What do you have from Ikea?

[redmom3]

We bought my daughter's bed there last year and now wondering if I want to look at their dining room tables, etc. Thinking of moving makes me want new stuff -but not alot of money to spare. I need a coffee table and l.v. end tables too. :confused:

Lorie

[Ria]

We've had some stuff. A dresser, a bunkbed, and the kitchen table and chairs. To be honest, I think it's junky furniture. We bought it because it was cheap and looked good, but it did not hold up at all. We've gotten rid of all but the kitchen table, and that's only here because the Amish guy isn't quite done with our custom table. :) In short, if money is an issue, Ikea can be a fine place, but if you want quality furniture that will last look elsewhere.

 

Ria

[sdWTMer]

We have a cheapo computer desk and the dvd holders (the one like the bookcases, but for DVD's)

[Beth in Central TX]

I love IKEA. I just wish it was closer to my house. No, actually it's probably a good thing that it's not a convenient drive from here. We've purchased a bench for our garage that you can sit on to put on & take off shoes. It even has little cubbies underneath to set your shoes on. For one of our boy's room, we purchased a stand with 3 shelves that holds 9 boxes with lids. It has been great for small toys and Legos. Recently, we purchased a closet system for our master bedroom closet. It's wonderful! We have 2 pant racks, 4 areas for shirts, 1 area for long skirts and dresses, many drawers, an area of shelves, a tie rack, and a shoe rack. My new saying: The fastest way to a woman's heart is through a highly organized closet system.

[Tess in the Burbs]

we had a bed frame for years, a couch, several end tables...

 

we were looking for cheap furniture and it always fit the bill in our early marriage years. Nothing was ever thrown out b/c it had broken, just had money to buy newer nicer stuff.

 

Right now we have desks, under the counter lighting, office desk organizers, trach cans to match the organizers, a CD tower and the newer style light bulbs. oh, and some utensils and bowls(ceramic and stainless) and the kids' colorful plastic cups, plates and bowls.

 

Ok, we have more than I realized!!

 

The only thing from there that did not work was a cute shoe organizer/bench thing. We tightened it so many times but it never seemed to be very secure and finally threw it out. Otherwise, we have been pleased with the quality of everything we have bought there.

 

If we had one closer to us I suspect we would buy more :-)

[Lisa at Home]

You can see all the other Ikea discussions at the bottom of your page in the "similar thread" box.

 

I found it quite helpful.

 

~Lisa

[abbeyej]

I've had a couple of dining tables from Ikea, and I would not do that again. Both self-destructed after about 3 years. They were very cheap, which was useful to us at the time, but we got we paid for.

 

I think Ikea is fine for end tables and such -- just be sure to inspect the floor models carefully for wobbliness, etc. And don't plan to keep 'em for twenty years. ;)

[Stirsmommy]

Bookcases (a lot), shelves, a bed, and a futon now. Have had a couple of futon chairs in the past. We love Ikea. All of mine has held up very well. Some of it has made a couple of big moves and several small moves. I am very happy with it.

[Whisperlily]

We have a bench that suits our dining room table, the dark colored "cube" bookcase in our living room, various pictures and frames, my favorite knives are from IKEA, some kids dinnerware, a wooden stepstool, lots of kitchen accessories...

 

Tomorrow we're going to IKEA to get my son a loft bed for his birthday, and we bought the "princess" drape to go on the wall behind my daughter's bed. She's getting the "torch" lights to complete her princess room look. DD10 has the flower wall light... Various children's decorations, wall shelves, etc.

 

We have a few duvet covers. Tomorrow we'll probably have more stuff in addition to the bed. ;)

[redmom3]

Three years ago, I had some b-day money and really needed a dinette set. I went to Lacks and bought a beautiful round table.

Well, it has a plank look on top with groves that fill up with EVERYTHING and the chairs are top heavy and fall over easily.

With two toddlers I need something durable-we really use our stuff.

I was thinking about Ikea, and I love their small things but, I really want to invest wisely-just don't have the money or time(meaning, I can't walk into a furniture store with my youngins') to be really picky.

I want to convince myself and dh to save and save for a really nice, handmade table that will last our lifetime and not have to replace one every few years, just hard to spend alot on things that don't seem that urgent.

[JFSinIL]

four bookshelves, four computer desks, various lamps and oddments. The bunk beds (we are using them as separate beds at present) are solid, darkish "mission-style" wood. Oh, and we have two large dressers that match the bunk beds! High quality stuff!

[Diana in OR]

In my experience, with IKEA you get what you pay for, meaning more expensive=better quality.

 

We've had a cheap dresser and chair fall apart. Otoh, we have the cube bookshelf, and also a Leksvik bookshelf with glass doors. Those were both more expensive, but have held up well and look nice. We also have one of their $14.99 square end tables. That thing has held up to my 225lb. ds using it as a *chair*. It also has several airsoft scars :( but still looks just fine and as sturdy as ever.

[Shelly in VA]

I love IKEA! We have bookshelves that we are very happy with, computer desks, a dresser that is in one of the kids rooms, and a leather couch. The couch is less than 1 yr old, so I haven't had it long enough to speak to its durability, but so far, so good, and that's with 2 boys (who like to "high jump" the arms no matter how many times they are told not to!) and a dog (who isn't supposed to get on it, but tries to at every opportunity).

