Their general housewares like vases, silverware, lamps are pretty good products and there are a lot of neat creative solutions as well. Their low end furniture on the other hand are just that, low end. There's actually a whole culture associated with buying and modifying things from IKEA, discussion forums, websites, etc, kind of fun.
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Anybody Buy Furniture From IKEA?
- Thread starter benflick
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Meaning? I think you're saying that the base of the sofa is wood, and when the cushions are unfolded to make a bed, that the wood is now exposed? Maybe you're supposed to put a mattress over the entire thing when it's unfolded. This is how they show it being used in the catalog.
BTW, this sofa costs $149. What you expect for that kind of money?
Same. We originally fitted out our newly built house with expensive MFI/DFS all that kind of stuff. They lasted a while I'll give them that. Then they built a local Ikea store and we've had no problems at all with their products. We have 4 full rooms (library, study, gym and 1 bedroom) full of the stuff and no faults at all.
Maybe we're lucky. Also never had a problem with my Macs
I have to say I visited one of Ikea's suppliers of "non-wovens" and they told me (this is a world's class chemical giant) that Ikea differentiates on design and that only what can be readily seen by the purchaser is of decent quality. The inner layers of sofa's are made with the cheapest possible material with no regard for durability...
I've had my Ikea computer desk for 12 years and it is still as solid as the day I bought it. It wasn't cheap though, it cost £229 and is made from solid pine. If you buy a £29 desk made from chipboard, don't expect the same sort of build quality.
It's the same with sofa beds. The one you have bought is bottom of the range and very basic but is ideal for occasional use. Their top of the range sofa beds will cost you 5-6 times as much but will have a fold out tubular steel framed sprung base and much better quality mattress.
Like most things in life, you get what you pay for with Ikea.
It's the same with sofa beds. The one you have bought is bottom of the range and very basic but is ideal for occasional use. Their top of the range sofa beds will cost you 5-6 times as much but will have a fold out tubular steel framed sprung base and much better quality mattress.
Like most things in life, you get what you pay for with Ikea.
Totally depends what you buy with Ikea.
I have a wardrobe, some sets of draws and a desk, all of them are great and didn't break the bank.
A cheap crappy sofa bed will always be a cheap crappy sofa bed, no matter where it comes from.
I have a wardrobe, some sets of draws and a desk, all of them are great and didn't break the bank.
A cheap crappy sofa bed will always be a cheap crappy sofa bed, no matter where it comes from.
Same. We originally fitted out our newly built house with expensive MFI/DFS all that kind of stuff. They lasted a while I'll give them that. Then they built a local Ikea store and we've had no problems at all with their products. We have 4 full rooms (library, study, gym and 1 bedroom) full of the stuff and no faults at all.
Maybe we're lucky. Also never had a problem with my Macs
Let me guess... the Ashton-under-lyne store? I'm 1 town over from there
driving down the hill you can see the big blue/yellow store I love IKEA stuff, there's also a store called ILVA which is better service/products but costs more.
All our beds are wooden too, and like someone said, put a mattress on it
We have sofa beds from Marks & Spencer and they are wooden also.
I'm really not convinced that some of the stuff at ILVA is any better. Was looking for some wardrobes a while back. Looked at both. The ILVA ones had an identical quality of construction (chipboard carcases with laminate veneers, standard hinges, drawer runners etc). The IKEA ones had decent doors (solid wood instead of chipboard). Not sure the ILVA ones did. But the ILVA ones were twice the price and I would have had to drive to a different building to actually get them as the warehouse is separate to the showroom. Went back to IKEA and bought from there instead...
My home office desk is a dining table I bought from IKEA
Solid Oak legs and a reasonable Oak veneer over the leaves etc. Extendable up to 262cm (I only use it 218cm long) by 95cm wide
Enough space for a 24" screen, speakers, bits and bobs AND a A1 size drawing board.
Comes Christmas we take off all the electronics and it becomes a very handy dining table for 12 people
It cost (if I remember) ±£300. It was available in the IKEA shop until last year but I see it is no longer in the catalogue.
Solid Oak legs and a reasonable Oak veneer over the leaves etc. Extendable up to 262cm (I only use it 218cm long) by 95cm wide
Enough space for a 24" screen, speakers, bits and bobs AND a A1 size drawing board.
