>For those of you who look down on IKEA furniture, I'd like to hear about what alternatives you think need mentioning.

I do not look down at IKEA, but there are things I would buy at IKEA and things I would not. For example I would not buy a sofa from IKEA. For this in Germany I found Bolia, who offer higher quality Scandinavian furniture with a not too outrageous pricetag.