Ikea Furnitures

judderman62

OK to buck the trend , and I got flamed in the past for daring to criticize Ikea qulity but some folk need to get a sense of perspective in life, I would say the quality can be exceptionally variable.

I have had a few bits n bobs in the past - mainly when I 1st moved in and as I had little money then I went for the lower end of the price scale and frankly the quality was not that great on some items.

I still have a futon that has served me for almost 8 years which in fairness is pretty good. On the other hand I had a coffee table which was about the carpiest quality of anything I have ever owned - I swear it was made of Balsa wood and spit - really dreadful. I walked past it one day and caught the leg and it just yanked the leg out with a fair chunk of the underside of the table :eek: :eek: - it was all chip board and wood shavings. I tried repairing it with wood epoxy but it didn't really work and the leg kept falling off Have since replaced it with one from Argos that is 20 the quality of the IKEA carp.

I think with IKEA you need to be careful - some stuff OK, other stuff not so great - I suspect the lower down the price scale you go the more likely a moderate gust of wind could break it.

sooz

penrhyn wrote: »

Tips for happy Ikea shopping.

Go as early in the morning as possible( restaurant open 8:30, store at 9:00am), preferably on a week day.
Cooked breakfast is around 95p
Never go at the weekend or a bank holiday.
Empty your car boot ready for all those goodies.
If you can pop into bargain corner first, you may get lucky, if you do haggle and you may get a bit more off.
Get an Ikea family card, gives you free tea or coffee in the restaurant.
Check what space you have available and the dimensions of your intended purchases.

Pick up the store guide, pencil and tape measure as you go in.

Good luck!

take your own plastic bags, or if you've already got a big blue bag, remember to bring it. They now charge you 5p per bag, or 25p for a big blue bag. I always get the blue one, but then leave it at home next time :mad: I could open a shop! But they are useful.........:D

sooz

pcg2001 wrote: »

Hi,
I've been meaning to buy some Billy shelves for my books, any good/ bad experiences? I need these to last many years...

Only for 1 year: I need a cheap desk to study in, any experiences with the ikea range?

Thanks.

Billy's nice They've been doing him for years, and you can always buy add ons. We've only recently got doors for ours.

Only problem is they have recently had a slight colour change. Beech isn't beech any more...it's gone funny. So our old beech doesn't match their new beech. Birch is the same though. I just wish they'd told me!!!!:rotfl: So instead I got metal & glass doors. But now I want the height extensions, and they wouldn't match.


Anyone want some old beech colour Billys....I feel change coming on :rolleyes:

sooz

Finally,

don't buy their beds, unless you want to get mattresses there too, as the sizes are funny.

same goes for their kitchens. These are not uk standard sizes. If you want an Ikea kitchen, you'll probably find you have to get everything else there too, not just the cupboards, as, for example, B & Q worktops won't fit.


And if you ever want to change to doors, the new one's will have to be Ikea's too.

And if you have little kids, don't forget you can chuck them in the ball pit for an hour for free! If it's a weekday, and you pick up a family card, you can go and have free coffee too. And even not buy anything. But you know you will always come out of the shop with something you don't need called Sveng

judyjetson

We bought our metal framed bed from Ikea about six years ago and it's the best bed we've had. It's a superking and I didn't buy the mattress from Ikea, mainly because the superking size was actually two single mattress which you put into a padded cover to make one big mattress. No matter how thick that cover was, I would have known there was a join there, and like the Princess and the pea, I would have been able to feel it! I bought a Relyon instead and it's fine - a little smaller than the frame but I can live with it.

What you do have to watch out for is the slatted base doesn't come with the bedframes; that had to be purchased separately.

Billy bookcase are good value, especially if you can get them in Bargain Corner, as they're usually about £20 cheaper. They're cut out at the base to fit over skirting boards (not if you've got deep ones though) so they'll stand flush to the wall.

SUESMITH_2

billy excellent -we got lots. pax wardrobes excellent (even better ours came from ebay and freecycle). ikea kitchen fab - lasted longer than our other kitchens put together. ikea bed -excedllemnt - we are tall people and my poor husbands feet stick out the bottom of standard beds. just be carefull what you buy - its all made up for you to see in the store and if it seems wobbly etc. dont buy.

melbury

My husband works at a school and they bought Ikea furniture for the bedrooms which he says is total C**P!! and he wouldn't have the stuff in the house. Reckons it looks like thick cardboard - really rubbish quality.

However, I have never been to Ikea and seen their stuff for myself, so cannot really voice a first hand opinion.

ic

For the money, Ikea is excellent, however as already advised above - don't go for the cheapest of a range. Typically they offer a high quality, a mid and a low quality option - the low ones tend to resemble the sort of rubbish MFI use to peddle out. I've pretty much equipped my whole house entirely with Ikea furniture and fittings. PAX is fantastic value for money, the higher end desk chairs are great (I've got one thats been going strong for six years now), Billy, Magica, Grundtal, etc. The only one thing I've never been keen on of theirs are the beds due to the euro-sizings - British fitted sheets and duvets sold by all other shops will not fit properly, so you're restricted to what Ikea sell.

ic

To answer the point about some things looking like thick cardboard - thats because they are! A lot of the cheaper ranges that feature what looks like thick bits of wood are made using two pieces of thin wood over a frame with a lattice of cardboard between! When viewing the furniture, just give it a tap, you'll soon figure out whats real and whats not.

buxtonrabbitgreen

I am sitting at my desk from Ikea I think it was £9.99 also have 2 billy bookcases which have moved house without falling to bits which is more than can be said for anything I have ever bought from MFI. I try to avoid going to Ikea to be honest as I always come out with a load of stuff I didn't know I needed.