Ikea furniture, good, bad or ugly?

[davido140]

I've avoided the place like the plague for the last 7 or 8 years, after the hellish experiences of shopping there with the ex.

Now they do fancy Internet ordering stuff its not quite so painful, so I ordered a few bits and bobs, which were very inexpensive and seem to be pretty good quality too for the price, certianly better than the crap I have from homebase, etc...

I then realised I have quite a few bits of stuff left from my first few trips from over 8 years ago, chest of drawers, lamps, wardrobe, bookshelves and they are all fine and in great condition.

Thinking I might start shopping there again for new stuff, a sofa is on the cards...

how do you chaps find thier stuff?

[Carreauchompeur]

Fair to middling. A lot of stuff is FAR cheaper than anything nearly equivalent. So long as you stick to the higher-end ranges it's alright. Bought my leather sofa from there about 4 years ago for £350 and it's going strong.

I'm not terribly impressed with the quality of the chest of drawers I bought a year ago though- Have had to retighten the drawers several times.

Bed's strong though

[deevlash]

good matresses too!

[TimJMS]

Its all right particularly the more storage oriented solutions they offer. Put it together well and it'll last.

The main problem is that once you have some, you will start seeing it everywhere.

[Carreauchompeur]

deevlash said:

good matresses too!

Was just going to add that, I've had 2 of the firm memory foam ones now and I love them, can't stand overly soft beds- I can't stay longer than 2 nights at my mum's house otherwise my back would never work again.

[Plotloss]

We got a sofa from there as it was the biggest one we could find without getting one bespoked. Everything that most sofa places sell is modelled around malnourished vietnamese children.

It's not collapsed yet...

[V8A*ndy]

deevlash said:

good matresses too!

Yup, one of the best items they sell. Such good value. I have had a lot of damaged stuff with the pre pack furniture though. Packaging is too thin and often gets damaged in transit.

[theaxe]

Ikea furniture is fine as long as you're not expecting amazing quality. Most of the furniture is laminated chipboard but that's fine as it's priced accordingly. Where you have to be careful is places like Habitat where some of the furniture is laminated chipboard but still costs a fortune.

[spants]

Was listening to LBC the other day and someone mentioned that it is the only shop that you like going to when single and absolutely avoid going to when you are a couple.....

[Miss Pitstop]

deevlash said:

good matresses too!

A friend in Belgium told me that apparently 1 in 10 Europeans have been concieved in an Ikea bed!! A shocking statistic!!

Personally Ikeas items work for me, but don't go OTT. I dislike rooms that are top to bottom Ikea (including the pictures et al) but if you mix and match with other items it is great.

However, I recently looked for a sofa for a spare room and found them to be quite expensive compared to Homebase etc.

[agent006]

davido140 said:

I've avoided the place like the plague for the last 7 or 8 years

You'll find all the same stuff that you saw then. They've changed nothing, all their designs are the same and look really quite dated now.

[Alfa_75_Steve]

One of the greatest pieces of furniture man has ever designed:



Very comfortable, can change the colour and material whenever you want / feel like a change and an iconic design.

Edited by Alfa_75_Steve on Friday 23 January 23:14

[ChrisRS]

Alfa_75_Steve said:

One of the greatest pieces of furniture man has ever designed:



Very comfortable, can change the colour and material whenever you want feel like a change and an iconic design.

I'm sat on one of them at the moment, great piece of furniture and only £60!

You get what you pay for buy i'm really happy with my ikea stuff!

[Ruskie]

Alfa_75_Steve said:

One of the greatest pieces of furniture man has ever designed:



Very comfortable, can change the colour and material whenever you want feel like a change and an iconic design.

If your above 6ft tall they are horrible. We have them a work and not one person likes them!!

[Dupont666]

ChrisRS said:

Alfa_75_Steve said:

One of the greatest pieces of furniture man has ever designed:



Very comfortable, can change the colour and material whenever you want feel like a change and an iconic design.

I'm sat on one of them at the moment, great piece of furniture and only £60!

You get what you pay for buy i'm really happy with my ikea stuff!

You do realise that is a finnish design that they nicked (according to my finnish OH) she enjoyed telling me that one.....

I find the mattresses crap too, i have a human shape now in both and noone over 13 stone has slept in them....

[Alfa_75_Steve]

Are all the people in your workplace pie-eating bloaters?

They're banned from sitting on mine, as it gets dangerously close to breaking point.

[okgo]

They don't break. I have had a 20 stone man sit on ours and it was fine.

But they are not all that. IMO. However I got a nice wardrobe and chest of drawers set last week!!

[EDLT]

Alfa_75_Steve said:

One of the greatest pieces of furniture man has ever designed:



Very comfortable, can change the colour and material whenever you want / feel like a change and an iconic design.

Edited by Alfa_75_Steve on Friday 23 January 23:14

There is one problem with them: I went to get one with my dad, he walked up to the shop assistant and said "I'm looking for one of those chairs that.." and the reply was "The Poengs are down the end".

Is that chair the only thing they actually sell?

[forsure]

Miss Pitstop said:

deevlash said:

good matresses too!

Personally Ikeas items work for me, but don't go OTT. I dislike rooms that are top to bottom Ikea (including the pictures et al) but if you mix and match with other items it is great.

That's my approach too; I'm typing this at an Ikea desk I bought 16 years ago. Can't remember exactly how much it cost, but it was less than three figures. Still looks good and works well, and has survived a house move.
Also have a 'Billy' bookcase, 6ft+ tall with six strong shelves - £30.
So, good value certainly, but I wouldn't want my place to look like an Ikea showroom.

[L4MBOLUV3R]

in my mind for not very well thought out design for what you have to pay for it