Comes Christmas we take off all the electronics and it becomes a very handy dining table for 12 people
It cost (if I remember) ±£300. It was available in the IKEA shop until last year but I see it is no longer in the catalogue.
If I just need a crappy piece of furniture to throw in a corner somewhere, I buy Ikea - content in the knowledge that when it falls apart 12 months later, I can still use it for kindling in the fireplace.
Seriously, all I have to do after, is sweep out the small metal bits along with the ash.
What did you expect for a hundred dollar pre-fab piece of junk-in-a-box?
My end table made out of an old Apple eMac box shows better durability & quality of engineering than most anything from Ikea.
That said, people must still love Ikea frugality - otherwise Ingvar Kamprad wouldn't be a billionare, would he?
Seriously, all I have to do after, is sweep out the small metal bits along with the ash.
What did you expect for a hundred dollar pre-fab piece of junk-in-a-box?
My end table made out of an old Apple eMac box shows better durability & quality of engineering than most anything from Ikea.
That said, people must still love Ikea frugality - otherwise Ingvar Kamprad wouldn't be a billionare, would he?
Oh, that was a delicious read, Robbieduncan. Thanks. *wipes sauce from chin*
Makes me love Ikea even more now.
Makes me love Ikea even more now.
Assuming this is entirely accurate, I wonder how it's legal. In Sweden perhaps it is, but it surely would not be in the US. Charitable corporations have to show that they are actively pursuing their chartered charitable purpose, or they risk losing their tax-free status.
I am not a fan of IKEA couches... sat in lots of them in the store and never found one I liked. I went to a real furniture store to by my couches, which involved several hours of haggling and waiting a few days for delivery, but they will hopefully last.
I have bought many IKEA Billy bookcases, dressers, desk lamps, desks, curtains and rods, kitchen stuff and dishware and other stuff with no problems at all. But you do get what you pay for. The $3 cutting boards were crap, but the $2 can opener was pretty good. I have a few chairs from them but nothing terribly comfortable. And the one time I rushed in there to pick up a $15 desk chair that was on sale, I had a parking lot scrape that cost me close to $800 to fix. I call that the most expensive chair I've ever purchased
Always check out the AS IS section first!
I have bought many IKEA Billy bookcases, dressers, desk lamps, desks, curtains and rods, kitchen stuff and dishware and other stuff with no problems at all. But you do get what you pay for. The $3 cutting boards were crap, but the $2 can opener was pretty good. I have a few chairs from them but nothing terribly comfortable. And the one time I rushed in there to pick up a $15 desk chair that was on sale, I had a parking lot scrape that cost me close to $800 to fix. I call that the most expensive chair I've ever purchased
Always check out the AS IS section first!
I'm pretty sure it's accurate. I was first told about it by a friend who used to be employed in the chatty sector and now studies economics.
It must be an incomplete explanation then. If it was so easy to avoid paying taxes by dumping assets into a dummy charity then everybody would do it. It's not like Sweden is a tax haven, like the Cayman Islands. I'm sure they have laws to prevent such things.
I got a futon from IKEA about 2 yrs ago. It creaks alot more than it used to...that about my only major complaint. Overall, the quality is decent for something of its price (but I wouldn't have minded paying a little extra for slightly better quality/feel), and it gets the job done so i'm happy.
Let me guess... the Ashton-under-lyne store? I'm 1 town over from there
I love IKEA stuff, there's also a store called ILVA which is better service/products but costs more.
All our beds are wooden too, and like someone said, put a mattress on it
We have sofa beds from Marks & Spencer and they are wooden also.
ILVA is really struggling in Manchester. I think it might even have shut down now.
That's so true! Most of Ikea's furniture is made of particleboard- cheap and nasty
. From that, it is cut in to shapes of the furniture, then wallpaper that looks like wood is glued on to the particleboard. Just some information on how most Ikea furniture is made these days. Here's an example on how Ikea focuses more on design other than quality:
My sister got a furniture suite from Ikea. Within 2 years, she noticed that the 'particleboard' was starting to discolour and within 5 years, that wallpaper I was talking about started to peel off!