Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ikea

Is West Elm really better than Ikea?

snickerdoodle — Wed, 08 May 2013 06:42:50 -0800

Is West Elm worth the price premium over Ikea? We are looking for a dresser and other basic furniture storage for a temporary sublet. The priorities are cheap, quickly available, and not so crappy that I'll resent buying it every time I use it. It does need to last 2-3 years, be sturdy enough to withstand toddlers and fat cats, and not a complete nightmare to assemble.

I can see online that Ikea is in the sub $300 range, while West Elm is almost three times as much. Is the price premium worth it in our circumstances? Bonus points for other options in the same price range.

What are the best IKEA products for ages one to three?

Xalf — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 11:44:09 -0800

We are making a rare trip to IKEA tomorrow in part to get a table and chairs for our one-year old. What are other IKEA items that we should look at for him? The last time we braved IKEA, Young Master Xalf was just three months old. I was impressed by the selection in the kids section, but that was a while ago and I didn't have the perspective I have now that he's one.

So, what are your favorite things for kids from IKEA? I'm willing to consider anything they sell: furniture, toys, meatballs, etc. I put ages one to three in the title because I hope to not go back for at least a year or two.

We already have the awesome BUSA tunnel. Here it is in use.

WOAH - We're going to Ikea!

mippy — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:50:28 -0800

We are moving into our first flat! Hooray! However, it is unfurnished, so we need to buy us some furniture - specifically, a good sofa and a good dining/gaming table. If we go Ikea, what's the sweet spot between price and durability? Useful information: we are in the UK, specifically London, with access to a van/car when we move but not otherwise. (Neither of us drive.) While we will keep an eye out for good quality used stuff, at the moment we are working on the principle that we'll have to buy new, as we will need something to sit on when we move in and also it's difficult to pick up furniture without a car from Gumtree etc. As we are renting, we have to work on the principle that we will need to move it eventually, which makes me wonder whether 'investing' in furniture is a false economy.

Like Michael Heseltine, we will have to buy our own furniture. IKEA is by far the easiest option as a) we've been told it holds up better than Argos b) we don't have a massive budget as we're going to have to buy a lot of stuff for the first time. At the same time, we don't want something that will fall apart before we re-sign our contract.

What we are looking for:
- a sofa that sits at least two people, preferably more so friends can visit. In the UK, renters cannot paint the walls, put up wallpaper or knock nails into walls to hang art, so for the past few years, I've been living in a succession of plain magnolia rooms with the only colour coming from my books and bedsheets. (I'm also very much looking forward to having a nice sofa I can sit on after three years of living somewhere where I can't really use the sitting room. I'm tempted to get a lavender velvet chaise longue and never leave it again.) My instinct is to go for something in a lovely rich, bright plain colour to counter-act the white, but MrM wants to go for something neutral. One thing we are agreed on is that we don't want white - so if it comes in a nice colour or has washable/removable covers, that is a bonus. We also really don't want leather.

- a dining table. The important thing here is that we will be using this for dining and tea and cake when people come over, but also we will be using it for hobbies - for playing boardgames on, and for putting my sewing machine on. It needs to be big enough to take a good-sized game, and durable enough for a lot of use. An extending table may be the answer here, but we didn't see anything in Ikea that stood out - the fold-up top table my previous place had seems to have been discontinued. We definitely don't want a drop-leaf table, as the chances of me accidentally leaning on it and snapping it are very high.

If you have any recommendations for non-IKEA British furniture shops, feel free to give us those too. I have had a look at Made.com but I think it might be outwith our budget for now. I've also looked at a few online places but can't work out whether they really offer better value for money.

How do I attach a short wood plank onto an Ikea fiberboard tabletop?

legospaceman — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:05:31 -0800

My desk is not deep enough for me to sit comfortably with the monitor at a distance. How would I go about anchoring a wood plank onto it that will hold the counterweight of a 24" monitor sitting on the overhanging edge? This picture should explain what I mean. Clamps? Nails? Screws? For the record it's this tabletop which is made of :

Top: Fiberboard, Acrylic paint
Frame: Particleboard, ABS plastic
Filling material: Paper
Bottom: Fiberboard

It seems to hold small screws pretty well.

