Are you against Ikea Furniture? Is it just the style?

[disneyofcourse]

We had a fun discussion about this at work. Where some had no experience with ever owning Ikea furniture and yet they say it breaks and looks terrible. Another said her furniture broke after 4 moves in three years state to state and that made it terrible. Meanwhile a few (Who had pieces) said they thought it was great starter/young adult/starter family furniture. Others say they want new furniture but just can't throw out a perfectly fine ikea piece that they've been having the kids try and break for the last year. I have had several pieces and most are between 5-8 years old and they look as perfect as the day I bought them. What does everyone here think of Ikea furniture right now? Has it changed in the last few years? There are some rooms in my home that I am still furnishing and it just seems so hard to find things that get good reviews these days. Even the $2k sofas get bad reviews online with buttons getting loose, pillows sagging after 6 months, etc. Spending serious money on stuff that's going to break soon would be so saddening.

 

[Purseval]

We own an IKEA tv stand, looks nice and does what it's supposed to do. Is it something we'll pass down as a family heirloom that could bring big money at an antique auction 100 years from now? No, but IKEA never claims to make furniture that will. Their specialty is form and function.

 

[Jax1023]

I have a whole house of Ikea furniture, but some of the more expensive stuff, not the super cheap 20 dollar table. Its all held up well over 3 moves in 3 years. My couch looks great and I love that I can buy a new slip cover when I decided I wanted a new color scheme in my living room.

The only POS I bought was a 30 dollar coffee table where one of the legs snapped off only a year later.

Even my mattress is from Ikea, and at 6 years old, is in perfect shape, no sagging or anything.

 

[rileysmommy]

We have a bunch of Ikea furniture. Some has held up better than other pieces but it serves it's function just fine.

 

[disneyofcourse]

double

 

[Fyrefly]

I think some pieces are more durable than others. I have a dent in my semester-old desk which is irritating. But my metal bedframe is holding up as well as many more expensive pieces.

No, my room doesn't look as pretty as my parent's rooms with their pretty wood furniture which will most likely be passed down to me someday anywhere. But tell me where else a poor grad student can get a bed frame, nightstand, dresser, bookshelf with LARGE attached desk (love it, so much space), carpet, and coat rack for less than $600. Our couch is also from Ikea. We got it in the seconds department (apparently a nonessential part of the frame underneath is bent but it doesn't affect the overall couch at all) for about $400 with a new cover, and it's extra long with a chaise on one end. You can barely get a loveseat for that much, and we love our bigger couch. And if the furniture all falls about in about 4 or 5 years, I won't have to move it back across state lines with me. It's not meant to be heirloom stuff so I don't really mind.

I also find the assembling fun. And some of the higher priced stuff doesn't look as "Ikea-y" But my parents go through living room sets every five or six years anyway, so for upholstered pieces I'm not sure more expensive is better. For wood pieces, absolutely solid wood looks and lasts way better than particle board.

So I think Ikea works for what it does. And now, I leave you with the IKEA song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGkalRgGMhs

 

[disneyofcourse]

I have a whole house of Ikea furniture, but some of the more expensive stuff, not the super cheap 20 dollar table. Its all held up well over 3 moves in 3 years. My couch looks great and I love that I can buy a new slip cover when I decided I wanted a new color scheme in my living room.

The only POS I bought was a 30 dollar coffee table where one of the legs snapped off only a year later.

Even my mattress is from Ikea, and at 6 years old, is in perfect shape, no sagging or anything.

Hey Jax which couch do you have? I need a slip covered one for my bonus room and looked at EKtorp and Kivik (spelling?) and liked the look of both of them but wondered about the durability.

I wish I had checked out ikea mattresses. I spent well over $1100 on a set at JCpenny and within two years of not much use in a guest room it's pillow top is just sloppy(bumps and lumps) and slopes on the edges.

 

[Jax1023]

Hey Jax which couch do you have? I need a slip covered one for my bonus room and looked at EKtorp and Kivik (spelling?) and liked the look of both of them but wondered about the durability.

I wish I had checked out ikea mattresses. I spent well over $1100 on a set at JCpenny and within two years of not much use in a guest room it's pillow top is just sloppy(bumps and lumps) and slopes on the edges.

I have an Ektorp. I don't have any kids, but my dog likes to dig in the couch, and its held up well for the 4 years we have had it. It's really nice that the slip covers are washable and changeable. We had a red wine incident on my beige sofa, and I was just able to take the cover right off and throw it in the wash and it came out no problem.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

We have a couple of Ektorp chairs. They are extremely light but very durable. We have cream corduroy covers on them. My DD wanted to put one in her room and while shopping one day we found a pink cotton cover on clearance for $9.99. Like having a brand new chair.

