ikea furniture quality

[Mixolydian]

IKEA furniture is fantastic for the price. I've had furniture from them for over 15 years and I've never had any of it break.

 

[purbeast0]

MALM is pressed fiberboard with veneer, I would stay away. If you ever drop it, it will be ruined (chips and falls apart)

They do have some real wood stuff, but it's not in the budget section. I've built a desk for my office using their butcher block counter tops

well i doubt i would drop a bed. probably will never get lifted once it is put together heh.

those of you saying MALM is crap, other than Aharami because he went into detail, what pieces of MALM furniture have you personally had bad experience with? as of now, the bed and that night stand are pretty much the only MALM stuff I'm definitely looking at.

some of that Hemnes stuff is nice looking as well. i really doubt that we are going to get any coffee tables from ikea though, since those will be more center pieces in our home that we and many others will be using, we want to get nice quality ones. although i personally didn't look at many while I was there, so it's not out of the picture.

 

[Vdubchaos]

We have whole bunch of Ikea stuff and it's been great.

Malm bed set/dressers have lasted over 6 years now. I'm actually amazed the bed lasted this long....

It's functional, looks good and it;s cheap. What else can you ask for?

 

[rh71]

~25% is total trash
~50% is not bad but can't be abused. Kids/dogs/etc will destroy it. Doors etc can't be 'forced' or they will break

The remaining 25% is actually decent quality furniture. I have redone rental unit kitchens and it's held up as good as can be expected. We have a couple of those very common chairs you can lean back in, which have held up fine.

agree with this. I used to think it was all trash until I bought some of the higher priced stuff. Expedit square shelves - sturdy and good looks - great for kids toys organization.

Best of all is their selection because if you go elsewhere for something similar it's likely to be much higher priced.

my wife is at ikea as we speak. I think she's only getting dinnerware / cookware though. Good for that too.

 

[Gooberlx2]

We turned our loft area into a library with Billy bookcases (floor to ceiling, wraps around a corner). It looks nice and the bookcases seem sturdy after they're assembled. I wouldn't want to have to relocate them in a move across town or screw/unscrew in to that particle board many times, but I don't intend to either.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Why would you buy that garbage? If on a budget look used on craigslist. Quality furniture basically lasts forever and you'll have no problem finding real solid wood furniture for half of what it costs new.

 

[purbeast0]

anyone have any experience with something like this?

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49862714/#/S89869841

that could be a nice compliment to the MALM bed set. i'm wondering if the TV will be too high though to be a nice height to watch while in bed. will break out the measuring tape though and find out.

 

[halik]

well i doubt i would drop a bed. probably will never get lifted once it is put together heh.

those of you saying MALM is crap, other than Aharami because he went into detail, what pieces of MALM furniture have you personally had bad experience with? as of now, the bed and that night stand are pretty much the only MALM stuff I'm definitely looking at.

some of that Hemnes stuff is nice looking as well. i really doubt that we are going to get any coffee tables from ikea though, since those will be more center pieces in our home that we and many others will be using, we want to get nice quality ones. although i personally didn't look at many while I was there, so it's not out of the picture.

If you ever move, you will very likely f#@$ it up; even the big beams going across lengthwise are more densely packed fiberboard, so if you do drop them they'll fall apart. Generally speaking, if you have to move it, you will chip the corners and what not.. and there's no good way to fix it.

Same thing if you spill any water on it, it will lift the veneer.

Go for the next up bed frame($300), it's made out of solid wood.

 

[purbeast0]

Why would you buy that garbage? If on a budget look used on craigslist. Quality furniture basically lasts forever and you'll have no problem finding real solid wood furniture for half of what it costs new.

well as i already mentioned in the thread, i have yet to find a quality furniture place that has the style we like, because i'd gladly pay for a more quality set as long as it's the style we like.

additionally, it will have to be something that isn't 1 solid piece so it will actually fit upstairs into our bedroom, and will have to be taken apart if/when we ever relocate to get out of there.

 

[tfinch2]

We have a lot of stuff from the Leksvik collection for well over 5 years, which looks to have been discontinued for the most part. It is still in decent condition, except it scratches easily since the pine is very soft.

 

[DrPizza]

here's what we have from ikea in order of sturdiness:

2 bookshelves
3 storage units
1 day bed
2 armoires
1 dresser

sure the armoires and the dresser don't feel sturdy but they've lasted us 5+ years each, show no signs of wear, and were dirt cheap relative to other options.

Wow, a whole 5+ years, huh?

