Anyone have Ikea Expedit bookcases?

[sherry7]

Hi DIS'ers. Does anyone have the Ikea Expedit bookcases? I inserted a picture below of it...and they come in additional sizes and colors as well.

I'm wondering about durability. We have an underutilized room in the house, and I want to turn it into a play room for DD (18 months). Instead of using this in the vertical position (which would invite her to climb to the top ), I want to turn it on the side. So, it would only be 31 inches high, but 58 inches long. I have to do some measuring, but I would be using either 2 or 3 of these in the room.

So, these would see pretty heavy usage for several years, with toys being pulled off and put on constantly. Even though it's going to be a play room, it will be visible to the rest of the house (no door), so I don't want shabby looking furniture in there. Does anyone else have the Expedit bookcases? If so, how have they held up for you? Thanks.

 

[preschoolmom]

We have one! It is in our living room right as you walk in the house. It holds all the gloves/hats/etc. that I wanted to keep hidden, but close to the front door

We love it, and I think it looks really nice!

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

We have it and it looks fine. I think it does scratch easily (but, not any easier than my other real wood furniture), so be careful of the plastic toys. Ours is next to our dining table and holds school stuff for the kids. I like that I could get drawers, too.

 

[PA Princess]

We have this piece in the light wood color. We purchased on a lark 2 1/2 years ago when we bought numerous items for our new home. Ikea was having a special on this piece, so it was a super good deal. We figured we could find a home for it. We ended up putting it our family room.

We actually tipped the piece on its side, and it sits behind our sectional and does double duty as a sofa table and storage unit. We purchased some leather bound cube boxes from Target that fit perfectly into the slots. Every family member has a cube (4 kids and 2 parents) and we have two extras for newspapers and magazines.

The piece has been used pretty hard (far from just a decorative piece) and it has held up beautifully - no complaints from us.

 

[Desnik]

We have it in our play room! It's bolted to the wall.
Have it for 2 years and it's very durable, we have it in white but it's wider than the one pictured. I have some of the baskets you can buy for it for some of the spots too. We love it. I have been buying Ikea furniture for years and never had a probably with the quality of their stuff! I am sitting on my Ektorp couch as I type!

 

[NYEmomma]

We have them and we LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I just love the look & the utility of it.

We have them in DD's playroom -- a 2 x 4 on it's side (so 4 across 2 up) and a 2 x 2 stacked on top of the 2 x 4. We have a bunch of the bins for DD's toys in them & then in the top part I have a CD player and records (it is the PERFECT size for vinyl storage).

I'd love to get the Expedit that's built for flat screen TV's because it would be great DVD and knick-knack storage, but we just don't have room.

 

[KSTC2012]

We have one as well, very solid!! We have had it for about 4 years, it has made the rounds from my oldest daughters room, to our bedroom, and now in our basement rec room. We have the larger one, six "cubes" and is very versitale.

 

[mackeysmom]

I have one as well - also have it tipped on its side. I have the light, natural-wood color and it has held up very well.

I think you'll be happy with your choice.

- Laura

 

[uk_wildcat]

My son has one in his room attached to his desk like this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116071/

He has some of the Ikea bins on some of the shelves that hold Legos and the other shelves hold books. He has had it for a few years now and it has held up well. We are only going to have to replace the desk portion because it cracked in the middle, but the shelves are still great.

 

[sherry7]

We have it and it looks fine. I think it does scratch easily (but, not any easier than my other real wood furniture), so be careful of the plastic toys. Ours is next to our dining table and holds school stuff for the kids. I like that I could get drawers, too.

Thanks everyone for the info.

CAFarmerGirl, you stated that yours scratched easily. Which color do you have? I'm wondering if certain colors are more durable than others because of the finish.

 

[soccerchick]

I have one as well - also have it tipped on its side. I have the light, natural-wood color and it has held up very well.

I think you'll be happy with your choice.

- Laura

We have this same one; it doubles as the tv stand and toy holder. My kids are older *8 and 12), but it has held up well.

We also have the 4x4 one in the basement toy area and it looks great.

 

[BCV2003]

I have the largest one that is 5x5 cubes and another one that is varied sized openings. They are both very heavy and durable. In fact, when I put the 5x5 one together, I couldn't even stand it up by myself. I had so have someone come over to help and I think I'm pretty strong person.

 

[Skatermom23]

I love how these look! I did up a craft room using the white ones along with the desk attachment!

 

[jessrose18]

we have one, the larger one...had for 5 years and love it, no problems at all.. infact we use it for a bookcase, but if we have kids have always planned on using it for toy storage with the bins..

 

[100AcreWood]

I have three! Needless to say we love them!

 

[herdtoDisney]

I have the one that holds the flatscreen tv, with all the squares around it. I love it and it is in my living room. We got it when we lived in an apt and all 3 boys shared a room, but then we moved here and found it does not fit up the stairwell to the second floor bedrooms so we left it in the living room and it actually looks wonderful in there! I actually swapped it out with the armoire I was using before in there (plus, that fit up the stairs lol).


I have baskets in some of the openings to store stuff in. I have the brown-black one and I don't think it scratches easily. But I did fix one scratch with a magic marker

For the safety of your child, you should ANCHOR IT TO THE WALL! So if she climbs it will not crush her!

 

[Kitzka]

We have 4 of these. WE love them 2 of the 4 are on their side and I think the lighter finishes don't snow searches as easily.

I love that you can get drawers, cubbies and cabinet doors to make it more versatile.
Lara

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We have two - the larger one in our family room and the smaller one in DD's bedroom.

I would buy them again in a hearbeat. They hold a ton of stuff neatly.

I have never noticed any scratches, ours are white.

 

[daniele_ut]

We have 3 Expedit units and we LOVE them. We have a 4x4 in DS's room that holds toys and books, a 2x2 in DD's room that holds toys, and a 2x4 horizontally in the basement family room that holds toys.

 

[SaraJayne]

We have one, on its side. Our flatscreen TV sits on top and then we use the cubbies underneath for the Wii, the cable box, CD's, DVD's, books and knick knacks.

Ours is a light blond color and I love it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.