I’ve got mixed feelings on Ikea; for “small” stuff, like a basic bookcase, they’re great, but for stuff that I want to show off for visitors, I’d rather spend a bit more and get something nicer.
It also helps IMO to improvise on the Ikea instructions a bit. Some of the furniture have not-so-obvious flaws that could cause problems down the road, and most of those can be fixed by thinking ahead when you do the initial assembly and address ‘em. For instance, my son’s Ikea dresser has a problem where the drawers’ pressboard “floor” drops out of the slots in the sides, and I have to pop it back in from time to time. If I had been smarter about it, I could have used a little wood glue during assembly and prevented this problem.
I really like IKEA for basic furniture, and the price makes it great for first-time furniture buyers. Eventually though, you start to crave “real furniture” that feels a bit more sturdy. I bought and furnished my first house a couple of years ago and my house is a mish-mash of IKEA and “real” furniture (mostly in the livingroom). I was not impressed with some of their couches and futons. They didn’t look very solid, esp stuff on the cheaper end. Of course, it would be ideal if you can go to an IKEA and test drive the big items.
If you need basic kitchen stuff, they are great for that sort of thing!
That said, I bought an IKEA bed + mattress 4-5 years ago and I still love it. I went back for the dresser and chest later on when they were phasing out the line. It was all-wood, and well worth it. Of course, it’s only a couple of years old. I also have one of those big chair-and-a-halfs for my study and it’s held up great. I like their modular office furniture but here’s a warning: since it’s modular, all the legs and joints and braces come separately so yep, you get charged for it.
The only complaint I really have about IKEA furniture is that when I’m trying to assemble the furniture (always easy), sometimes the grooves and slots aren’t cut precisely in the right place and I have to either improvise of get out my drill bits and make the hole bigger for easier screwing (not intended to sound dirty at all). I have, a couple of times, had to go back to IKEA and get a replacement panel or whatever. Since you’re mail-ordering, I’d ask how this would work – will they pay postage on defective items? How long will it take for you to get a replacement part? My BIGGEST beef is with their plastic screw-in holes. They are not pre-grooved, and trying to screw through plastic is the biggest pain to my wrist/hand. Again, sometimes I’ll pull out the drill for some assistance.
When you furnish w/ IKEA ware, you have to get used to the idea that eventually you will go to someone’s house or someone will visit you and have the exact same piece of furniture/art/rug.
If you shop carefully at Ikea you can do very well. Some of their stuff is utter crap. Usually the price reflects the quality rather accurately. I find their level of customer service to be of typically high quality (with one slight exception). Do be sure to follow their instructions very carefully. They are usually well written and will provide great results.
Since you do not have an actual Ikea store near you, I would strongly recommend that you post whatever items you are thinking of buying here at the boards. See if you can get some feedback from people who bought it already or can visit a store and look at the piece for you prior to purchase. As others have mentioned (and myself as well) some of their stuff is rather flimsy. Their low end is aimed at the dorm crowd, so shop accordingly.
I will give Ikea major points for using sustainable resources and going green wherever they can. As a person of Scandihoovian descent, the clean lines and minimal decoration makes their designs rather appealing. You get more for your money because there is not a lot of extra millwork being put into ornamentation. Ikea is also rather good about coordinating their design features so that pieces will match well and work in ensembles. You’ll find them to share dimensions and color tones in many pleasing ways.
I am using their Grundtal rack system in my kitchen and could not be happier (and that is saying A LOT)! I also have one of their Bertby display cabinets in my parlor. I would give them an eight out of ten for overall performance and quality to price ratio. Mind you, I’m an insanely picky shopper and others will probably rate them even higher.
Again, some of their stuff is pretty thin. However, much of their product line is directed at first time low budget purchasers and built accordingly. Always see about moving up one step from their bottom of the barrel. You will get a substantial increase in durability for the modest price hike. Pester the sales people. They are extremely well versed and can point out options you may not have considered. I strongly urge you to make a special trip to whatever store is nearest you to review all of your major purchases in one outing. You are faced with laying out some big bucks and should spend a few more pennies to verify the quality of your selections.
I will say that anyplace that actually serves open face sandwiches is going to score extra points with me to begin with. We won’t mention how stunned I was to run across one employee who actually spoke Swedish!
This is funny. My first ever sofa was a Klippan. That was 22 years ago.
