Everyone’s heard of IKEA, and everyone’s seen an item of IKEA furniture — be it the signature SOMA lounge chair or LACK minimalistic table. But despite the furniture retailer’s widespread presence, not everyone has been inside an IKEA store, leaving many shoppers unprepared when the time to visit IKEA finally arrives. If this is you, don’t worry — we’ve got your IKEA survival guide right here.

First of all, IKEA has two types of items: large pieces and small pieces. Small pieces like lamps, trashcans, and rugs are compact enough to fit in a shopping cart, and customers pick up these items as they go. Large pieces, however, are big items like mattresses and unassembled furniture. Shoppers grab these items at the end of their trip in the store’s warehouse level.

In fact, most of your IKEA journey is going to be spent scoping out these large pieces. You’ll begin by walking through a maze of kitchens, bedrooms, offices, and more, all the while wielding a pencil and paper provided by the store.

Whenever you see an item you like, write down the warehouse aisle and bin number(s) so you’ll be able to find it later. It’s a good idea to write down the info for at least two of every type of furniture you need (beds, desks, etc.), as you won’t know if an item is out of stock until you make it to the warehouse.

When you’re done gathering your pieces, you can either load the items into your car yourself or arrange for delivery. Most stores offer same-day delivery as long as you select your items by a certain time.

In a perfect world, you’d be able to replace you old sofa or couch the second its color started to fade, or the moment you realized that you were out of clean cushion sides to flip over. But this is the real world, and investing in a brand new piece of furniture at the drop of a hat (or a glass of grape soda) is usually out of the question.

Here are some affordable tips to dress up and old soda or couch:

• Slipcovers. Sometimes as cheap as $20, slipcovers are a great way to breathe new life into an old piece. To really feel like you’re sitting on a different piece of furniture, try selecting a color or pattern completely unlike the fabric you’ll be covering up.
• Throw pillows. Available in all shapes and sizes, throw pillows can add some contrast to an otherwise dull piece of furniture. You can even place them strategically to hide stains or worn areas. For a cool effect, try changing your throw pillows to match the current season by selecting floral prints in the spring, bright colors in the summer, oranges and reds in the fall, and holiday characters and symbols in the winter.
• D.I.Y. repairs. Your sofa might not be as run-down as you think it is. Take a home sewing kit to those ripped stitches and attack stubborn stains with a powerful at-home cleaner. What have you go to lose?

With these tips, you can revive you sofa or couch for cheap and put the money you saved towards something much more important. It’s enough to make you want to put your feet up and relax!