IKEA furniture any good?

JG Pasterjak wrote:

Sarah Young wrote: I've had a lot of experience with IKEA furniture. My wisdom basically boils down to this: 1) Skip the stuff made with MDF. You'll be tossing it in two years. 2) The stuff actually made of wood is awesome.

Well now I finally know what it takes to get Sarah to post on the board. jg

Hey, I posted in the tofu post and the "Mad Men" post.

IKEA gets a lot of flack, but i love them. I like the styles and the pricing. I've never had a problem with their furniture. I bought my bed frame, Computer desk, and a chair from them. I love em' all.

it is a little funny when you know it's a canoe thread because it was brought back to life and you can recall it from back in the day lol...

anyway got experience IKEA stuff while I was in europe (it was EVERYWHERE)... even got to assemble a living room table for someone...

I understand why it's so popular... if they where not so far from us we may well have some in our house

EdenPrime wrote: IKEA gets a lot of flack, but i love them. I like the styles and the pricing. I've never had a problem with their furniture. I bought my bed frame, Computer desk, and a chair from them. I love em' all.

Alot of there stuff is cool, like lamps and stuff. Our bed is holding up well. But our couch is already starting to break down inside if a year:(

Joey

I like their latest TV ad.

A good looking couple is in the (Ikea) kitchen. He asks her if she wants to go upstairs. She says why not right here, pointing to the counter. It's still under warranty. The voiceover says something like, Ikea, built to handle anything.

mad_machine wrote: for some bizarre reason.. I enjoy going to Ikea in my saab.. it just seems right

Used to go in my 900 classic two-door hatch. The rear space with the fold-down seats was exactly the right length for knocked down bookshelf boxes.

My wife is a home stager and interior designer. We move Ikea stuff like the big LACK bookshelves from house to house all the time. However, anything that costs less than it should (like a $75 desk) will not last long in that environment.

A couple of months ago, my wife needed another desk because we had four houses worth of furniture out at the same time. She chose a $75 MICKE desk because it looked right and was cheap. I built it on site and told her we should sell it when she's done with it because it wouldn't survive multiple moves without looking like hell. After that house sold, we put the desk up on craigslist and sold really fast it to a nice couple for $55.

We had some stuff on ikeahack as well because my wife likes to mess around with the look of things.

Here in the LA area, people sell used IKEA furniture all the time at a fraction of its original price. Bought an extinct TYLOSAND sofa used in order to stage a very '60s house. After that house sold, we sold the TYLOSAND for a profit.

To add to what everyone else mentioned, think of IKEA furniture as raw materials and make something more out of it. Also, assemble it with your driver drill with the clutch turned way down. You'll knock a piece out in 20 minutes.

I shudder at the thought of posting in a zombie canoe thread, but....

Has anyone got experience with the mattresses and bedding from IKEA? Quality, comfort, etc etc.....

JFX001 wrote: My Lovely Wife bought a bookcase for the daughter a few months ago. Decently priced/built, and a step up from the Sauder stuff. So far so good...but I detest the cam locks.

i love the cam locks on my desk (not ikea) because they turn an unruly overweight desk into smaller manageable pieces at moving time. the whole thing could be disassembled and moved by one person with a screwdriver without any trouble.

Jerry From LA wrote: To add to what everyone else mentioned, think of IKEA furniture as raw materials and make something more out of it.

When I finally get my apartment finished I'm going to stun people with how little I spent outfitting the place on IKEA clearance and as-is finds. A lot of what I'm using isn't going to be used as IKEA intends.

Also, this place is awesome. It's the GRM of home interiors:

http://www.ikeahackers.net/

I've had an Ikea desk and bedroom set for about 3 months now, my wife and I really like it so far and seems to be holding up well.

I really like Ikea stuff. If you go to the store, it's pretty easy to tell what's made to last and what's not. The lesser will last just fine, as others have said, if you build it and leave it alone.

But what I like about it is the design. Very simple and elegant- kind of Dieter Rams style but affordable. Very rare to be able to get design that nice for a really good price. So I'll put up with the occasional repair. If you're a little handy (is there anyone on this site who isn't at least a little handy?) you can customize it too. I transformed an entry table into a breakfast nook bar thingie just by making a new top out of that glued up wood you get at Home Depot. It's the same stuff that was on it originally, I just made it bigger. Worked really well. I have a cheap-o bookshelf that holds my records. Has neat caster wheels and I got three boxes designed to fit in it to hide all my spare tubes, wires and junk.

ultraclyde wrote: I shudder at the thought of posting in a zombie canoe thread, but.... Has anyone got experience with the mattresses and bedding from IKEA? Quality, comfort, etc etc.....

I have an Ikea mattress and bedframe, and so far it's been real good. I forget which one we have but it's relatively stiff , and we put a memory foam topper on it from some other store. we went with it because my wife has back problems and need the thing not to sink in the middle when my bacon fueled butt gets into bed. can't say much for longevity as I've had it less than a year, but it has a long warranty and I sleep really well on it.

As for the furniture, I have quite a lot of Ikea and it seems great for the price if you go for certain types of stuff that is neither bottom of the line nor fancy designed, and don't mind if stuff is just plain white. OTOH, the stuff is clearly not solid oak, and won't be passed onto my grandchildren. I think as discount stuff it simply can't be beaten (aside from garage sales), but as nice stuff it's clearly not a contender.

Canoe?

IKEA SELLS CANOES? I'm so there!

Wow, a ressurected canoe!

Zombie canoe thread has canoe zombies.

I don't suppose the mods could shut this down?

And yet another zombie canoe!

MMMMMMM smells like fission.

Too many zombie canoes in this thread. Gonna lock it.