Like many of you, when we furnished our apartment, it was a combination of Ikea, thrift stores, hand me downs, significant purchases and craigslist. Like Grace, who brings you the best of craigslist in our Scavenger posts every day, we diligently combed through craigslist every morning, figuratively picking up and examining each item, separating out the good stuff from the bad. There were some sellers who consistently had junk, while some had great finds...

Alexis in the Miracle Mile was one of our favorite sellers. Not only did he have great stuff (we bought our orange lamps from him), from traditional to mid-century to modern, but he was well-located, had good prices, and was easy to deal with. Recently, he's started a website to showcase his finds and a newsletter to spotlight the cream of his crop amusingly named, ThisIsNotIkea.com. Click to start browsing. And, if you're looking for something specific, email him and let him know. He'll keep an eye out for it; it's like having your own personal shopper.

LA2Dday.com – The Los Angeles Lifestyle Magazine
“Design Focus: This Is Not Ikea”
September 18, 2008
BY GWEN BARBA FOR LA2DAY.COM

Every time I open the door, it's either ‘Wow!' or ‘Oh my god!' " Alexis Hadjopoulos, founder of thisisnotikea.com steps aside to reveal a storage room packed floor to ceiling with vintage furniture. A white pedestal table anchors the room, and two headless mannequin forms reaching out to each other, serve as the centerpiece. Chair legs poke haphazardly into the air, lamps of all shapes and sizes line up on a shelf like mismatched soldiers.

With furniture piled up in four storage spaces, plus one room of his house, it seems like the success of thisisnotikea.com may have been a bit of a surprise. As the website explains, it grew out of the necessity for unique, well-crafted, affordable furniture . Yet, before that became the mission, Alexis was focused on satisfying slightly more basic needs.

Ten years ago, Alexis came to Los Angeles from Mexico to pursue a career in music, frankly, he admits, on his father's peso. Sick of hearing his son's constant reassurances that he was on the brink of stardom , dad finally had enough. "Five years ago, he cut me off. I had been pretty spoiled my whole life. I never had to work and I had no plan." Alexis always loved going to flea markets to uncover old CDs, and singles from his favorite artists. He often noticed great furniture deals but never acted on them, assuming the right buyer would come along. However, with his resources dwindling, he took a chance, bought a couple of pieces, put them online and to his amazement, watched them sell like hot cakes. Five years later, he has over 2000 pieces at any given moment and the customers keep coming.

This is how it works: Alexis and his team scour flea markets, estate sales and garage sales on a weekly basis. They focus on unearthing classic pieces that still have a lot of life left in them (a danish sofa that needs reupholstering, a victorian mirror with a scratch or two) or quirky, novelty pieces (street signs, bowling alley chairs, industrial cabinetry). The inventory is photographed, organized by style, and posted online. Furniture hunters - people decorating their apartments, prop stylists, interior designers - peruse the website, noting pieces they would like to see in person and set up an appointment with Alexis via email.

With deals like a intricately hand-painted indonesian chair for $150, a Kartell design magazine rack for $85 , and a mid-century chrome chandelier for $135, Alexis has lured a steady following of customers eager to resist the pull of mass- produced decor. Thisisnotikea.com has inadvertently become a thriving business.

"Alexis is amazing creative, but his business head....." Tom Whitman, a friend and former MTV producer, shakes his head, explaining how he became a business partner. "I asked him, ‘How do you do?' and he didn't really know."

"It's true," Alexis agrees, "As long as there was money in the drawer, I was okay."

With Tom's help, they came up with a more exacting system than money in a drawer and have also refined the mission, which now includes a commitment to remaining an environmentally sound company. Tom sums it up, "Shopping at thisisnotkea.com is essentially a zero carbon shopping experience. It's a chance to get amazingly unique, well-designed pieces, and not have to pay insane prices. And except for us going to pick it up - it didn't hurt the environment."

With that, Alexis and Tom pull open the door to one of their storage facilities. They nod approvingly, and survey the collection. Two retro, triangular tables that look almost, but not quite, like something you may find at Ikea peak out from the pile, begging the question: What happens if a piece from Ikea slips under the radar? The answer: It probably won't happen, but if it does and if you catch it, they will give it to you for free.

Designwatcher.com
“This Is Not IKEA”
August 7, 2008

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.

I was browsing Craigslist today for tickets for tickets to Jack White's band, Raconteurs (www.theraconteurs.com). They are playing in LA at the Henry Fonda theatre this Sunday (sold out)...and I ended up finding this online furniture store. THIS IS NOT IKEA (dot) COM. Check Alexis out. No last name. He has an online furniture store and collects some amazing pieces at garage sale prices. He is located in the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, and if you cannot get his website up, his email is alexisinla@yahoo.com.