I’m Swedish and I love IKEA. I can go up-market for minimalistic stuff, and do occasionally, But I can get all the bookshelves I want/need from IKEA for about $800. The one I would like to get would be more like $4000. Even if I love my books, that’s a big leap in price.
Klippan is OK for your first apt, but it’s not their best couch, and in a few years, it’ll show. You’ll do a lot of swearing and sweating when you’re trying to fit the fabric over the upholstry too :P.
I had my Klippan fort about six years. It was pretty worn after that, but still held together. At that time, I started making money and moved on to a more expensive couch, so I don’t think it’s a bad buy. The fact that they’re still making and selling the thing after 25 years should tell you something, no?
Re: beds. IKEA makes great beds. There is a snobbery in Sweden (not surprisingly, since this is wehre IKEA’s from) with people saying that they would never buy a bed from IKEA. They’ll go on and on about another brand, not realizing that the mattresses and stuff all come from the same factory. At about ¼ of the price.
So, in short, having owned that couch, and going on 15 years with my IKEA bed, I can testify that those are safe buys.
FYI, Ingvar Kamprad, founder and sole owner of IKEA now has a personal wealth of $40 billion. Not inflated through stocks. This is real money. The guy must be doing something right.
See, but my sofa is from their custom line - i.e. you pick out your fabrics and things and they custom make the sofa for you - it takes much longer than just ordering from the store.
Also, they lost my sofa in their warehouse for about 2 months. They did, however, give me free delivery to make up for it - about a $50 value.
I am with Gaspode, IKEA rocks.
FTR Floater, Swedes get wound up about IKEA too. For many families it is considered an entertainment venue in itsself. For example, in surveys etc when people are asked about their holiday plans, IKEA is often a pre-coded response, together with funfairs, going abroad, Liseberg etc.
IKEA makes and sells different quality mattresses. When you buy their more expensive stuff you get a pretty good mattress. both of my kids have mattresses from IKEA and are very happy after 5-6 years.
I have several pieces of IKEA furniture in my house: TV/VCR stand, bookshelves, end tables, dining room chairs, and most importantly–my bed frame and bedside tables.
Out of all of these, I’ve owned the chairs the longest (10 years and have survived 5 moves) and these were the super-cheap $29 ones. They’re a bit wobbly, but they’re still doing fine. I bought one of their light-colored wood bed frames with the bedside table to match, and I love them. I’ve had them for about 4 years now, and there’s been absolutely no problem with them. But–I did splurge on a more expensive mattress, since I’m a princess and like to have a comfy bed.
My husband and I have considered going back to get a new dining room set. I have my eyes set on a particular table that has a storage space under the lid (since our dining room table also doubles as a workspace/desk). That would be perfect for us.
There’s a company very similar to Ikea, (which I like better). A Danish firm - Club 80. They have really nice stuff and equivilent in price. Distributed up in the NY metro are by Bo Concepts (A European Living Company).
I LOVE Ikea. Unusually, it lives up to its advertising. I considered getting the klippan sofa too, but didn’t like the colours. I actually quite like its design, and it was just fine to sit on (and nice and long). I’ve never had any problems with any of their furniture wearing out, but in any case, this is first-time-buyer furniture: you will probably want to upgrade to something more expensive and unusual in a few years’ time anyway, and when that time comes you’ll feel less wasteful getting rid of Ikea furniture than something you spent more money on.
If you can get to a real-life store, have a look at the discount corner. Some of the stuff there really is unsellable - who’d buy a sofa with a leg missing? - but you can sometimes find good bargains too.
Whenever my ex happened to be visiting me on a Friday night, we’d end up stuck for something to do, since we don’t go to straight pubs and that’s all there is of an evening in my town. So we’d go to Ikea. My four-year-old would go in the creche, which she loved, we’d wander around the shops, then after the creche closed we’d eat in the restaurant. Kids’ meals were free and adult meals were dirt cheap and pretty nice (this even from my restaurant-mad ex). I love their meatballs. There was a pretty good park outside the store (which was on a retail estate), and even a couple of fairground rides.
We’d end up finding excuses to go to Ikea - ‘do you need any dishcloths? Cups? How about replacing the sink drainer?’ My daughter often asks to go there too. Sad, isn’t it!