I have an Ektorp. I don't have any kids, but my dog likes to dig in the couch, and its held up well for the 4 years we have had it. It's really nice that the slip covers are washable and changeable. We had a red wine incident on my beige sofa, and I was just able to take the cover right off and throw it in the wash and it came out no problem.

 

[J3nn78]

I have a house full of Ikea stuff. It has held up extrememly well through 3 moves and almost 10 years. I LOVE Ikea

 

[QVCshopper]

My kitchen table and chairs are over 12 years old and holding up very well. Also, we have a small table, filing cabinet, and my kid's dressers (I wanted a cheaper option at that point and they seem good so far). I also got a TV cabinet but ended up giving it away b/c I could never get the doors to work right and it was too big. I think it depends on what you get and what it's made of. The wood things cost more but last longer.

 

[pixiewings71]

DD14s room is all Ikea, except the desk that came from Target. DD11 has a dresser and a bookcase from Ikea. Our coffee table is Ikea as well. We haven't had many issues, the coffee table is getting worn out but we won't get another one until this one is literally falling apart, we love this coffee table, it's got a leaf and storage space inside! So we will keep it as long as we can. I also have random things like dishes, utensils, plants, oh and the girls both have mattresses from Ikea. No complaints from us.

 

[DawnM]

we don't particularly like it. Much of it is pressboard and particle board. It was fine when I was single decorating an apartment, but my tastes have changed and with three rowdy boys, I have moved on.

Dawn

 

[herdtoDisney]

I love Ikea, but I've had mixed experiences with their furniture. I have an Expeditit big bookcase/tv stand thingy and I really like it. It's been moved and is like a rock. However, I had a Dalshev (sp?) bedframe that broke. And the mattress on it was just awful, it was the cheapest one.

When dh and I were looking for a bedroom set, we ultimately did not buy an Ikea one-we went with a solid wood one. But one of my sons has mostly Ikea stuff in his room and it's been fine.

I think you really have to look at each piece in the store before you buy-some stuff is pretty well made and some is just junk.

 

[graygables]

I <3 Ikea. It is "ganz modern", as my mother says, but also "sehr stabil". When I moved into my current rental house, it was supposed to be "partially furnished". When I arrived, it was EMPTY. I had just lost my security deposit on my last place to my creep landlord who went into foreclosure without telling us and had plunked down big deposits on our new place, so was strapped for cash. Thank heavens for Ikea. I was able to furnish 2 bedrooms, dining, and living rooms for less than $1,000. We have 2 of the Beddinge sofa beds (LOVE these) which are very comfy, clean beautifully, and have withstood kids and the dog. I also have the $7.99 end tables which are holding up great with lots of daily use and for eight bucks, if something happens, I can replace it.

I have bought very basic pieces and try to get solid wood when possible, which may play into my satisfaction. I don't think I'd relegate it to "college dorm" as my living room looks quite nice with what we have.

 

[ssawka]

We have a couple pieces (a TV stand and a CD cabinet). Never considered buying more simply cause we really do not like most of their styles. Too plain!

One thing I've noticed with the pieces we have is that the doors never seem to hang right. At first I thought it was the way I put it together, then it dawned on me that when you see the furniture in the store, the floor is flat and level. However putting the cabinets on carpet forces the doors to be uneven.

As "put together" furniture it is fine and of a much higher quality than the stuff you can buy at any of the other discount stores. (i.e Bush, O'Sullivan)

 

[Kathi OD]

we spent a small fortune on a wardrobe system from IKEA for DD's room. Didn't last a year. It was the biggest waste of money.

 

[inkedupmomma]

we <3 Ikea over here!

 

[finz2left]

I would not furnish a whole home in Ikea right now, but I certainly think using a piece here and there can be perfect! I saw a Coastal Living Magazine a year back with a high end (20 mil!) home that had awesome antiques, and an expedit bookcase for coastal finds!

I also have read reviews that say their kitchens are superior to high end euro cabs.

 

[KristinU]

As far as furniture goes, we only have a small blanket/toy chest that we use in our entry area for bags and stuff. But we just installed an Ikea kitchen a little less than a year ago, so far we love it. The hardware is Blum, which apparently is high-end, and we loved how we could design pretty much whatever we wanted. There's a whole forum for fans and hackers at ikeafans.com.

ETA: just had to go check on some cookies and remebered to add that we have several Ikea appliances - they're made by Whirlpool and have a longer warranty period.