE.
Guys, you have one of two solutions: either let us have IKEA here or improve the internet.
Because you know, I’m not paying 100 US dollars for ONE curtain because it’s from a French named department store here in Beirut. I much rather prefer the Swedes, their meatballs, and their sensibility.
Beyond Beirut 
Hahaha I can’t imagine how this conversation went. Why oh why don’t we have IKEA in this country!
You have to ask the people that are so very concerned about the “sena3a watanyeh” fully knowing that in a lot of the aspects, they don’t match up to the quality and price of foreign made things.
The conversation was hilarious! There were also screaming kids in the background so I felt right at home 😛
Hi
Please we need ikea in Lebanon as soon as possible and I suggest to be in hazmieh
I came here by searching Ikea in Lebanon. we really need Ikea in Lebanon, those basterds furniture galleries and manufactures are robing us with a shit products and out dated styles, despite the fact that Ikea’s quality is average as well but it do solve a major problem for youth with a limited budget and they manufacture a highly trendy products, and the irony is that the goverment saying they want to protect the local industry, Local my a$$ they are importing all their shit from Turkey, China, and Egypt and only 10% of the Lebanese furniture are made locally, they are just afraid that their stores will run out of business as soon as Ikea opens its doors in Lebanon. I wish Ikea opens soon in Lebanon just to see those thiefs 3am b kesho deban for real.
YASSS although im still 15, I often find myself getting lost in the online videos of ikea, and how they’d orgabize and decor many houses.m, and Id love to do that with my parents house or even my own house in Lebanon when i get married. WE NEED AN IKEA STORE
Lebanese customs from the Christian head to the Shia porter are all one mob surviving off of the bodies of ordinary people trying to get a happy and beautiful home! Tried and Tested : don’t ever think of buying any furniture piece from attractive furniture shops in Dubai…Lebanese customs will make you pay 10 times more the price you paid initially…stick to the total crap you find at ouzaieeh or learn to build your own pieces.