General Chat

Anybody got one?

What do you think of them?

well first you need the sofa
then you will need to add a cover
and then the legs
rent a little van from them to bring it home in case you don't drive a Volvo estate
and so on

I think the Swedish word is extorption.

I bought a bed there once. Never again.

What was the problem with it?

I've only ever bought small things there. Last year, however I bought a desk from them and yes, I had to buy the legs and the desk top separately, but I liked having exactly the legs and exactly the colour of desk I wanted.

We bought 2 settees and 1 recliner chair from them.

You got the settees minus covers and we got 2 different sets of covers so we could ring the changes. These covers are dry cleanable so we take 1 set off, take them to be dry cleaned and put other set on. Deep red for warmth in autumn/winter and a light floral set for spring/summer.

The settees are both very comfortable and my husband loves his recliner.

The settees and chair were delivered from Ikea at a small fee, far less than hiring a van.

:-)

Don't know about sofas, but last year I bought a 3-door wardrobe online which they delivered for £30 - as our nearest Ikea is a 3 hour drive away and this was a very heavy and bulky item, I thought that was good value, certainly less than the fuel for a round trip would have been. It went together quite easily and the instructions were easy to understand.

We bought quite a bit from Ikea when we lived in Germany. It certainly wasn't "for life" furniture (we bought the cheapest we could find) but more than adequate for a five year stay, and much cheaper than any other furniture store we went to. We sold or gave away most of it when we left (sold it for peanuts), two small sofas are still in a friend's basement :-D

We recently bought the YATAD two seater leather sofa, and a couple of the classic POANG chairs in brown leather although they are not sold as matching the leathers are almost the same so we are happy with both.

OK, I don't expect it to "See me out" but I was pleasantly surprised at how solid it felt after assembly, delivery is quite reasonable and the delivery guys were pleasant and friendly, unlike the two guys that came to pick up our old one for a local charity they could not have been more miserable!

we have several pieces of IKEA furniture, bought over the last 30 years or so, mainly chests of drawers (about 4), bookcases, had a desk, hide-a-bed sofas, etc.

Have to say, the quality went down about 20 years ago, but it now seems back up.


I'm not sure what you lot are on about having to buy legs, covers etc separately.

We don't buy it that way :-)


The last hide-a-bed sofa we bought from them 15 years ago had a choice of covers, and was delivered with our choice on. We could (and still can) buy extra covers if we want to change the colour.

Everything that has to be assembled comes with legs, shelves, and all hardware, included in the box

We usually bring their stuff home ................. but the hide-a-bed was delivered, very professionally, and the charge was not too high.


We have friends who built a guest cottage on their property about 12 years ago, and bought almost all the furnishings from IKEA ................. as well as buying IKEA kitchen cupboard units and cupboard units for 2 bathrooms

That included sofas, chairs, dining table and chairs, bed, chest of drawers, etc.

Lots of stuff from IKEA requires that you buy additional packs of stuff to get it functional eg: MALM bed
bed frame
bed center piece
bed side pieces
2 sets of slats
mattress
mattress undercover
This kind of thing makes their prices opaque.

Their stuff reminds me of when I bought my first new sailing boat - to my amazement the sails were (an expensive) extra ! As the engine was extra too I supposed I should have guessed.

The beds, sofas etc are uncomfortable but ideal for lettings as they look nice in online photos. In tenanted property IKEA has about 3 year life ( which is quite good ) so I guess it will do much longer in a private home - you'd probably get bored with it before it wore out.

In each store they have a section of stuff damaged ( from a lot to a small scratch ) ex-display end of line and so on. You can get some great bargains there sometimes - I bought an IKEA leather sofa for £ 99 normal price about £ 400. Fault: white paint on one of the arms. That's how I know they are uncomfortable. I gave up on it after a couple of weeks.

IKEA for all its faults is much better value than Homebase or DFS but not as good value as John Lewis. However if you don't need JL quality no point in shelling out for it. Heals are good for sofas too.

boing

http://healssofas.co.uk/pcat/sofarange

We have a number of Ektorp Ikea sofas both here in England and abroad. The covers are washable - great when friends throw their red wine around! We simply removed the white cover, threw it into the washing machine - it came out like new.We find them comfortable - just need a little "plumping up" every day. Extra covers are available to change the "look" of a room.

Probably much more expensive sofas will be a little more comfortable but personally could not live with the constant dread of mishaps.

The IKEA sofa bed we have is very comfortable to sit on ................ we bought it to have in the study that we made out of my daughter's bedroom when she left home.

The mattress is a bit on the thin side, but we add padding underneath and a thick-ish mattress topper if we have people to stay.

The mattress was included in the price



and IKEA obviously works VERY differently in the UK than here .................

from a current catalogue .........


MALM twin bed

Adjustable bed rails allow use of mattresses of different thicknesses. Painted finish.
Slatted bed base INCLUDED

Cost $199 (or about £100)

Mattress and bed linens sold separately


MALM queen bed frame, high
with 4 storage boxes (ie, big drawers on casters for under bed storage)
Slatted bed base included

$399 (ca £200)

Mattress sold separately.



Although, I notice that 3 models of bed, including the LEIRVIK full/double bed frame, of powder coated steel, do have the slatted bed base sold separately!

As they show a total of 16 models in the catalogue ................. most of them have the bed base included.




Most companies here do in fact sell mattresses separately from the bed frame .......... people's taste are so different.




Unfortunately, none of the other companies Rollo named are over here :-)

Have to add, that the bed our friends bought for their guest cottage is VERY comfortable.


we've slept on it many times :-)

We kitted our son's bedroom out entirely with ikea furniture, two wardrobes, chest of draws, king size bed and two bedside cabinets 16 years ago. All still good as new.

We have an ikea opening very near to us this year or early next year, there is already a dunelmill in the same area too. Perfick. ;-)

We bought a large sofa bed from Ikea and although it get's used as a bed occasionally, it is very good.
Rollo.... I have a Volvo XC90 and the bed did fit in the back....only just!
However, it took up all of the rear space, and my OH had to leave two of the threee passengers behind... me and my daughter!
It's about a half hour drive home, and Ikea had just closed for the night.
It was raining and we didn't have coats or an umbrella
We had to walk to a nearby leisure centre and wait an hour for him to make the return journey with an empty car

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/weirdnewsvideo/11042304/Family-struggle-to-force-giant-sofa-into-tiny-car.html

(to the tune of "The Day We Went to Bangor" )
:-D

Has anyone noticed just how expensive their stuff is these days.

Used to be reasonable quality at a reasonable price.

Not any more......

Imagine going to IKEA with an XC90 knowing you can stuff just about anything in the back just like Wallander ... who knows what may happen the day is young.
:-)

I bought a 2 seater settee and an armchair (Ektorp) from Ikea about 8 years ago because they cost much less in Ikea than in other furniture shops. Delivery charge was about £30 I think.
Both have lasted very well. The covers are removable and washable. I have washed them a few times and they still look good, and they iron well too.
A few years ago I bought another set of covers, not because they needed to be replaced, but because I wanted to have an alternative colour once in a while.
I think they're good value for money.

I think they are more expensive than they used to be ........................ but then so is almost everything else!


As long as the quality is there, then surely it is OK for the prices to go up?