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IKEA Home Furnishings

post #1 of 18
10/8/07 at 5:35pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone purchased furniture from IKEA, and had it hold up? Everything that I've bought has not held up under regular wear and tear. [Dressers, dining room chairs...]

Also, does anyone have any recommendations about other "modern" furniture companies? i.e. West Elm, CB2...
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post #2 of 18
10/8/07 at 8:01pm
It holds up fairly well. I use their shelving for my music collection in the basement. It's not fine furniture but better made than you would think.
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post #3 of 18
10/8/07 at 10:22pm
I'd say it's hit and miss. I had a particle board bed frame break after 6 months, fortunately they accepted the return and I bought a different style -- also particle board -- but a much sturdier design. Ikea has gotten cheaper over the years and is specifically designed to be throwaway furniture. West Elm doesn't impress me. A sales guy at Rooms To Go (with prior high end experience) made a good point about the furniture business: there is high end and low end, but NOTHING in between.
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post #4 of 18
10/9/07 at 6:55am
I have bought a lot of IKEA furniture and everything held up.

Once you build it, it can be undone and built up again once, if you do it a second time things can start going badly, any more is not advised.

If you never undo it, it holds normal wear and tear 4-5 years in my experience. The simpler designs (shelves) hold longer than that.
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post #5 of 18
10/9/07 at 7:53am
My wife and I deliberately bought some Ikea shelves and an entertainment cabinet because a) it was quite affordable and b) it didn't matter if our children (then unborn, but we now have one two-year old with another baby due in a month's time) scratched it or chewed it as we knew it wouldn't be permanent. It has held up well and the shelves in particular have garnered a few compliments - we bought a set of three (two tall and one medium) with a few inset nooks that can be used to display some of our collection of Japanese porcelain and handicrafts. One thing that I would note about shelves is that, being particleboard, you should place anything too heavy on them or they will bow. A friend of mine bought an Ikea entertainment unit and placed his stereo in the middle of the shelf above the TV. Within about six months, the shelf had developed a noticable bow in the middle due to the weight of the stereo system - which was not very big, being quite a compact Sony system. In short, in my experience it looks quite good, holds up well for some years, but isn't too durable if you stress it.
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post #6 of 18
10/9/07 at 8:17am
Ikea is sick for kitchens. silverware and glasses and plates and stuff from there is great, cheaper than compeitors like target and ripped-off from better designers too. Plus their cabinetry is probably the highest quality stuff they sell (worlds better than a Billy bookshelf or a Malm dresser).

I had thier Kramfors leather sofa (at the time, it was their priciest) a few years back, though, and while it looked good, the seams on the cushions were coming undone after a year. It's cool though, I sold it to some college kids for only barely less than what I paid. That's another good thing about Ikea: for stuff that is so cheap to buy new, it holds it's resale value remarkably well (I remember reading that "ikea" is among craigslist's most-searched terms).

I'm digging thier new "Stockholm" series; it's remarkably faithful to actual mid-century scandinavian interiors (meaning less faux-designery-Alvar-Aalto rips, more common folk 50s style) . When last I was in their store, I coulda sworn they had copied items straight outta my granny's house in norway.
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post #7 of 18
10/9/07 at 2:56pm
I have a computer chair, sort of a deep tan/rust leather (sort of like a soft nubuck). The chair itself has been great but the optional armrests... lets just say that the top of the armrests require you keep a screwdriver nearby.
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post #8 of 18
10/9/07 at 3:02pm
None of my Ikea furniture ever survived a move. They hold up OK when they stay in place but if you need to move and either (a) disassemble/re-assemble, or (b) move the whole object in a truck, it will end up pretty messed up.

I'm pretty sure I will never shop at Ikea again - that's until my (hypothetical) kids go to college, I guess
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post #9 of 18
10/9/07 at 7:34pm
One thing to be careful of is that not all of the furniture is of the same quality. Fortunately you can typically get a good idea of the quality by looking at the items on display. I have one of their TV stands that is solid pine and it has held up great. My fiancee has some other items that I think are also solid pine and they too have been good quality. I have one of their bookcases that is particle board and while it isn't nearly as sturdy it works fine for what it is.
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post #10 of 18
10/10/07 at 9:16am
We have (or had) from IKEA:

Kitchen cabinets which are beautiful and well-made. I highly recommend them.

Bookshelves which are nice looking adjustable and will last for 5-7 years if not 10 I'm sure. They sit there holding books. That's it.

Two small wardrobes which are being delivered on Sat. I expect they will be the same quality as the bookshelves. Fine but not phenomenal. They will last 5-7 years I'm sure.

A big ass red couch that was the most comfortable couch ever and lasted for more than 5 years and afaik is still going strong with it's new owner. It was a sofa-bed, but I never would have slept on the "bed" part. However, many a wonderful nap was had on the couch.


If and when we move, they will not move with us. I would never move that sort of IKEA stuff.



We also have stuff from Crate and Barrel. One china cabinet and four dining chairs. They are all very nice. None was horribly expensive. But I think they are the exception. Basically anything from CB, CB2, Pottery Barn, et al. is simply waaay too expensive for what it is. We're looking for a new dresser/chest of drawers now and PB wants more than a grand for one. Ridiculous.

b
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post #11 of 18
10/10/07 at 11:54am
Thread Starter 
thanks for all the input. so basically with all furniture designers on the ikea level, it's all hit or miss? wow. i guess that's the way it rolls.....looks like i'll be doing some more searching for furnishings for the loft. thanks again.
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post #12 of 18
10/10/07 at 12:07pm
my experience is that stuff you don't sit on lasts great - we have 2 dressers, a kids bed, a dinning room table/chairs, a tv table and a bunch of lamps - we have had 2 couches, also, the chairs and couches didn't last. eveything else performed ok.

like others said - I probrably won't shop at ikea again, or at least until my kids go to college.
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post #13 of 18
10/10/07 at 12:17pm
I made a vow a few years ago never to purchase any piece furniture that needs to be assembled. I've spent more money because of it, but I have had wonderful piece of mind.
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post #14 of 18
10/10/07 at 12:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MatthewTH View Post
thanks for all the input. so basically with all furniture designers on the ikea level, it's all hit or miss? wow. i guess that's the way it rolls.....looks like i'll be doing some more searching for furnishings for the loft. thanks again.

This is exactly correct. I have had stuff from there that lasted 20 years and was only thrown away because we didn't need it. Some stuff has been more rickety.

We recently purchased some furniture from Ikea (a sideboard) and while it goes against my nature, we hired assembly. I have to admit that professional assembly probably adds significantly to the quality of the final product. While you can spend the time yourself to do a good job, some things don't seem to work. I am pretty competent with this sort of thing, but had a lot of trouble getting a desk leg to sit properly, which was finally reassembled by a carpenter we had hired to do some other work.

If you assemble yourself, be very careful with the instructions and make sure you know the precise orientation of the pieces before you assemble. Go slow, and start with the attachments loose and tighten as you get things into place. Go back and tighten everything again when you are done.
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post #15 of 18
10/10/07 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo View Post
...I sold it to some college kids for only barely less than what I paid. That's another good thing about Ikea: for stuff that is so cheap to buy new, it holds it's resale value remarkably well (I remember reading that "ikea" is among craigslist's most-searched terms).

+1

All my furniture is second-hand Ikea stuff. Before I moved out of the residence halls of my university, I told myself I wouldn't let myself get anything from Ikea...I ended up getting some of their high-quality pieces for around 25% of retail and I'm confident that I'll make money when I resell them when I need to move again.
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