A good dresser should last you 50+ years or longer. If you're willing to spend the money, when you pick out a GOOD dresser, you know it will last you your lifetime. I don't think any particle board/pressboard has that kind of life expectancy. For some things, like bedroom furniture, style doesn't change that often - things don't usually look that dated. Oddly, a lot of antique bedroom furniture is becoming more and more sought after.

 

[ViviTheMage]

It definitely does not, and I am with you DR PIZZA, I am done with the particle board crap.

 

[rasczak]

I broke our Ektorp sofa. Even so, we've always purchased IKEA.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Wow, a whole 5+ years, huh?

A good dresser should last you 50+ years or longer. If you're willing to spend the money, when you pick out a GOOD dresser, you know it will last you your lifetime. I don't think any particle board/pressboard has that kind of life expectancy. For some things, like bedroom furniture, style doesn't change that often - things don't usually look that dated. Oddly, a lot of antique bedroom furniture is becoming more and more sought after.

one of the armoires has been with us since 2000 so that's 12 years and it cost less than $200. the other one is from 2004-ish and was also less then $200. we also got a table from them that was $60 and has been used as a computer desk since 2003 so that's 9 years.

at these prices, i'm not expecting pieces to last a lifetime, i'm expecting them to last 5+ years. and i'm more than pleased when they last even longer.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

well as i already mentioned in the thread, i have yet to find a quality furniture place that has the style we like, because i'd gladly pay for a more quality set as long as it's the style we like.

additionally, it will have to be something that isn't 1 solid piece so it will actually fit upstairs into our bedroom, and will have to be taken apart if/when we ever relocate to get out of there.

I wouldn't buy anything there as I don't like the yard sale cheap look in my house. I guess for starting out it might be okay but you'll get tired of the cheap shit and replace in a couple years anyways. You want to walk into your home and be like damn this shit is awesome not oh look at that cheap f'ing table.
People are so stupid with money you'd be foolish not to buy used hardwood furniture. People spend thousands of dollars on the quality stuff then get tired of it or need money so they sell it for a fraction of what they paid. Hell I just picked up a $9500 leather sectional for $1400 at an estate sale. It's a couple months old too. Helps to have a gas guzzler truck and a trailer although everyone here will tell you im a douche for driving a truck.

 

[kami333]

We have almost the whole Malm bedroom set. Hard to beat for the price if you want a matching set and like furniture with clean straight lines. Plus I have 3 cats and a dog, even though they are generally well behaved they still get on the furniture so it takes a lot of abuse.

Our bedroom:
low profile bed
night stand (don't like as much)
2 drawer (use as night stand on my side of the bed, like it better than the night stand)
tall 6 drawer chest (her clothes)
long 6 drawer chest (my clothes)
skinny-tall 6 drawer chest with mirror (underwear and jewelry)
long 4 drawer chest, they don't have this one anymore (beddings and such)

I've had most of it for over 5 years and 2 moves including a cross country move via PODS. I've taken the bed apart but have moved the drawers as is. I have made some modifications, primarily bracing the slats on the bed with 2x4 since they tended to move around. The drawers have held up well, all the rails still move smoothly and the doors are still straight but we don't put anything heavier than clothes in them.

 

[vshah]

Wow, a whole 5+ years, huh?

A good dresser should last you 50+ years or longer. If you're willing to spend the money, when you pick out a GOOD dresser, you know it will last you your lifetime. I don't think any particle board/pressboard has that kind of life expectancy. For some things, like bedroom furniture, style doesn't change that often - things don't usually look that dated. Oddly, a lot of antique bedroom furniture is becoming more and more sought after.

if you're a 20 something, it's really tough to afford quality furniture that will have that kind of longevity. there's a huge price gap between ikea and the "good stuff"

if you're still in your 20s, renting, moving every few years, ikea is ideal. you can pretty much furnish an entire apartment for $1500

 

[purbeast0]

I wouldn't buy anything there as I don't like the yard sale cheap look in my house. I guess for starting out it might be okay but you'll get tired of the cheap shit and replace in a couple years anyways. You want to walk into your home and be like damn this shit is awesome not oh look at that cheap f'ing table.
People are so stupid with money you'd be foolish not to buy used hardwood furniture. People spend thousands of dollars on the quality stuff then get tired of it or need money so they sell it for a fraction of what they paid. Hell I just picked up a $9500 leather sectional for $1400 at an estate sale. It's a couple months old too. Helps to have a gas guzzler truck and a trailer although everyone here will tell you im a douche for driving a truck.

