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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

#21

Post by QuarterReptile »

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.

Sauder is the only other one I know of. Their stuff seems to be pretty well designed and of good quality, though I wish they were more unapologetic about being fiberboard, as I'm not a huge fan of fake wood textures.

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

#22

Post by nitemice »

fakename wrote: post #17

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/

There are various websites dedicated to Ikea hacks, such as [1]. I've always wanted to try one, but they often seem to be more work than they're worth.

[1](http://www.ikeahackers.net/)

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

#23

Post by sien »

The series that this is from '50 Thing that Made the Modern Economy' is really excellent. There is a podcast for it. I can't recommend it highly enough. Harford is also going to write a book on the subject.

It even had a pretty decent episode on compilers.

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

#24

Post by pmorici »

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…

If you stick to the items they sell made out of actual wood instead of particle board it's a good value and as durable as anything. Where it gets shoddy is the accessories and furniture made out of particle board / MDF etc. You have to be good at spotting the the real wood though because they use a lot of faux wood veneers over particle board that are hard to spot if you aren't looking closely.

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

#25

Post by kalleboo »

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's a lot of quality variability within IKEAs range as well. They have a bookcase line cheaper than Billy and you can tell it's there just so they can advertise something at a particular price point - I wouldn't want to own one. They have have a more expensive line made out of solid wood that is really good quality for not too much more.

I find that you can get a good feel for the quality of the stuff at the showrooms, since they get so manhandled by customers

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

#26

Post by pinewurst »

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."

For a significant part of that interval, Swedish taxes were in excess of 100% for very high earners. Can one blame him?

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

#27

Post by smilekzs »

koolba wrote: post #11
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.

Second this. While solid wood items are more expensive and heavy, they last significantly longer and don't flex as much.

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

#28

Post by mc32 »

hackuser wrote: post #14
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.)

It's not like was the only car he owned. I mean, one could say Jay Leno drives some very old cars, and someone not knowing he's a car enthusiast collector could think he's frugal.

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

#29

Post by unethical_ban »

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.

Target and Walmart have their own brands that are noticeably less refined and sturdy.

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

#30

Post by mc32 »

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 don't like any compressed wood (engineered wood) furniture, it's got too many fillers and (toxic) adhesives and they don't have the same rigidity of solid wood.
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