If the sofa is Karlstad, you can definitely find replacement covers online (including on ebay). Planning on recovering mine soon.

Anonymous wrote:The durability is hit or miss. I have 25 year old Ikea furniture that is still going strong, and I have items that only lasted a year. It is worth it to go to the store and scrutinize what you are buying. Some things look great in the catalog but not in real life. Other things that I had not considered from the pictures turned out to be great items once I saw them in the store. FWIW, the sofa I bought 5 years ago is holding up well even though 3 boys use it as a jungle gym and trampoline. However, they discontinued the product and now I can't get new slipcovers for it.

Have you tried looking at Bemz for slipcovers? They do have slip covers for some discontinued lines and yours may be one of them

http://bemz.com/

I love the ektorp sofa. I bought mine for $399 and I've had it 15 years! Same with the billy bookcases. That stuff has lasted 5 moves. I outgrew having IKEA in the living room, then moved the bookcases into the pantry, I still loved them so much. They have glass doors and look so good in the pantry! Rest of my house is all pottery barn but still have that great ektorp sofa!

Anonymous wrote:Much of my home is IKEA furniture. I have one piece that I bought in 2000 that is still going strong and has had several different lives. And the dresser in my little one's room was one of my dressers in my room as a teenager, bought in 1990, and survived multiple moves.

I'm not saying stuff is heirloom quality, but treated well, it can last more than a couple years.

+1
This is my experience as well. If you can afford it, go one level up from the cheapest.

Our (apparently unreal) house is about 50/50 antiques and Ikea. The Ikea stuff has held up great, through multiple moves.

I've had an Ektorp sofa for over 10 years that I still love-- have bought new slipcovers over the years but it generally has held up great. All their particle board stuff is crap, but so is the particle board stuff you get at Target/BBB/etc. As PPs have said, if you go for their mid-priced or higher stuff, I think there are some good deals. Especially good for things kids are going to destroy anyway.

I really hate Ikea furniture. I hate the idea that furniture should only last 5 years or 10 years max. What a waste of resources. It's just disposable furniture. And it needs hours to put it together. Their sofas and chairs and beds are SO low. It's like they weren't made for normal sized humans.

The dining table, rocker, dresser and Billy bookcases have held up well and the kitchen.
The cheap couch fell apart pretty fast, but so did expensive C&B dining chairs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks great, but breaks easily.

This. Great for college/just after. Not for a real house.

Ha! Not for a real house.

We have the Hemnes line for our sons room. I like it and for the price, it is great. We also have the $20 Lack table as our living room coffee table so that when my son is playing monster trucks or some other equivalent game with his toys, I don't care if it is gets scratched..

Once he is older and not as rough on furniture, I will buy better quality stuff.

The durability is hit or miss. I have 25 year old Ikea furniture that is still going strong, and I have items that only lasted a year. It is worth it to go to the store and scrutinize what you are buying. Some things look great in the catalog but not in real life. Other things that I had not considered from the pictures turned out to be great items once I saw them in the store. FWIW, the sofa I bought 5 years ago is holding up well even though 3 boys use it as a jungle gym and trampoline. However, they discontinued the product and now I can't get new slipcovers for it.

I'm 8:29 and I'll also add that I wouldn't expect the furniture to hold up that well in a move. We will be in our house for awhile, so I think it suits our needs well for now. But if we moved, I wouldn't expect all of it to move well....

The key to Ikea is to make sure it's put together well. Things will fall apart, or look awful, if they are not aligned and put together just right. I find it's worth the money to pay one of their contractors to assemble stuff. My DD's dresser if from there, and I figured I really wanted the drawers to be RIGHT so that they would open and close for years without issues. It's been 2 years and all is well so far. We have the Hemnes.

Our couch is also Ikea and it's WONDERFUL. Also only two years in, so I'm not sure how it'll be in the long run, but so far so good. And I'm glad it wasn't super pricey since we have young kids who get snot and drool and other gross stuff on it.

Anonymous wrote:Looks great, but breaks easily.

This. Great for college/just after. Not for a real house.

I like them for bookcases, shelving, rugs, etc. Not for couches, comfy chairs, etc.