I do need to go back there soon, to take back a set of mirrors that I discovered a chip in after I got home (my fault for not checking prooerly). Yay Ikea!
I bought an IKEA queen sized sofa bed which my kids slept on for three years three times a week if not more until last week when I bought a bunkbed for them. I never had a problem with it, I still love the color and style, its green with little contemporary natural maple feet. I also have IKEA dining room chairs (Karri) which I love.
I also have a couple Greek Island Prints, a kitchen backsplash organizer, not a few spoons, tongs, and cutting boards from them as well.
Last week I went to their blow out sale and got a Bagvik faucet for only $15! It was in the as-is section and I truly believe some shopper just left it there as it was complete in the plastic and unopened:)
That’s still not my best deal, three years ago when I got the couch, I found an unused brand new Fjarding king sized down comforter in the as-is section for $30, regularly priced around $250. I’ve used it every day since then and I still love it as much as the day I bought it.
Jarbaby, I was also planning on going there next Saturday! Maybe I’ll run into you there in the afternoon. want to borrow some nifty blue tie down straps for the car?
Many years ago I bought two chairs from Ikea. After several years of throwing myself into the chairs the frames became loose. I couldn’t figure how to stabilise them so I took them to Ikea. The guys there took them off me and reglued them. I picked them up some days later and had a couple more years use out of them before the problem recurred. I took them back to Ikea and asked to have them reglued. The guy sais that they were beyond that and gave me two replacement chairs, so I went home with four. I am still using the last of them today about 20 years later.
So is the consensus that the Klippan, at least, is a good choice for a first-time sofa? (I know exactly the sofa I want in the long term - a nice red microfiber thing - but the cheapest I have EVER seen it ANYWHERE is $700, so I’m waiting several years for it. Klippan is my “until I feel justified spending $700 on something to sit on” sofa.)
I was also looking at the IKEA/PS metal locker-type cabinet, a low one in red. It looks like a school locker, and I wanted to use it in the living room as a tv stand. Gunslinger doesn’t like it, though.
The bed we like best is called Sörum. I was also considering Nord pendant lights, a pair of which would provide nice spot lighting for the kitchen table.
I intend to pore over the catalog some more, and bring it with me on the move.
Every piece of furniture in my house, with the exception of the bed, is from IKEA. (two couches, two comfy chairs, two tables, six chairs, three coffee tables, dresser, bedside tables - you get the idea)
I have only one complaint - they no longer make black Billy bookcases. This upsets me.
They don’t make our couch anymore either - I think we paid about $700 Cdn for it - and it is in great shape. It’s four years old, has seen heavy use, and still looks new.
We are going to IKEA tomorrow. We are going to get shelving. I along with hubby, KellyM and a friend bought an IKEA couch for a couple of friends for christmas last year. It seems to be holding up well so far, and they seem to like it well enough.
The real wood stuff is the best. Nearly the same price as particle board stuff from Target and the like and it looks nicer and I think will last longer. The particle board stuff from IKEA is cheaper than the particle board stuff at Office Depot or Target and it looks nicer. Also the stuff from Target is often assembled with glue, so it won’t knock down for a move like the IKEA stuff will.
We got an ALBACK dining table and side table and really like them. I also love the Narvik changing table and the Levsik book case we have. Best of all is the POANG chairs and stools. It is nice to have a rocking chair without rockers or gliders that could hurt pets or children in the wrong place at the wrong time.
WAIT the best of all is my wardrobe. All wood, doors on each side, selves in the middle. Cool style. One at a traditional furniture store would be three times the price and not a style that I would care for as much.
I bought Ikea stuff when I first moved out on my own. I wasn’t impressed with the upholstered chair, it developed bulges when the stuffing migrated due to wear. The dressers and such held up well, though I’ve put them into storage now that I’ve got fancy schmancy stuff at last. Not all of their furniture is breakdown friendly. My dressers were put together with funky doohickeys that ain’t never gonna let go. Since they’re poplar veneer over chipboard they weigh a ton and a half and moving day wasn’t a pretty sight. Their lamps are iffy, every one I or friends have bought, have had problems with the wiring.
Maybe a tip-- my first good piece of furniture I bought on sale at Ethan Allen. I got it for less than half price because they were discounting their floor models. Nearly ten years later and it’s solid as a rock, still as gorgeous as the day I brought it home.
