Experiences with IKEA?

randomevent

randomevent

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So, we want new furniture in my house. The fiancee and I have recently fallen in love with Scandinavian furniture, specifically this store:

http://www.scandesign.com/

Of course, everything there costs a bajillion dollars. Well, not really, but I don't love a platform bed enough to pay $3000, or $5000 for a couch. Anyway, Ikea has platform beds, which is what we're really interested in. Problem is, I don't want to buy a bed that will break after 2 months.

So, has anyone here used IKEA beds? If so, can you comment? And also, if anyone knows any other furniture companies selling Scandinavian/Contemporary furniture for decent prices, I'm all ears.
 
I've never owned one of their beds, but I know people who have and been satisfied. Most of my other furniture is from ikea (literally everything in the office I'm typing this in) and I love all of it.
 
I know at least one reason it's cheap is because you have to assemble it yourself. I'm specifically wondering if anyone had their IKEA beds collapse, or something like that. The prices are a bit too attractive, and I've heard lots of good hype around IKEA, but it's usually never around the bed frames.
 
I've got an IKEA bed - it was cheap, and it fit in my car. If you're buying the slatted base, I suggest staplegunning the straps to the board as a reinforcement. It's unlikely that you'll break the midbeam itself unless you're jumping on it, but ours has held up for three years or so without fail.
 
In my experience Ikea stuff usually falls a part pretty quickly. Picture frame I bought fell apart literally a week after I bought if that. A bookcase lasted a little less than a year. But I've never bought a bed from them so maybe the quality is a bit better. That's just my two cents.
 
I have a table from them that's really nice. When you're in the store you can tell the cheap stuff from the furniture that is quality. Just be prepared to spend a few hours in their store. It's huge!
 
I have a large dresser and a secretary desk that I have been very happy with.

I have been considering a bed from them as well.
 
To me, IKEA stuff is great in regards to accessories, mirrors, candles, towels, etc. Furniture I guess I'm a snob. We found loads of nice stuff on craigslist in our area (but then again, I'm in Atlanta so lots of people). When you go to IKEA, take a look at their scratch-and-dent section FIRST. Sometimes, there is nice stuff there that (if you are the slightest bit handy) can work out nicely and cost a few $$ less.
 
I bought an IKEA bed and used it for a year. It was fine. Took a few hours to assemble, but other than that, had no problems with it.
 
Ikea makes pretty cheap stuff, but it's not any cheaper than more expensive brands like West Elm. My recommendation would be spend less on the frame and spend a little extra on the mattress.
 
Thanks for the advice so far. Honestly, we're not really snobs about quality. We just want a new bed frame that won't fall apart while we're asleep. We're going to check IKEA out, but if anyone has ideas or more opinions, please let me know.
 
Here's the deal about Ikea stuff: When you are putting it together, try to think about where it might fail. I.e., does this bracket look secure enough, should I hammer in some extra nails here, should I reinforce this with something, and so on.

I've found that some quick and small modifications will make their things work much better and last longer. Just tiny things, nothing major. I'm no carpenter by any means.

For the price and general quality and style, they are as good as you can get. Yeah, I'd love to get Eames chairs and whatnot too, but I don't have buckets of cash to drop on such things.

Always check Craigslist, as someone mentioned above. Got a wonderful top quality leather Ikea sectional couch for a third of the regular price. Hot, hot stuff.
 
What Strell said.

I do think, though, there should be a qualification of what others have said.

The cost is cheap. The materials are cheap. But the end product itself isn't cheap in the sense of poor quality. It's low cost, but the engineering and the construction are much better than anything else in its price range.

I haven't had anything from IKEA that fell apart. I have a bookcase loaded down with heavy books, cabinets and drawers that put up with plenty of abuse, and my son has a hand-me-down bed (from a neighbor) that has withstood years of jumping and roughhousing.

The lone item of furniture that was mildly disappointing was a chair. I lost my balance and fell back on it, and one of the legs didn't fare so well. But a couple of L-brackets later and it has withstood daily use.

I can also say that yeah, you put it together, but it's fairly easy. The directions are clear and there are never missing or broken parts. I've put together other pieces of furniture that were difficult, annoying, or puzzling, but I never worry about IKEA's.
 
My TV stand is from Ikea, it was $14 and other than being too small, it's pretty great. It holds a 32" CRT TV with no problems at all.

My sister owned one of their beds, and it held up pretty well. She treats her stuff like crap and it never broke. I'd say go for it, but DO NOT buy one of their mattresses. None of them are comfortable, most of them are paper thin.
 
Pretty much seconding everything Strell said. I'll post pictures once I clean the place, but nearly everything in my apartment is IKEA (college student + decent looking furniture = sold!). The hassle is assembling it (and reinforcing where needed, a staple gun and a few extra nails go a long way), but if you're a student who moves every now and then, it definitely makes things a hell of a lot easier.
 
We got a cheap(est) IKEA bed frame and splurged on the mattress, and it's held up pretty well for the two years we've had it. If you go to the IKEA site, we got the RAMBERG (*snicker*) bed frame.

Edited to add: This only applies to California folks, but if you're looking for an alternative to IKEA, there's a local chain store called Scandinavian Designs that isn't too pricey:
http://www.scandinaviandesigns.com/
 
I've purchased 2 desks and a bed from Ikea, so far the 2 desks are still in use, although I might need to buy a different one because of my setup now. I don't have the bed frame anymore, but I do still have the mattress though.
 
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