I’m feeling just a little bit smug right now as I’ve achieved a ‘personal best’ in Ikea Yes my fastest time yet, just 10 minutes from entering the store to emerging plus purchase at the Milton Keynes store. 
As I was tight for time I’d already found the exact aisle I needed in the warehouse and nipped straight to this bit, whizzing in by the tills to short circuit the usual marathon maze!
So here’s my five tips on how to have a stress free and speedy trip to Ikea…..
Remember you have a car not a Tardis….
I can’t be the only one who’s fallen into this trap. Seems whatever vehicle you drive, once you’re through the doors of Ikea, you just assume it’s suddenly got the inside of the Tardis and that anything and everything you buy will somehow miraculously fit in.
I’ve learnt the hard way over the years that you can’t shoe horn half of Ikea into a Mini or Corsa as no amount of muscle power or creative thinking will find a way to get everything in. Plus you’ll end up back where you started and have to get a refund on all the stuff that won’t fit in!
Don’t go when it’s busy 
Even if you’re super organised and know what you want and where to find it, if the store’s busy, you’ll end up trailing along at a snail’s pace behind everyone else. Plus overloaded trolleys are not the easiest things to manoeuvre at speed without causing anyone a serious injury!
If I can, I go mid morning on a weekday or just before closing can be good too, depending on which store you go to.
Check your item’s location
Ok so this won’t work if you’re after a browse round the Marketplace but if you know what you want, you can check it’s in stock before leaving home by going on the Ikea website, finding the item you want, and then clicking on the ‘Find it in -store’ button which tells you the precise aisle and location in the warehouse which all saves time when you’re there.
Take a short cut
If I’m just popping in to pick up something from the warehouse section, I nip in past the tills which is a great short cut as it takes you straight into the warehouse section. This is a real time saver, and I’ve never spotted any signs to say you can’t do this, and I’ve never been stopped…..
Without this savvy shortcut, even you miss out the ‘showroom’ section, and head through the Marketplace, this can still take time, and of course there’s always the danger that you’ll suddenly realise you need yet another spatula, selection of storage boxes or industrial amount of tealights and candles and rack up a bigger bill with all those impulse buys……
Need a hand? Ask a fellow shopper….
If you need help getting stuff into your car, you can ask at the till and they’ll ring through to ask someone to meet you at the ‘Assembly Point’. All well and good but will they turn up, especially if they’re busy?
In Milton Keynes the Assembly Point is directly as you come out of the lifts on the ground floor. But take it from me, you can be waiting for help for a long time.
After waiting 10 minutes today for the promised help, I gave up and enlisted the help of a friendly fellow Ikea shopper who was loading up his own car just a few spaces from mine. He was more than happy to help so job done!