We had a leather Ektorp sofa for 12 years and moved it 7 times. It was a workhorse--kids, dogs, etc. It's still on active duty and looking good at a relative's apartment. We replaced it with a Karlstad sectional with the metal legs. It's in our rec room and we are really happy with it so far. The whole family can stretch out on it! My Ikea stuff has held up better than than my living room sofa from a far more expensive store.

We;re thinking about buying the Karlstad for our rec room, I think that's the other one OP is talking about.

Anonymous wrote:IKEAS (and all cheap furnitures') problem is inconsistency. You can buy IKEA furniture and be happy for 10 years - or it breaks after a year. That's why I'd always prefer buying expensive used furniture over cheap new IKEA...in the end you get better quality and more use out of it that way.

PP, if you don't mind sharing, where do you buy your furniture?

IKEAS (and all cheap furnitures') problem is inconsistency. You can buy IKEA furniture and be happy for 10 years - or it breaks after a year. That's why I'd always prefer buying expensive used furniture over cheap new IKEA...in the end you get better quality and more use out of it that way.

Another Ektorp family here. Not all covers are machine washable, so check that first if you don't want to have to deal with getting them dry cleaned. Also, it helps to have 2 covers. Only complaint is from DH, who says that the back of the sofa isn't high enough. He's tall, I'm short, so this is not an issue for me, but may be a problem for people over 6 feet.

We also have a lot of IKEA storage things and bookshelves. All have held up relatively well. The pieces that do the worst for us are the dressers - we have one expensive non-IKEA one, and the quality is much higher. Otherwise, we've been happy with everything, and happy to not worry if something gets a little banged up.

We have a ton of IKEA furniture. The Ektorp stuff is good for families. Reasonably comfortable and durable and the covers are washable. We also have several beds, which have been fine. The dressers are crap, though. The drawer bottoms fall out with any weight in them. DH had to reinforce them.

I'm thinking about buying a Karlstad sectional and switching out the legs for our rec room - what do you all think?

Love the Ektorp. With two dogs and a bf baby who periodically spits up, the value in being able to wash the covers, and if the going really gets tough, buy new ones, is key!