hah ok we'll agree to disagree, and looks like you totally didn't read what i posted.

i'm definitely not a fan of the antique old school "has been around since ww2" look. i definitely prefer the more modern look. the modern look doesn't scream 'yard sale' to me one bit. but the old antique 'been around 50+ years' looks like crap to me because i don't want my house to look like my grandmother lives in it.

additionally we are going fairly expensive on different pieces of furniture that are going to be the more focal point of the house. the couch we got was over $2k and it's really nice. we also have our eyes set on a very nice dining room table.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

if you're a 20 something, it's really tough to afford quality furniture that will have that kind of longevity. there's a huge price gap between ikea and the "good stuff"

if you're still in your 20s, renting, moving every few years, ikea is ideal. you can pretty much furnish an entire apartment for $1500

Or he could still furnish the apartment for a couple grand buying used quality furniture that won't be an eyesore every time he opens the door. And the good stuff will still be around in 20 years while the ikea stuff is being recycled back into newspaper.

 

[purbeast0]

We have almost the whole Malm bedroom set. Hard to beat for the price if you want a matching set and like furniture with clean straight lines. Plus I have 3 cats and a dog, even though they are generally well behaved they still get on the furniture so it takes a lot of abuse.

Our bedroom:
low profile bed
night stand (don't like as much)
2 drawer (use as night stand on my side of the bed, like it better than the night stand)
tall 6 drawer chest (her clothes)
long 6 drawer chest (my clothes)
skinny-tall 6 drawer chest with mirror (underwear and jewelry)
long 4 drawer chest, they don't have this one anymore

I've had most of it for over 5 years and 2 moves including a cross country move via PODS. I've taken the bed apart but have moved the drawers as is. I have made some modifications, primarily bracing the slats on the bed with 2x4 since they tended to move around. The drawers have held up well, all the rails still move smoothly and the doors are still straight but we don't put anything heavier than clothes in them.

what is wrong with the night stand?

i initially was looking at that 2 drawer chest as a night stand as well (since that is what they had on display in the store) but looking at the night stand online i liked the looks of it better. haven't seen it in person yet though.

 

[Sureshot324]

Wow, a whole 5+ years, huh?

A good dresser should last you 50+ years or longer. If you're willing to spend the money, when you pick out a GOOD dresser, you know it will last you your lifetime. I don't think any particle board/pressboard has that kind of life expectancy. For some things, like bedroom furniture, style doesn't change that often - things don't usually look that dated. Oddly, a lot of antique bedroom furniture is becoming more and more sought after.

Meh, I don't think I'd want the exact same furniture for 50 years.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Or he could still furnish the apartment for a couple grand buying used quality furniture that won't be an eyesore every time he opens the door. And the good stuff will still be around in 20 years while the ikea stuff is being recycled back into newspaper.

but the furniture CAN'T be pre-assembled for his purposes.

 

[Spungo]

I wouldn't buy anything that is going to be used a lot or slightly abused.

I can agree with this. I have a few ikea items that work well for their intended use such as a desk for writing on. The desk would probably fall apart if I tried standing on it or putting a fish tank on it. Just use common sense and you'll be ok. Do you really expect to stand on a $50 desk? A desk you can stand on or sit on should cost a few hundred dollars at least.

 

[Uppsala9496]

For the money, the hemnes collection isn't bad.
I bought 2 6 drawer chests and 1 8 drawer for about $800. Solid wood. Sure it's pine and not as durable as harder woods, but it is also a mere fraction of the cost. The drawers are solid, open and close smoothly, and hold the weight of clothes with no issues.
Just like everything else, there is a price to performance factor to keep in mind. For me, the money was well spent. Have good looking bedroom furniture that is solid. Why spend triple to quadruple the price to perform the same function and potentially same quality?
The furniture in my daughters room is some solid oak hand me downs. I f'ing hate it. It's too heavy, the drawers stick due to the old wooden rail system, and it looks outdated (from the 80's I think). Just not a fan. Only reason I haven't replaced it is it was free.

 

[kami333]

what is wrong with the night stand?

i initially was looking at that 2 drawer chest as a night stand as well (since that is what they had on display in the store) but looking at the night stand online i liked the looks of it better. haven't seen it in person yet though.

Nothing wrong with it, just not as useful as the 2 drawer chest for the space that it takes up (our last place was 700sqft). Really like the magazine/book rack, but only has a tiny little drawer and a bunch of dead space underneath.

I also added some 2x4s between the rails and slats on the board to raise the mattress and have a taller mattress so it makes the night stand lower than it would be.