Ikea sofa? Other furniture

[Anonymous]

We are considering Ikea furniture instead of dealing with more expensive stuff. We are looking at the malm bed, dresser and side table for the guest room. Also looking. At the ektorp and ... Not sure of the name. It's got the wood legs, very straight lines. Not the kivik which is the other one we are considering.

[Anonymous]

I had an Ikea bedroom set and well it is cheap. Sure a bit nicer than Target, but not something that will hold up well over time. We also have an Ikea couch and I don't recommend it for everyday. My brother has one in his guest room; for infrequent use it is fine.

[Anonymous]

We have a lot of IKEA furniture. Our sofa (a "Karlstad", which may be the one you're thinking of) has lasted 5 years of daily use so far and still looks great. Most of the covers are washable, which is important for those of us with small children. The Malm dressers have survived a move with no damage or defect. The beds, too. They're not heirloom pieces or anything, but we'll definitely get our money's worth out of them.

[Anonymous]

Extorp is good for families with small kids. Washable cover. Ours is 6 years old & still functional, upper pillows a little misshapen. Bought a new cover.

[Anonymous]

We bought an Ikea bed, nightstands and dressers in 1997 when we first bought our house and we are still using them. Sure they are kinda creaky now, but for the price they have really held up.

[Anonymous]

We have a large Karlstad sectional. I really like it. I have machine washed the covers several times as we have two small children and a dog.

[Anonymous]

We have an Ektorp and it's held up very well. That said, I would not recommend the built-in settee if you have kids. The cushion is not firmly anchored and the wood frame (which can cause injury) is easily exposed.

We looked at the Ikea side tables, but decided against them because they looked too flimsy. We opted for World Market ones instead and are very happy with the purchase.

[Anonymous]

I bought the Stockholm sofa, which is their slightly higher end one. It is actually really nice, and you can take off and wash the entire cover.

[Anonymous]

for bedroom I really suggest the Hemnes collection. the bed and dressers are made from better quality than malm.

honestly, if just for a guest room, search for these dressers and beds on there. you may get an even better steal and save the environment a little too.

[Anonymous]

I have an Ikea bed, it's Hemnes, I think. And Ikea side tables. I bought them to stage our house, and kept them because they look nice. The side tables look nice, but are not very functional because the drawers are so small and don't pull out all the way. Total PITA. And I have to keep a quilt over the footboard of the Hemnes bed or I bash my thighs into it and end up with huge bruises. It's pretty, but ought to have round edges on the footboard -- less dangerous. When I find a nice queen-sized antique bed (where?) I'll replace it. For now, it's functional and decent looking, so I'm hanging onto it. For a guest room, it's fine. I wouldn't think twice about getting stuff from Ikea.

[Anonymous]

Very happy with our ektorp sofa. Just don't get one with a pull out bed--horrible to sit on, horrible to sleep on.

[Anonymous]

The only people who know our house is 90% IKEA are people who shop at IKEA. If you're careful you can get stuff at a reasonable price that looks expensive. Go for it!

[Anonymous]

Our entire house is furnished from IKEA, all bought in 2003. Except for replacing a couple of dressers everything is holding up great. Some of the best pieces have been discontinued, alas.
We have the Hemnes bed, and several solid wood book cases that are still going strong.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the info! I plan on staying away from the cheap looking stuff. The Hemnes does look pretty nice. Does that piece hold both a mattress and the box?

[Anonymous]

Just the mattress. Boxsprings are apparently not too much instyle. We just got rid of ours. It is mostly some wood and fabric.