IKEA is a huge Swedish company that sells things for the home, especially furniture, kitchens, and small household goods, at prices many families can pay. The famous part is that a lot of the furniture comes in flat boxes, and you put it together yourself at home — that is how they keep the cost down. The look is simple, light, and practical rather than grand. Stores are built as a long one-way path through showrooms, then a warehouse, which is why a short visit can turn into an afternoon. In English the name is usually said eye-KEE-uh; the Swedish way sounds a little different. Though actually, people also use IKEA as a kind of shorthand for that whole style of cheap, clean, assemble-it-yourself living, not only for the shop itself.