IKEA furniture is worth it and durable if you put the work into assembling it right. When I was looking at furniture like a chest of drawers, side tables, and wardrobe; I found that IKEA furniture was significantly cheaper than other furniture stores. There’s a good reason for it, the main one being their ‘flat-pack’ self-assembly model.
So is IKEA furniture worth it?
IKEA offers good quality simple stylish furniture at a reasonable price. Its durability is also good provided the self-assembly instructions are followed properly. IKEA furniture’s main incentive is that it can allow you to save money but also buy the furniture that you need.
As far as flat-pack furniture goes, I found IKEA furniture to be of better quality than other retailers in the UK. When I was fully renovating my home, so much money went into my kitchen, bathrooms, and electrics. IKEA furniture was a perfect way for me to furnish my home with new furniture at the end of my project.
Is IKEA Furniture Easy To Assemble?
IKEA furniture assembly is straight forward. Give yourself space, I tend to assemble furniture in my living room and then move to designated parts of my home.
I’ve assembled an 8 piece chest of drawers, a four piece shoe rack and a side table, all from IKEA.
The more drawers you have, the longer it will take to assemble your furniture for sure, but it’s not difficult.
General steps to take when assembling IKEA furniture:
- Read the instructions front to back so you can understand the logical order of things. This will also help you to understand which screws and connectors go where.
- Arrange all the panels, screws, and provided furniture parts. Count them to make sure that you have everything. This stops you from thinking you’re missing something during assembly.
- Work through the process logically a step at a time. Be sure not to overtighten any furniture or you’ll risk damaging the wood
Can IKEA Furniture Be Disassembled and Reassembled? Take it apart
IKEA furniture generally does not have any glue or stick on elements to it. It’s all metal, wood and plastic connectors where necessary.
With that in mind,there is no reason why your IKEA furniture cannot be disassembled or re-assembled anywhere at any time.
Keep hold of the manual if you plan to fully disassemble your furniture, otherwise, if make becomes more of a task than it has to be.
Where & How Is IKEA Furniture Made?
IKEAs raw materials are taken from its own forests in Alabama USA, Romania, and the Baltic states. Most of IKEA’s products are designed in Sweden. The actual manufacturing of IKEA furniture takes place in China and in developing countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, but also in Eastern European countries such as Romania and Poland.
Will IKEA furniture fit in my car?
In general IKEA furniture will fit into your car, but it obviously depends on the size of the furniture that you are buying. Given that it’s generally flat-pack furniture, your chances are pretty good.
In terms of considerations, think about
- If your back seats fold down, if then do the maximum length is from the end of your boot to the front seat.
- If your seats don’t fold down, you only have the boot space.
- Measure the longest side of the furniture you buy. If this fits, you should be good to go.
If your furniture does not fit in your car, don’t worry about it. IKEAs home delivery service is pretty reasonable. If you’re flexible on your time slot it’s even cheaper. You can find out more on IKEA’s website here.
Does IKEA furniture last?
IKEA furniture is one of the most durable flat-pack furniture options on the market in my opinion.
I can say that having bought flat pack furniture from other retailers including another chest of drawers Argos (major UK retailer) and a flat pack footstool from Wayfair.
Over the three years that I have owned my IKEA furniture, it’s still standing strong.
The comparable chest of drawers from Argos on the other hand have not held in place. I have had to re-enforce my Argos flat pack chest of drawers with metal plates, and it’s still a bit wobbly. Ah well, you can’t win them all I guess.
Will IKEA Put Furniture Together For You?
IKEA furniture is designed for self assembly, but if you’re apprehensive about assembling it yourself, IKEA will assemble your furniture for you, for a price.
They also partner with other furniture assembly specialists. You can of course find a carpenter or handyman online to do this for you too.
The benefit of having IKEA assemble the furniture for you is that you get a 1-year workmanship guarantee as well. It’s one way to guarantee a good job I guess. Here’s a link to IKEAs page on assembly should you want more information.
Bear in mind how much it costs to have your furniture assembled versus buying a fully assembled piece. Just make sure it’s worth it for you, given the saving you make with IKEA furniture is in the self-assembly.
Can IKEA Furniture Be Painted?
Theoretically, some IKEA furniture can be re-painted, but I would not recommend it.
The reason being is that IKEA uses a lot of chipboard with glossy sheets. Painting these sheets usually doesn’t come out very well. Even if the shell of your furniture is solid wood, the likely hood is elements of it will be chipboard.
You are better off buying some reclaimed furniture from an antique furniture store or flea market if you are looking to up-cycle any furniture in your home.
IKEA Furniture Quality – Is it any good?
In terms of the raw materials, IKEA furniture is not pretending to be something that it’s not.
You can buy varying degrees of quality i.e solid wood versus chipboard furniture for example, and this is reflected in the price.
Prices can get quite high on some items, and at this point it’s worth shopping around to see if it’s worth it.
Simply put, the quality of the materials is average but good, the design is simplistic and the build quality is down to you.
Whether you buy depends entirely on what your looking for.
IKEA Furniture Yes or No?
IKEA furniture is great to fulfill the need for necessary items in your home. Personally, It allowed me to splash out on a more expensive bed, mattress and sofas (not from IKEA), without blowing my whole furniture budget.
That being said if did want to fully furnish your home with IKEA furniture, it’s a great option too.
Their furniture is simple but timeless and can give your home a great look and feel.
The only thing is IKEA furniture is popular, so the likelihood of you finding your exact items in many people’s homes is very high. That wouldn’t bother me to be honest, but I get it why it’s an issue for some people.
In Summary…
I hope my experience with IKEA furniture will help you to decide if it’s worth it for you.
When it comes to the build quality of IKEA furniture, it is honestly down to you. I have had my items for many years, and have not experienced any issues with it.
Assembly is straightforward, but will understandably take longer with items that have more moving parts, like drawers for example.
You can of course get your IKEA furniture assembled, but it kind of defeats the point of it in many cases, if I’m honest.
I get a bit of a thrill out DIY things generally and if I’m honest, there’s a sense of pride when I have something together myself, even if it’s flat-pack furniture.
If you’re a DIY beginner it’s a great place to get started. Who knows, it may give you the confidence to build your own shed or something.