Sharon Suh
I live in Los Angeles at the moment. Before this, I lived and worked in New York for 12 years. I worked as photo editor at Vanity Fair, InStyle, GQ, Glamour, and Travel and Leisure. While in NY, I took a 6 month break and decided to get a culinary degree from the French Culinary Institute. After completing this program, I moved to LA for Bon Appetit Magazine. I recently resigned to pursue photography and interior design. I love shopping for music, things for my home, finding cool gifts for friends and cooking...which lead me to this blog. I hope you have fun reading some of the things I have featured and also, check out my photography website at sharonsuhphotography.com.

Diary-ah! A Woman’s Guide to Everyday Crap
Pinksolutions.blogspot.com
“Goodbye Ikea, Hello Alexis!”
June 11, 2008

Just when you thought you wouldn't ever find the right gaudy-looking silver clock to place above your jewelry armoire -- or the perfect pin-up life- sized cutout (pictured above) to go in your living room, next to your Gil Elvgren Book Collection... and right when you had given up on finding a set of 50's glasses to amuse your guests during your next femme fatale soiree, I have great news for you!

His name is Alexis, a cutesy L.A guy who travels around to different thrift/vintage/antique shops and buys the best, most classic pieces anyone could ever find. Then he goes home, takes pictures of them and posts them on his simple, yet easy to follow website (which is actually a Kodak picture gallery): http://www.thisisnotikea.com/ His prices are very reasonable, our blonde bikini-bound bombshell (pictured above) for example, goes for $80.00... There are vintage posters, like my favorite, a movie poster of L'Ammaliatrice starring Marilyn Dietrich that sells for $120. If you want rare cocktail tables, antiquated lamps, Victorian-looking chairs or even an alarm clock from the 50's that still works,check out the website. Have fun!

I don't know about you, but I love to find new things. I sometimes enjoy surfing the internet for new, mod websites. I recently stumbled upon a rather cool one... ThisIsNotIkea.com Now, I like Ikea. So when I first saw this, it caught my attention. However, the website is very cool! If you are looking to design a space that mixes the old with the new, this site can be your guide. Also, it is very well priced. Need I say more?

BargainsLA.com
“ThisIsNotIKEA.com”
September 15, 2008

It was the catchy, Ikea diss-ing name that first got my attention. But as I cruised the site, I loved the retro home furnishings this indie site sold at very reasonable pricing. Though not the lowest pricing I have ever seen, they’re definitely reasonably low and when you add in the time and gas you save from not cruising through mid century and thrift shops, the pricing is downright attractive on mid century collectibles and home furnishings. Originally started when he realized his grandmother taste was terrific and her stuff was better made than Ikea. He decided to try to make a business out of scavenging thrift and estate sales for well-designed pieces and then reselling these neat finds on the web.

I’d start with the sales page to get additional savings of 25%-50%. A mid century folding wood chair w/ vinyl seat is $35 instead of $50. 2 nice wooden stools w/black seat are now $30 instead of $45. 4 iron patio chairs are just $30 each. Round Danish wooden big side table w/2 levels originally was $115, is now $80! I found some terrific buys in retro patio furniture: A Retro round orange table with 4 chairs originally $335, now $200. Another patio set, table with marble top & 4 chairs originally $235, sale price $175! Both these sets would run double on La Brea Ave. There are odd things here you might remember from your parents or grandparents place. A 50's green kitchen stool w/2 steps was $45. And a shabby vintage iron white patio chair (so very 1970’s) was $75. I am certain I had one as a kid.

If you just like retro décor items they have plenty of trays, vases etc. I liked a mid century chrome square bread box for $35. A modern chrome (kinda Nambe-esque) wine rack at $30.

So much fun to cruise through. It’s only after you find something that you e-mail them to make an appointment to go by and pick it up. If you love 20th century design or antiques or are a thrift shop junkie, do stop in. You’ll enjoy your visit and may end up with a treasure.

In light of yesterday's post on the opening of the Brooklyn Ikea, I decided that for those in opposition to the Swedish furniture giant a balance must be struck. Welcome This Is Not Ikea, an online furniture store run by a nice man named Alexis. Based out of Los Angeles, Alexis travels extensively in search of pieces that he deems treasures, and therefore acceptable for sale to his loyal customers. The pieces he finds are truly one of a kind, and certainly worth the effort that goes into finding them. Here are a few of my favorite recent arrivals to the store. I have always wanted a small vintage globe collection and this piece would be the perfect place to start. This old medicine cabinet is fantastic and would look great in just about any bathroom. This retro fan would be perfect for the hot and humid nights we have been having in New York City. Thisisnotikea.com

“Anyway, one year ago when I moved here I owned literally nothing. I didn't even have a spoon or a cup. I had to sleep on an Aerobed for 6 months. Then I had to force my Cornell-trained architect friend to build all my furniture. For those of you not lucky enough to have glamorous architects who can build everything for you and who don't want to have Edward Norton Fight Club Ikea apartments, there's ThisIsNotIkea.com. This company scours around for vintage furniture, then resells it. I thought it was pretty cool. Pretty low-tech but I'm sort of all about that these days considering I sit in front of a computer for 9 hours then come home and sit in front of a computer for 9 more. The moral of the story is that we are all going to die alone so we might as well use the Internet for what it was made for: buying stuff.”