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I don't buy much IKEA furniture, very little of it survives even a single move, and for the price you can find plenty of furniture that does. So it ends up not
by bane 10y ago
I don't buy much IKEA furniture, very little of it survives even a single move, and for the price you can find plenty of furniture that does. So it ends up not being a great investment, except for a few very specific, highly optimized pieces.
I have 6 Billys and my parents have something like 10. When I worked at a small startup and needed to fit out some field offices, I bought two things from the store, a Galant desk and a Billy bookshelf for each employee. Two Galants turn into a reasonable conference table. The employees loved both, a simple sturdy desk that doesn't dictate function and a highly customizable wall, they quickly became filled with all kinds of personalization. Cost per employee? something like $250.
They lasted for years and when the startup finally sold and closed up, the new owners didn't want the furniture, so we asked around and found a battered women's shelter who had just placed a woman and three kids into an apartment. They had been living without any furniture at all. Suddenly our reception couch turned into a living room couch, our Galants turned into their dining room table and our extra chairs turned into their dining room tables. Desk lamps became living room lamps and torches lit the bedrooms. Billys became impromptu wardrobes in all the bedrooms. After the move, all they needed were some mattresses, but they at least had an apartment full of other furniture. But I came away impressed at the general versatility of the furniture. Nearly a decade later, that family still has their Billys.
Billys basically get out of the way and turn into walls with storage. I've never bought the accessories (doors, etc.), but all the ones I know turn into curio cabinets as much as bookshelves. Nobody really cares much about what shelves look like, they care about what's on them and in that sense IKEA nailed it.
I also have a handful of other shelves from various manufacturers and it's very weird how they get things wrong and how optimized a piece of furniture the Billy is. It's weird to get so passionate about such a plain looking piece of furniture, but it's really kind of perfection of form.
- beachstartup 10y agoseems like the way ikea classifies their furniture is merely a suggestion. for example i've always used their dining tables as desks, as their "desks" are too small and flimsy and relatively expensive.
- mcv 10y agoYour first paragraph seems to contradict the rest of your story. It's absolutely true that some IKEA stuff is very low quality. Like the Billy: the shelves of the wide Billy sag when you put too many books on them. But IKEA also has higher quality furniture from solid wood. More expensive of course, but also sturdier. They're designing for various quality/price points. I once had a really sturdy IKEA desk, either Galant or its predecessor. It was strong enough to stand on with two people. Unfortunately its successor sagged with a single person leaning against it. I loved that desk, but my wife didn't like it and felt it was too big. My main problem with IKEA is that their beds are only 2 meters long. They've got really comfortable and affordable mattresses that my wife loves, but due to my height we have to shop for more expensive brands (which are supposed to be better and more comfortable, but turn out not to be).
- kalleboo 10y agoThe fact that IKEA beds are 2 meters long makes them my savior, in a country where all the other beds are 190 cm long... (or less!)
- j2bax 10y agoParent mentioned at the end of the first paragraph that there were a couple products from IKEA that didn't fit his overall feelings about their quality, he then went on for the rest of his post to talk about those couple of stand out amazingly designed/built products.
- freehunter 10y ago>Your first paragraph seems to contradict the rest of your story. That's intentional. Most of it is junk, except these specific items.
- Gravityloss 10y agoThe Galant desks are not sturdy. I would not dare to stand on one. First of all, if you use the telescoping legs, the locking mechanism is plastic IIRC and can't take a lot of load. But even just the actual desk surface: I think it's a sandwich of paper honeycomb with a very thin veneer and bends a lot even when someone's just sitting on it. It would probably just break in half if you stood on it. It is light so that's a plus.
- freehunter 10y agoWhile I fully expect my current (non-Ikea) desk would support my weight if I sat or stood on it, I've never actually considered doing that. Is sitting/standing on desks a common activity? My desk just supports my laptop and an external monitor.
- Gravityloss 10y agoAt least at home, if I have to do something to my curtain rod or put up christmas lights to the window etc, I find it perfectly normal. At work you're not expected to do those things. But I most definitely wouldn't call a desk that can't take standing "sturdy". Ikea has lowered the standards expected from furniture a lot, though it's been in decline with formaldehyde chipboard etc since the fifties or so anyway.
- pathikrit 10y agoHonest question: If I want the diversity of a Ikea catalogue with higher price and quality, where should I go?
- dmeola 10y agoTry Crate and Barrel, I've always felt it is just Ikea at a higher price + quality. I suspect the price increase is greater than the increase in quality though.
- chris_7 10y agoThe designs from Crate and Barrel usually aren't as good as those Ikea, even if the quality is up to snuff. CB2 is usually okay, as long as they haven't decided to make the piece you want only available in bright orange or something. They do that sometimes. There is definitely a gulf between Ikea (bad quality, good design, $) and DWR-tier places (good quality, good design, $$$$). Muji maybe, if they happen to make something in the niche you're looking for.
- KingMob 10y agoI love the irony of naming yourself "Design Within Reach", while still being out of reach for most people who aren't professionals. As the owner of several Muji items (trash cans, silverware holders, rolling storage unit, coasters, dish rack), I have to say while they look nice, they're rarely as well thought-out as Ikea. The trash cans don't seal, and the dish rack can't actually hold plates upright in position.
- jnunoferreira 10y agoI can't praise enough the quality and functionality of Joseph Joseph items. It seems like everything I own from them meets the advertised functionality and then some. And while expensive, the prices are fair. Great plastics and finishing. They don't do furniture, though.
- Gravityloss 10y ago