Has anyone bought furniture from Ikea? How did it hold up?

**Josie561** · 08-19-2008, 06:39 AM

I'm in need of furniture for my apartment and a friend told me to check out Ikea. I'm kind of worried about the quality, but I do like the modern/ contemporary designs they have.

**Greebo** · 08-19-2008, 07:08 AM

Ikea holds up fine, but you won't furnish your apt. for $1000 there.

**ladykemma2** · 08-19-2008, 07:42 AM

particle board junk.

be selective in what you pick out. i had better luck with real oak furniture at those unfinished furniture places.

**GM97** · 08-19-2008, 08:27 AM

they are made up of cheap wood. i'd rather go to a yard sale or craiglist. but their kitchen accessories are fine. they also have a clearance section (for your living room/sofa) that are a little bit damaged or stain that are inexpensive.

**Ceashels** · 08-19-2008, 08:46 AM

Depending on what you are looking for and what the use will be Ikea can be ok. I have some cd towers that don't get moved, that look nice and I like them. I also have some night stands and dresser drawers that get moved frequently and they are not holding up as well.

I love the solid wood shelving units/frames that you can assemble and build on. They are very utilitarian for us in our computer room and basement storage. They assemble/disassemble very easily when we need to move them.

I would vote for solid wood furniture from Craigslist for furnishing your apartment.

**monkeywrangler71** · 08-19-2008, 11:32 AM

Anything made of particle board will fall apart. The wood utility shelving is good, the particle board shelves will start to bow. Anything with a dark finish will chip and scratch.

We bought a kitchen cabinet from them which is very solid (stand alone counter with drawers), and I have the unfinished pine shelves which require a lot of anchoring to stop the unit from wobbling but the actual shelves are strong.

Any of the particle board cabinets, dressers and shelving that you have to assemble into a unit get damaged quite easily, particularly during assembly if you are not the world's most patient person. These things look good in the showroom but are not.

They do have great deals on glassware, dishes, lamps, kitchen accessories, etc.

**Amanda W** · 08-19-2008, 11:49 AM

It's disposable furniture. You would get much better value for your money if you tried garage sales/classifieds/thrift stores/home furniture consignment stores.

**savvymom** · 08-19-2008, 01:39 PM

We have a couch and two chairs and a desk (from the build your own desk section) from IKEA and they are great, they have held up well and still look nice.

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 08-19-2008, 01:47 PM

I just asked dd about this and she said that many of the college kids at CMU go to Ann Arbor and buy furniture there for apartments. She said it is not the greatest quality and that she recommends checking garage sales, estate sales, and the newspaper classifieds for sturdy furniture.

**itsahumanzoo** · 08-19-2008, 01:52 PM

DH and I have dressers from Ikea. He has to fix them once in a while, but they've survived three moves, so I'm not complaining. My MIL has a really nice daybed from Ikea, it has drawers underneath and a trundle that pulls out making it into a queen bed, I think.

The furniture won't last you forever, that's for sure. But if you take good care of it, and you like the way it looks, you'll be fine.

**frugalfoster** · 08-19-2008, 11:47 PM

My daughter has a really great bedroom set from ikea and my mountain house kitchen came from there. I love the stuff we got and no it is not pressboard.

**Laura2** · 08-20-2008, 12:48 AM

We have lots of stuff from Ikea. It isn't going to last us a lifetime, but we knew that when we bought it. Everything is pretty inexpensive and has served us well for the last few years.

**blitzen** · 08-20-2008, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Laura2

We have lots of stuff from Ikea. It isn't going to last us a lifetime, but we knew that when we bought it. Everything is pretty inexpensive and has served us well for the last few years.

Yeah, that!

I have Magiker bookcase (no longer made) that is about 7 years old. It looks as good as it did on the day we got it and it has survived two moves. We have an Expedit bookcase that we use as a dresser (takes up less space) and it's been moved around our house a few times--still looking good. In fact, we are going to Ikea sometime next month to buy two more Expedit bookcases for our kids rooms. We also have a flimsy plastic hamper that was $2--it also is 7 years old and has transported hundreds of pounds of laundry to the basement for yeras.

Like others have said, not all of their stuff is great quality. I find the more popular pieces (like the Expedit) are among the best. The best thing to do is to go to the store and look at everything, open the drawers etc to get a feel for the quality. You will definitely notice a difference. I'm an Ikea ho so I'm a little biased towards their stuff!

**IntlMom** · 08-20-2008, 09:08 AM

I love our IKEA stuff. Nope, it's not "forever-furniture", but it holds up great and I don;t have a cow when it gets dinged up like I do when something happens to my good, expensive furniture.