ikea furniture?

[MissSJ]

We don't have an Ikea in my area and I am thinking of buying the Kura Bed and the Johan Computer Workstation from them online. Have any of you had experience purchasng from them online? Any experience with their furniture? It is hard to buy a piece of furniture online without seeing it in person so anything about the quality of Ikea's products will be great as well!

Thanks!
SJ

[MeganW]

I have several things from Ikea and have had quite a few pieces over time. I'd say the biggest rule of thumb would be if you buy something that has to be put together don't plan on taking it apart again EVER. Also things just fit together. I have a poang chair that we LOVE. I think things on their website are pretty accurately depicted. I've ordered both online and purchased in the store.

[StrawberryFields]

I had a computer desk, a computer chair, kitchen chairs, a kitchen table, and some kitchen shelves and accessories from IKEA. Honestly, I don't think the quality is that great but everyone seems to love them so much. I didn't order online--I went to the store. For the price it's nicer than pressed wood furniture from Wal-Mart or something, but it was definitely "our first apartment" furniture that dh and I worked to replace ASAP.

[4evermom]

I don't have any IKEA but I know people have had a problem with their fiberboard bookshelves. They tend to sag with the weight of the books. They also don't hanle water damage well if it penetrates the surface (like if water gets in from the unfinished edges). You might have the same problem with the computer station. To a great extent, you get what you pay for with furniture. If you are getting these thinking they will help you make do for 5 years, they would probably be OK. Better stuff would be made of solid wood or plywood. The bed frame/loft you have picked out is solid wood for the structural parts so might be a better bet than the computer station. Pine tends to be a softer wood, also lighter in weight, so it would get nicked more easily than a hard wood but cost less to ship.

[mightymoo]

We have owned a lot of ikea furniture over the years. I've never bought online though. IKEA is what I call the best of the cheap. Most of the furniture is particle board, though some is solid wood. It's the highest quality particle board I've owned - the bookcases are particleboard veneers, but real wood veneer - so it doesn't have that fake printed woodgrain. Since they store everything flat, sometimes the end of a box will be damaged and particle board doesn't handle that well, so when we went to the store, we always check every box exremely carefully for damage. I would be very careful of this buying online, just check it very carefully when it arrives for shipping damage of any kind before opening and send it back if it looked like anything was damaged. Check their return / exchange policy, since I don't know what it is online (in terms of whether you have to pay to ship it back if there is a problem, etc) however I know in store they take everything back and have a pretty good exchange policies (it just sucks to lug it back to the store). I did once have the stuff delivered (bought in store, had it delivered to the house) and I think something was damaged and they just came and brought a new one, no problem

I've been eyeing that Kura bed for years, its so cute! It's solid wood, pine I think (other than the blue panels), the other is laminate veneer. We have some cabinets from IKEA in that type of veneer. They withstood being shipped from Washington cross country and our mover wouldn't insure particle board aparently because it falls apart so easily, but they didn't have any problems.

I think they are generally much nicer than any other particle board furniture I've had or seen.

[3boysmom]

We own lots of Ikea. Two of my kids sleep in Ikea beds, my oldest has an Ikea computer desk/workstation. We have an Ikea entertainment center in our Family Room, the computer desk and chairs I am using right now are from there and are about 10 years old now. We have many very nice pieces of furniture, lovely antiques, etc. but our Ikea stuff is what we use and abuse the most. Many of our Ikea items are well over 10 years old and still very functional and good-looking. I have had a few problems with missing pieces which is very frustrating when you have the stuff spread out all over the place and are trying to put something together. The store is about 45 minutes from us so I was not happy to have to drive back to retrieve some missing pieces. I've never ordered online from them but the missing bits might be difficult to deal with online if it happens to you. I do think their quality is excellent for the price once you get it all together.

[KMK_Mama]

I agree with whoever said it was the best of the cheap.

My kids whole room is Ikea. Their bunk bed, dresser, and bookcase. I just noticed that the girls spilled a drink on their bookcase and it's starting to "lift" from water damage. I was not happy, but it was only $50.

I have never bought anything online, we have a store in our area so I have no experience with that. I will say though that going to the store is an ALL DAY adventure. It's HUGE!

[zinemama]

When it comes to Ikea, my rule is, if it's real, solid wood, go for it. If it's veneered particle board, don't get it, no matter how great a deal it is.

[fioner]

Several years ago I ordered a whole bedroom set from Ikea over the internet. At the time I lived in Georgia and the closest Ikea was in Baltimore. We actually ended up with a shipping mistake, we got two boxes of the same set of parts for a dresser I think. I was really pleased with the customer service though, they sent someone to come and pick up the box that was wrong the next day, and we had the right box within 2 days, I think. It was super easy, and I was surprised at how cheap their shipping costs were.

Yes, Ikea stuff isn't always the *best* quality, but considering how little you pay for it, it's pretty good, and it looks (in my opinion) SO much better than cheap furniture you get elsewhere. The only problems that I've had with mine that really bother me are the dresser drawers. They tend to get stuck, or the handles get loose, or the bottom of the drawer sags.

[heartmama]

I like that IKEA designs are compact. American brands tend to be so overstuffed and oversized. If you are living in a small space, IKEA furniture is a good choice.

I agree with those who said to be mindful of their use of particle board. It is a good quality but you don't want it on an item that will be holding a lot of weight.

My favorite IKEA items are their PONG series. The PONG chairs are wonderful.

[quantumleap]

We ordered a futon from Ikea about 6 months ago, and we love it. It's more comfortable than our bed! Online stuff still scares me a bit when it's a "big ticket" (it was for us!) item, so I called their toll free ordering number. It was great. One thing to keep in mind is that most cities have Ikea "drop centers", or something like that, and it is much, much cheaper to have your stuff shipped to the drop center than directly to your house. We saved over 100$ just by having the futon sent to the drop center, which was about a ten minute drive from our house. Thankfully I wasn't with dh when he went to pick it up because it totally filled our little corolla, but it did fit. We really like a lot of the Ikea stuff. In fact, our living area is filled with an Ikea futon, an Ikea chair (the most comfortable thing ever, free off freecycle!), and an Ikea coffee table. I really like the simple lines and the washability of everything. Sure, there's nicer furniture to be had, but not for the price.
I would recommend calling to order, instead of doing the online thing. I don't think we would have known about the drop centers if I hadn't talked to a real person.