Mattress questions: Ikea & Macy's edition

needs more cowbell — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:01:12 -0800

Inexpensive firm mattress options: how does the Ikea Hanestad hold up? How do firm MacyBed mattresses hold up? Can you haggle at Macy's like you can with mattress chains? (+ more discussion inside.) I am looking for a firm, inexpensive, full or queen-size mattress in the SF Bay area. I'm on a tight budget--I'd like to spend something like $350 or less (mattress only, no boxspring.) I feel relatively confident that I can figure out which mattresses will be comfortable by laying on them, more or less, but I'm not confident about how they will hold up--sagging, springs popping out, or getting much softer. I know that there are warranties, but often this only kicks in when there is a lot of sagging, and with IKEA at least, you have to transport the mattress back to them for evaluation, which will be a pain and an expense. So I want something I'm pretty sure will hold up.

The IKEA Hanestad ($249 for a queen size, and reportedly on the very firm side) felt at least as comfortable as anything else in my budget at a chain mattress store, but several friends have told me that IKEA mattresses are bad quality. I would love to get people's comments on how specific models of IKEA mattresses held up, especially the Hanestad.

I'm open to hearing other ideas for firm + inexpensive stuff as well. Caveats: I do not want a pillowtop mattress. I also do not want memory foam (I know everyone here likes that memory foam mattress from Amazon but sadly I haven't liked a lot of the memory foam I've tried in stores.)

Why does Ikea think I am in the Dominican Republic?

AwkwardPause — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:04:54 -0800

When trying to access ikea.com. I am being re-directed to Ikea's website in the Dominican Republic (I am in the US). This happens on all the household's computers and in all browsers -- what is up?

how do you work science?!

raztaj — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 06:38:05 -0800

Can someone explain with SCIENCE, how this glass jar just exploded in my bathroom while I was taking a shower, and ended up almost entirely on the other side of the shower curtain? I have/had an Ikea glass jar in my bathroom, that was holding some decorative fake mossy green balls. It was sitting on a glass wall shelf. The lid sat lightly on the top - it was not air tight. Bathroom does get mildly steamy - I live alone in a studio condo, so I usually shower with the doors open and the fan on, so it doesn't really get very steamy.

I hear some cracking, exploding, and suddenly there's glass under my feet while I'm taking a shower. My shower curtain was closed. On the side closest to the plumbing, the shower curtain wraps around in the tub, so there's not much room there. I leave it open a few inches on the far side.

There is about 2-3" between the shower curtain and the ceiling. Somehow, this jar flew and crashed on the far side of the tub. There is zero glass on the floor or on the bathmats. But somehow, the lid ended up a few feet away.

I assume steam broke the glass, but how the hell did it end up broken entirely in the tub?! Did my glass jar fly? Is a ghost trying to kill me? What the hell just happened?!

Pictures of the crime scene here (note the shiny parts on the floor are not glass - they're water drippings from me running to escape)

The Great Meatball Mystery

bowbeacon — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:43:11 -0800

This weekend, IKEA is offering a food special where the price of your meal is deducted from furniture orders of $100 or more. In the fine print, I noticed an unusual clause: "Swedish meatballs not included in restaurant offer at IKEA Carson." Everyone loves Ikea's Swedish meatballs, but is the meatball market really THAT much more robust in Carson, CA? What's the deal?

Ikea bed and mattress suggestions

ocherdraco — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:20:25 -0800

Our bedframe is broken beyond repair. Perhaps this would be a good time to get a bed that is larger than a full. Our budget is Ikea level—so I have two questions: 1) Will their queen size beds comfortably support our combined weight of 500-550 lbs? 2) Are there any Ikea beds or mattresses that you particularly like?

What paint can I use on my textured desktop?

giraffe — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:47:09 -0800

My Ikea Dave desk is showing its age. The desktop is made of fiberboard with "epoxy/polyester powder coating;" it's textured. What sort of paint can I use? I'm looking for something that can be wiped clean with a damp cloth and doesn't get sticky/tacky when it's hot. Non-paint suggestions are welcome too.

How to hang IKEA's 5x7 Ribba frame from the small, recessed clip on the back?

palliser — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:44:49 -0800

How to hang IKEA's Ribba frames when they don't come with a wire across the back? I have several 5x7 Ribba frames I want to hang. They don't have a wire across the back; instead, there's a small metal clip on the back. The problem is that the clip is at the back of the recess, rather than on the edge that will touch the wall. So in order to hang it from a nail, the nail head would have to stick out from the wall by about an inch. That seems weird and would require some very large nails for a very small picture frame. Any ideas?

