Ikea furniture/housewares

[steve2470]

Tonight my son and I went to the Walmart-like enormous two story Ikea store near me. We didn't buy anything but I had some Swedish meatballs in their enclosed cafeteria. My son knows that I'm not crazy about shopping, and offered to come back to buy some things we need for our kitchen and maybe some furniture.

I know absolutely nothing about IKEA. I've seen it in malls for years. The kitchen stuff we looked at seemed reasonably priced and quality. Is the furniture durable and of decent quality for the money ? Thanks in advance.

[NYC_SKP]

1. I don't know. I only once have been inside an IKEA.

[onehandle]

2. It's cheap and useable.

It doesn't have to last decades like regularly priced stuff.

Sitting on an Ikea sofa right now to watch one of the lamest SNL season opener ever. Comfortable and stylish.

[steve2470]

3. as long as it lasts for several years that seems reasonable enough

Debating now whether to reupholster, buy Ikea (or something else similar), or just look for used. Thanks !

[mrmpa]

4. I've been to Ikea and own 4.............

pieces of furniture(not sofas or beds), a china cabinet, 2 book cases and a 2 chest of drawers. 3 are 10 years old and doing quite well. Ikea furniture can be hard to put together so when I bought the pieces I tacked on having someone to come over and put it together. 10 years, the cost for this was 10% of the cost of the furniture, it was about $45. Well worth the cost.

A few months ago, I bought a new TV and was going to have it wall mounted. I needed a piece of furniture to store all my DVD's afghans & throws. I couldn't find anything. My 83 year old mother, finally said you need something with drawers. I went to the Ikea catalog and found a chest of drawers with six drawers. I got it in a nice oak and the man who installed my TV also put the chest together for me.

Ikeas quilts are quite warm & reasonable in cost. The only thing I hate about Ikea is, getting around the store. They have arrows putting you on a path, but exits aren't clearly seen & it's hard to find sales clerks.

[steve2470]

5. good info to know, yes I was not thrilled with their store layout with the exits and floor arrows nt

[OriginalGeek]

6. That's because they want you

to lazily wander through the store and see everything. I don't despise the idea on days I feel like gawking but some days I just wanna go in, get what I'm there for and leave. So I just don't go to Ikea on those days unless I know I'll get to eat too. lol, I enjoy their food.

[steve2470]

7. yep that's exactly the plan ! nt

[OriginalGeek]

10. if they really wanted me to go more

they'd make it more like a lazy river ride - without the water - just a moving walk-way with cars I could sit in like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney....

I sometimes like looking at stuff and seeing things I didn't previously know I wanted...but I hate walking. lol I'm surprised my doctor hasn't prescribed regular Ikea trips. It's damn work to get though the whole thing!

[steve2470]

11. it WAS work, I was glad to eat my dinner and get out ! lol nt

[Kennah]

8. We have several pieces of IKEAware

Round dining room table, bought new about '99. The table top didn't securely connect to the pedestal, so after about 6 months it was rather annoyingly wobbly. I added 4 L-brackets to stabilize it, and it's been fine ever since. This is has been a common complain about IKEAware.

Baby changing table, brought new in late '00. 3rd kid makes use of it today. Once he's out of diapers, I'll removing the changing table lid to turn it into a dresser. Hinge failed after about 3-4 years, and I couldn't find a suitable replacement. Very narrow and skinny hinge. Attached some scrap wood with glue and screws to both the changing table and the lid to double the surface for the hinge. Used a couple of common gate hinges, and those worked fine. Replaced one that failed last year. Easy enough to find a replacement. Another common complaint about IKEAware. The hardware they use is often unavailable in the U.S.--at least easily.

Bunk beds, bought new in '05 or '06. Didn't know if we'd ever need to bunk them, but good to be able to if we did. Oldest broke two boards bouncing on his bed. Replacement was easy enough using either a 1x3 or 1x4. Cannot recall which it was. Later he continued to bounce, and broke one of the main boards of the bed. Now his mattress is on the floor. Haven't found a replacement. With a planer, a router table, and a lathe I could fashion a new one.

Dresser, bought new in '08. They often use a lot of soft woods, so screws often strip out easily. Wood toothpicks and wood glue will make stripped out wood holes work again. A drawer slide broke last year. A replacement was easy enough to find, but the Euro cabinet screws were pretty tough to find--unless I bought a large pack, and I only needed a few. Passed a local cabinet store, so I stopped in on a gamble. Showed them the screws, asked if they had any extras, and I offered to pay. They gave me about a dozen, free of charge, so now I have some extras.

[steve2470]

9. good info thank you ! nt

[Heddi]

12. Own several pieces of Ikea furniture for 12+ years without issue

I should say in those 13 years my husband and I have moved approximately 10 times, so taken furniture apart, put it back together...

We have an aluminum ikea bed frame...looks like a bed from a hospital in the 1900's....no problems there.

Several Ikea Billy Bookcases. They are scuffed up but still structurually solid despite being taken apart and put back together every time we move.

Have owned 2 or 3 sets of Ikea silverware. I think it's stylish.

The glasses seem to break easier than other glasses.

On our 2nd Ikea bed mattress. Nice bed for the price.

I liked the computer desks they used to have...Mikael I think? That was nice and roomy for an adult student.

also have used Ikea futon mattresses for the futon we have as a couch. The futon itself isn't Ikea but I'm not going to spend $400 every few years for a new futon mattress that gets lumpy from the futon store when for $99 I can have a much more comfortable, flippable mattress from Ikea.

The thing with Ikea...if you spend $15 for a chair, you're gonna get a chair that lasts for $15.

If you spend $85 for a chair, you'll get a chair that lasts much longer than the $15 chair (and the $15 chair is gonna last you a few years at the least).

We've gone through hundreds of dollars of Ikea furniture since we moved to Seattle and were poor and setting up house. It was the most affordable furniture we could by and yet still make our house look stylish.

In those 12 years, I have *never* thrown away a piece of Ikea furniture. Never had a piece break on me. I've sold or given away via craigslist when I didn't need things anymore, but nothing ever broke, or gave way, or became less structurally sound.

And again...we break our furniture down for moving every few years, so we put it to the test.

I think Ikea gets a "disposable flat pack crap" reputation that it doesn't deserve