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How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

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Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#11

Post by koolba »

michaelvoz wrote: post #2

I dislike IKEA furniture - It never seems to go well, and always in a different, hard-to-plan-for kind of way. Either the bed frame slats will crack at an odd place, or the bookshelf will bend under the weight of too many books, or perhaps a layer of plastic-ish(?) faux-wood will peel off revealing the flimsy glue pressed wood-ish material inside. I understand the appeal of well designed, flatpacked, self assembled f…

There is a big difference in the quality of the solid wood items and the particle board ones.

I've never been disappointed with any of the solid wood articles.

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#12

Post by pfranz »

michaelvoz wrote: post #7
unethical_ban wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had exactly the opposite experience as yours. You describe every flat pack furniture brand except Ikea. The only thing Ikea doesn't do superbly (for the price) is padded furniture. Their chairs and couches are terrible, in my opinion. Their cabinets, though? Their desks? Great look, and reliable for years. I am proud of my Billy bookshelf and the books on it in the living room.

Are there other flat pack furniture brands? I did not know this. I had all IKEA up until I started replacing IKEA with already-built pieces from garage sales/ furniture stores/ family. Maybe I have just gotten unlucky, and fallen in the tail end of their defects.

I've also never encountered those issues mentioned with Ikea furniture and have had them with others. I'm not sure if they were technically "flat-pack," but many years prior to seeing or knowing what an Ikea is, I've assembled things like computer desks and TV stands. They all had the issues described: lament peels off, too flimsy.

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#13

Post by jseliger »

artursapek wrote: post #6
michaelvoz wrote: post #2

I dislike IKEA furniture - It never seems to go well, and always in a different, hard-to-plan-for kind of way. Either the bed frame slats will crack at an odd place, or the bookshelf will bend under the weight of too many books, or perhaps a layer of plastic-ish(?) faux-wood will peel off revealing the flimsy glue pressed wood-ish material inside. I understand the appeal of well designed, flatpacked, self assembled f…

IKEA furniture is often bought with the understanding that it's relatively disposable. There's a lot of demand for that in cities where people move around more often.

An excellent point, and, oddly, an underrated one: https://jakeseliger.com/2015/03/10/does-ikea-enable-mobility....

I do wonder if over time companies like Casper / Tuft & Needle, or even Campaign Living (http://www.campaignliving.com/) will cut into IKEA's turf.

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#14

Post by hackuser »

huac wrote: post #3

> Ingvar Kamprad "is said to fly economy and drive an old Volvo. This frugality may help to explain why he is the world's eighth-richest man - although the four decades he spent living in Switzerland to avoid Swedish taxes may also have something to do with it."

That struck me too: Are there leading modern entrepreneurs who are as non-materialistic? I recall hearing of several in prior generations.

(Also, sometimes those stories are merely marketing, and they have a personal chef and private jet too.)

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#15

Post by weaksauce »

michaelvoz wrote: post #7
unethical_ban wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had exactly the opposite experience as yours. You describe every flat pack furniture brand except Ikea. The only thing Ikea doesn't do superbly (for the price) is padded furniture. Their chairs and couches are terrible, in my opinion. Their cabinets, though? Their desks? Great look, and reliable for years. I am proud of my Billy bookshelf and the books on it in the living room.

Are there other flat pack furniture brands? I did not know this. I had all IKEA up until I started replacing IKEA with already-built pieces from garage sales/ furniture stores/ family. Maybe I have just gotten unlucky, and fallen in the tail end of their defects.

As a counter point, ikea furniture works well enough for most loads but I have a chest of drawers and the bottom of the drawers is made from something similar to a less stiff version of masonite. for clothes it would be fine but for anything else the bottom of the drawers bends and scrapes the next drawer when opening. I need to retrofit the bottom to something worthwhile.

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#16

Post by tehwebguy »

michaelvoz wrote: post #2

I dislike IKEA furniture - It never seems to go well, and always in a different, hard-to-plan-for kind of way. Either the bed frame slats will crack at an odd place, or the bookshelf will bend under the weight of too many books, or perhaps a layer of plastic-ish(?) faux-wood will peel off revealing the flimsy glue pressed wood-ish material inside. I understand the appeal of well designed, flatpacked, self assembled f…

We've had mixed results:

Bed - it was 200 or 300, lasted 10+ years. Veneer peeled off in 2 places (scraped it like crazy moving it 2x inc. up/down stairs, stored it for a year). Sold it in the end, crazy.

"Cubes" Bookcase - had it for 6+ years, moving it 1x was enough to make it too wobbly for us but still were able to sell it. Tip: leave 1-2 cubes empty and arrange books by color, looks awesome.

Med + small coffee tables - total garbage, putting your feet up on them like once is enough to make it way too wobbly. Small one is fine for a side table.

Malm dressers - had these 8+ years and still use them. Got a skinny tall one and a wide short one because I thought they matched the vibe of Hotel Nikko in SF.

Wood countertops - amazing and amazingly cheap compared to any other countertop options we found (by a big margin).

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#17

Post by fakename »

I quickly filled the shelves of my Billy with small paperbacks that used very little vertical space.

I started scouring the as-is section for a spare shelf, in hopes of fitting a few more books into the space.

After a few searches with no luck, I hit google for a recommended Ikea hack, and was pleasantly surprised to learn they actually sell extra shelves: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20265301/

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#18

Post by TylerE »

michaelvoz wrote: post #7
unethical_ban wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had exactly the opposite experience as yours. You describe every flat pack furniture brand except Ikea. The only thing Ikea doesn't do superbly (for the price) is padded furniture. Their chairs and couches are terrible, in my opinion. Their cabinets, though? Their desks? Great look, and reliable for years. I am proud of my Billy bookshelf and the books on it in the living room.

Are there other flat pack furniture brands? I did not know this. I had all IKEA up until I started replacing IKEA with already-built pieces from garage sales/ furniture stores/ family. Maybe I have just gotten unlucky, and fallen in the tail end of their defects.

Visit your local office supply store sometime. Tons of crapola, both imported (mostly from China) and Made in the USA.

Re: How Ikea's Billy bookcase took over the world

#19

Post by subpixel »

unethical_ban wrote: post #5
michaelvoz wrote: post #2

I dislike IKEA furniture - It never seems to go well, and always in a different, hard-to-plan-for kind of way. Either the bed frame slats will crack at an odd place, or the bookshelf will bend under the weight of too many books, or perhaps a layer of plastic-ish(?) faux-wood will peel off revealing the flimsy glue pressed wood-ish material inside. I understand the appeal of well designed, flatpacked, self assembled f…

I have had exactly the opposite experience as yours. You describe every flat pack furniture brand except Ikea. The only thing Ikea doesn't do superbly (for the price) is padded furniture. Their chairs and couches are terrible, in my opinion. Their cabinets, though? Their desks? Great look, and reliable for years. I am proud of my Billy bookshelf and the books on it in the living room.

Actually, this IKEA Kramfors sofa which cost something like $650 was superior in every way to a $2500 sofa I bought to replace it (we moved and replaced big pieces of furniture): http://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/items-sale/59921d1364...

They discontinued it in the US or I would buy it again and take a loss on the resale of my fancier couch.

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