Help! Brand new ikea furniture gives me a stuffy nose

3mendo — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:25:21 -0800

Bought ikea furniture for a bedroom.. big mistake. The smell of paint is so strong that if i sleep with the windows closed i wake up with a stuffy nose. Is there any remedy?

Are all Ikea cam screws and locks plastic now?

racecar — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:32:04 -0800

I just received some replacement cam screws and locks from Ikea and the locks are plastic! Are all Ikea cam locks plastic now? Alternatively, do Billy bookcases come with plastic locks now? I bought mine years ago and they were metal. Picture of what a cam screw and lock look like in case they go by some other name I don't know

POANG VS. CURTAIN => HÅL

artychoke — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:29:26 -0800

Can you identify these Ikea curtains? Does anyone know the name of this Ikea curtain? One of them got ripped and I want to look around on ebay to find a replacement rather than get all new curtains. I ripped off all of the tags at some point because when will I ever need that information. I don't see them on the ikea website, so they're probably discontinued. I got them a little over 4 years ago. They are white with sheer white circles. (Any color in the pictures is from the sofa, the wall, or the shutters.) I might try some iron on interfacing first to patch it, but the chair that ripped them also left a giant smudge next to the hole.

Thanks!

Will memory foam padding improve IKEA mattress?

dr handsome — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:26:42 -0800

Will memory foam padding on a flat IKEA mattress would give me a better sleep and will folding it up every day ruin the padding? I feel like I'm achey in the morning, cricks in my neck, sore back, etc. The short of it: I think I need a better bed. But right now I can't get a real mattress so I'm thinking of getting a memory foam pad for the top of my Ikea folding bed.

• Will memory foam padding on a flat IKEA mattress give me a better sleep.
• Will folding it up every day ruin the padding?
• Are there any other suggestions that aren't "go see a chiropractor" or "get a real bed" that might improve my sleeping situation?

ikea furniture

umbú — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:23:31 -0800

Ikea cabinet hinge adjustment help needed. I've just finished putting together an ikea 'hemnes' cabinet with glass doors, and the doors aren't exactly lined up. Supposedly, the hinges are adjustable in three directions: up and down, left and right, and how deep they are in the cabinet. This site makes it look easy, but I'm having trouble getting it to happen.

Does anyone out there have experience adjusting this kind of hinge? Any tips? I'm in that deep, dark place that only botched furniture assembly can force you into.

Hacking (or just hacking up) my couch, vs. just replacing it already

aecorwin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:50:43 -0800

Can I hack my (Ikea Varnamo) couch? SHOULD I? I am becoming increasingly unhappy with my couch -- an Ikea Varnamo (which is a discontinued model) purchased about seven years ago. Picture here for folks unfamiliar with this particular sofa.

It's in fine structural condition, and I don't care about the rips and scratches in the upholstery as it's wearing a microfiber slipcover 24-7 these days, but the curved arm-rests are really beginning to bug me as they make the whole thing take up way more room than anything reasonably should along the wall I have it up against (which is really the only logical place for a couch in my house).

Moreover, the thing has terrible back support. It always has, and honestly the only reason I got it in the first place was because it was cheap and (at the time) I was too poor to afford anything else (we got it on super-discount as they were discontinuing the color). I am just not a fan of the "large floppy pillow backrest" configuration. Both my partner and I would really like a firmer backrest, and I would also really like a seat length that allows my knees to bend in the right place. Right now they dangle uncomfortably unless I curl them up to the side and put them ON the couch, which has its own issues (mainly of the "ow, my foot's asleep" variety).

....but all that aside, while I've been testing out some new couches lately, it occurred to me today that I might be able to use the basic structure of this couch and do essentially a strip-and-reshape / reupholster. I have never reupholstered anything before, unless you count going at my dining chairs with a bolt of tweed and a staple gun, but I have a fair bit of experience building simple wooden things like shelving units ("from scratch") and plenty of carpentry-related tools.

What I'd like to do if I go the modification route is remove the existing fabric cover, "square off" the armrests so that they're rectangular and not round, and build up the backrest into a single, much firmer unit to replace the three squishy cushions that are making my back muscles writhe in pain as I sit here typing this. Obviously I wouldn't be doing this to save money (though I'd prefer to keep things under $500ish if possible) -- it would be more of a creative endeavor coupled with a desire to perhaps save a good bunch of basic materials from the landfill.

...but all that said, my question to the denizens of mefi is: can you please share your recommendations / links / other online resources regarding projects such as the one I am considering? I am especially fond of personal blog posts with LOTS of step by step photos and before-and-afters, bonus if it shows a couch starting out looking like my existing Varnamo and ending up a fair bit more modern/streamlined (my house is a 1954 MCM ranch and smallish at just over 1000 sq. ft., which has me thinking in space-efficient geometric terms).

I haven't found much in my search so far, aside from a lot of instances where people just changed out the fabric and padding. I am hoping this is just due to inferior search skills and not because Extreme Couch Modding is in fact a ridiculous impossible thing no reasonable person actually does, but I am prepared for the truth, no matter what it may be.

Alternately, if anyone has recommendations for couches in the $300 - $800 range that offer good back support, reasonable seat length for both a 5'3" person (me) and a 5'10" person (my partner), and fabric options that could survive a household that includes 4 rowdy but generally well-behaved cats (as in, they run and leap all over the furniture but mostly prefer to scratch their scratching posts as opposed to my couch), please feel free to offer those as well. Basically I want something durable, more firm than squishy, and more modern / industrial than traditional or floofy in design.

Thanks in advance!

The perfect console table / shelf

xicana63 — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:57:02 -0800

Can you help me find a two shelf version of this lovely piece of furniture? So I totally fell in love with this Enetri shelving unit. But I need a two shelf version, not four. I am highly considering a DIY version (acquiring this discontinued :( shelving unit online and then taking it to a metal shop to cut down to size and buying real wood for the planks and staining them)

But first I wanted to see if anyone has seen something that is similar to this. I love the wood/metal mix and needs to be wide.

Thanks for your help!

I'm okay with my Kakor Havreflarns - it's my Grönsakskaka I'm worried about.

peagood — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:20:50 -0800

Grönsakskaka - I love it. Or them. I don't even know if their name is plural. They're the potato and broccoli cakes from Ikea. I want to make them, but can't seem to find a recipe that will give me what I like most about them - their texture. What I do not like about them? The price. Googling straight up as well as using an image search to find what might be recipes - not just blog posts promoting their deliciousness - gives me recipes like this, which isn't right at all. One likened it to "bubble and squeak", which it's just not. This recipe - if I could get a translation of it - might be right, if I can make it into the individual servings that I like.

The ingredients listed on the box are: potatoes (35%), cream, broccoli (15%), leek, onion, cheese, vegetable oil, salt, stabiliser (methyl cellulose, disodium diphosphate), natural vegetable flavor, chervil, parsley, chive, pepper. For what comes in the box for about $8 here, I should be able to make so many more from scratch. I'd like to make a batch and flash-freeze them for easy storage. I kind of get the proportions, and am happy to play with spices and flavourings, but I have a few questions:

I am having one (fine, some) now, and what I like is the size and texture of the potato bits. That's a lot of pretty fine dicing, or maybe is it ricing? But I also like how the outside is a bit of a lightly browned "skin" holding the melty and nicely mixed and quite fluffy insides together. What makes it browned - do they pre-bake them? What is binding the ingredients together? How can I do that and keep the insides fluffy?

If I put them in a muffin tin, do I bake them first and then freeze them, or flash-freeze right from the mixture? I am actually thinking I'd prefer to use an ice-cream scoop for rounded ones, and more surface to brown. They're pretty small, but if Ikea bakes them first, and then they still need to bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes at home, and it doesn't make much of a difference in their appearance from frozen, well, what I'm saying is: I just don't get the what happens between putting the ingredients together in a bowl and putting them in my mouth.

Any help would be great. I can cook things and follow recipes just fine - I'm great at meat, stews, all kinds of things like that - but baking seems to be a science that I haven't got down and I have more disasters than successes. Please help me (and my family) eat more small potato broccoli muffin cake things?

Oh, IKEA ...

lunasol — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:52:58 -0800

I just bought the Karlstad chair from IKEA. It's slightly defective and I'm wondering how bad it would be if I overlooked this particular defect and went ahead with putting it together anyway. Here are the assembly instructions, and here are written instructions for the loveseat version. I'm stuck at step two - this is where I'm supposed to use screws and bolts to connect the seat part to the back part. The problem is that there are two sets of holes, and they don't line up. I can only get the screw through one set of holes at a time, not both.

I know that I should most likely suck it up and return the chair. But the box won't fit in my car - a friend drove my down there this morning to get it. He probably won't be able to go back until next weekend - in the meantime, I literally have nothing else to sit on in my apartment besides my bed.

I was thinking about my options and it occurred to me that I might be able to get by with the back and seat only screwed together at that one point. This isn't a weight-bearing spot (the legs go on separately). On the other hand, it would really suck if the back started separating from the seat. I would like to be able to use this chair for a long time.

If it helps, the frame is 25.5" wide and each hole is about 6" in. It does look like the arms screw into both the base and back as well, which would provide additional support.

sweet/funny pictures/sayings to see by my bed at night?

ThiefOfSweets — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:09:35 -0800

Pictures/Sayings that would be sweet/funny to see by the bed at night? I found an ikea skugga lamp and I'm going to put it up by my bed as a nightlight (yay, a lamp I can't knock over!).

Turns out it's not too difficult to make my own pictures for the lamp (instead of the no smoking sign) - and I'd love ideas! Thanks :-)!

Insane way to install wall cabinet?

ShooBoo — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:23:45 -0800

I have a kitchen wall cabinet to install. I can't do any heavy lifting due to a back injury. Is this an insane way to install a kitchen wall cabinet? I have a cabinet (weighing 40 pounds) that I want to install in this corner above the microwave. The cabinet is 30" high, and it's 32" from the top of the microwave to the ceiling. The cabinet will be mounted as close to the ceiling as possible. It's an IKEA cabinet that attaches to rails (on top of cabinet in picture) that are screwed to studs in the walls.

I had a recent back injury and want to avoid any lifting, and it's likely I won't be able to recruit help with this. Installers want to charge way too much for installing a single cabinet. I've installed other IKEA wall cabinets in the past.

I'll be using these tools:
- Car jack (the one that came with my car to change tires).
- Pile of books.
- 2' x 2' x 1.5" butcher block.
- A rented lifter.

As there's an installed floor cabinet, I can't get the lifter against the wall, so my intention is to use the microwave to temporarily support the microwave.

This is my plan (after installing the rails):

1) On stack of books underneath shelf, place car jack and jack it up to height of shelf to support it.
2) Place butcher block on top of microwave.
3) Use lifter to lift cabinet to height of the butcher block.
4) Slide cabinet off lifter onto butcher block.

At this point the cabinet will be 0.5" beneath where it will be mounted, and it should be easy to lift it up to attach the bolts to connect it to the rails.

Please tell me if this is an insane plan. Or, if you have any other suggestions.

What's a durable way to label Ikea Slom and Ihärdig jars?

neushoorn — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:54:14 -0800

What's a durable way to label Ikea Slom and Ihärdig jars? I'm storing dried herbs and spices in Slom jars of various sizes and in one or two Ihärdig spice jars, and I need a way to label them that's as resistant to wear, tear, and water as possible. It doesn't matter if the top, side, or bottom is labelled -- I just want it to last.

For the Slom jars, I know some people paint the lid with chalkboard paint, but I'm looking for other options.

Ikea home delivery (hjemtransport) in Aarhus, on Sunday?

joeycoleman — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 08:29:57 -0800

Does the Ikea home delivery service (hjemtransport) at the Aarhus location in Denmark, actually accept goods for delivery on Sunday? My wife and I will be arriving in Aarhus on Saturday, and it would be most convenient for us to go to Ikea on Sunday to get a few large pieces of furniture. As we will have no vehicle, we will need to use their home delivery service (not a problem in itself), however, we don't know if the service will be open with the rest of the store (as we understand that the service is run by a "partner" rather than Ikea itself).

We don't mind if they won't actually deliver the goods until later that week, however, it would be rather unfortunate to get to there and find out that they won't even let us arrange a delivery.

Hanging curtain wire between old walls

ar0n — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:54:20 -0800

I hung up curtains last week using IKEA's Dignitet curtain wire system. Last night the steel cable yanked one of the mounts out of the brick wall it was attached to. What do I do now? I mounted the Dignitet mounts on opposing walls (IKEA picture is on single wall) and tensioned the steel wire just enough to hang straight; also, curtains were very light. The brick walls are old and known to be in not too great shape, but did I do something wrong? Did I use the wrong plugs? how should I go about rehanging the Dignitet mount in the same spot? I imagine I'd have to fill up the holes again somehow, but with what? And how do I make sure the plug have enough grip in the wall for the mount to stay put?

My local DIY store isn't very good at dispensing advice, so please hope me.