This is Not Ikea

Alexis over at This is Not Ikea emailed me a few days ago, and it reminded me I wanted to blog about his company for some time now. His story is similar to mine in that he moved to LA when he was young and furnished his first apartment entirely from (you guessed it) Ikea! He said his bedroom was pg. 22 of the Ikea catalog (minus 4 little leftover screws—why does that always happen?!). One day he realized that many of his friend's bedrooms also looked like pg. 22 of the Ikea catalog.

So he started checking out high-end design stores (and quickly realized that they were a little out of his price range) and then consignment stores and estate sales and started learning fascinating new words like "vintage" and "retro" and “mid-century modern.”

Piece by piece Alexis replaced the Ikea furniture with vintage finds that added character and history to his home. He knew this should be his business, and so This is Not Ikea, which has been up and running for five years now, was born. Alexis scours over 50 estate sales and auctions every single week to bring a constant rotation of stylish finds to provide unique furniture for people on the Ikea budget. Check out his inventory right here. Above retro chairs with cushions ($100, $140); Ratan bar cart ($115); mid-century dining table ($185).