 

We also have some small things, like a lazy susan that sits in the center of our dining room table, some drawer organizers, chair pads for the kids desk chairs, etc.

[DollyM]

In our house: DD's bedroom furniture - various pieces all white (not a true "set") The headboard is holding up. The armoir is a little wobbly but still good. The desk was a failure (drawers just fell apart) and the chair cracked in the seat. It was cheap and served DD from age 5-17 but we won't feel bad taking it to the dump when she goes off to college.

 

DD's former Ballet School has one coffee table and two sofas in their very busy waiting room. It get's a LOT of traffic - much more than the average living room. The table is getting scuffed up and ugly, but the two sofas are actually holding up surprisingly well. They are about 3 years old so far.

 

Click the link and scroll down to "Waiting Room" to see -

http://www.baltimoreballet.com/facilities.htm

[DIY-DY]

We bought my daughter's bed there last year and now wondering if I want to look at their dining room tables, etc. Thinking of moving makes me want new stuff -but not alot of money to spare. I need a coffee table and l.v. end tables too. :confused:

Lorie

 

The last time we went, we wanted to get an entertainment center. All of the ones they had, though, would not have survived a move, let alone life with an old, heavy TV and a house full of children.

 

We ended up buying two end tables, which we set between two bookshelves to serve as a creative entertainment center. Man-oh-man, they are STURDY! I love them.

 

We have a number of things from IKEA that we've enjoyed, and all of which have served us well over the last four years or so:

 

* Step stool (solid wood)

* End tables (solid maple)

* Kids' table/chairs set (solid wood, unfinished - has held up beautifully)

* Round hanging mesh thingies. No clue what they're called, but they're quite handy!

* Plastic kid-sized plates (wish we'd bought more of those!)

 

My wish list includes:

* Bathroom set (sink, cabinets, etc. for the master bath)

* Bedding

* Hanging chair (I just really think those would be fantastic!)

 

Dy

[RhondaM.]

Lockers and Billy bookshelves with glass doors. I LOVE my bookshelves!

[Mrs Mungo]

Pasting this from the thread the other day (too lazy to type it out again):

 

Ten Billy bookcases-some of them we've had for 10 years and they've been moved 3 times, twice overseas.

 

The Ingo $50 dining table-we cut down the legs, painted it and use it as a school table.

 

Two of the Rast $40 small 3 drawer chests, they are currently painted black and being used as nightstands in my bedroom but they've been used in other ways in the past such as dressers in a baby room.

 

We also have 2 large 3 drawer dressers but I don't think they have those exact ones anymore.

 

The Mydal bunkbed-I think we've had this since our son was born..about 7 years-again, it's made 2 overseas moves (Germany to North Carolina then NC to Hawai'i) and is still sturdy.

 

The desk in my craft/school supply room is also from IKEA but I'm not sure which table-top and legs belong to it. It's also about 10 years old and I just don't recall for sure.

 

We have *several* (6 or 7?) of the Trofast storage systems with the plastic bins. They hold a ton of our toys, math manipulatives, random science stuff, construction toys, etc.

 

We also have tons of kitchen stuff, toys, random shelves, storage containers and more.

 

That's all I can think of at the moment but I will say that some of our super-cheap IKEA stuff (we even bought a lot of it in Germany when the dollar was strong so it was WAY cheap, chaper than the current price which is what I listed) has held up longer than furniture we paid a lot of money for.

 

ETA: Although some of the stuff is particlar board (such as the Billy bookcases) they are far more sturdy than lines like Sauder. We had some Sauder bookcases a long time ago and they *broke* the first time they were packed and moved. Also, a lot of the stuff we have (dressers, table, trofast, bunkbed, etc) is solid wood.

[Valerie in Chicago]

We have lots of their bookcases, which have been just fine. DH also built a couple of their wardrobes. He has also built *several* dressers from there. They are all holding up fine, but beware! Make sure you check BEFORE you leave the store to see if you have ALL of the hardware. If you don't, it's a nightmarish system to try to get any extras or replacements. Seriously, it's really bizarre!

 

Before DH & I moved in together, I had a couch in my studio apartment from IKEA. I had to drive the first one back to the store. As I started to build it, the left arm was not functioning. There was a loose screw rolling around in there or something. They were great about the exchange, it was just a hassle to borrow a friend's car and haul all the way back out there. When DH & I moved in together, I sold it. The gal who bought it seemed happy enough with her purchase too! (it wasn't used much -- i was over as dh's apt mostly anyway)

 

So they are at about a 90-95% approval rating with me. We're thinking of getting bunk beds for the kids before long and will probably go there.

[LG Gone Wild]

No kidding. We have a lot of stuff from IKEA. I mean it is cheap stuff and pine and sometimes kind of ugly. But it fits our budget w/out being too terribly made. Their linens are not that good though.

[HSMom2One]

My favorite Ikea find is an oval cheese grater kit with different size graters and a lid. It's the handiest thing in the kitchen. We also have a hanging storage unit, and some glasses for the kitchen. There's a new store about 30 miles away and we haven't had a chance to go yet. I'm looking forward to having one closer to home.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda