151–160 of 194 posts
Regarding Ikea and similar self-assemble furniture - even though the assembly instruction manual does not call for it - use wood glue when assembling. It will make it A LOT stronger and it will even survive moves. One thing that didn’t make sense to me in the article is a claim that particle board or MDF is lighter than solid wood. I don’t think it’s necessarily true - I have wood furniture made of pine and cherry th…
My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. For the most part if you want a piece of furniture (ie a nightstand), there are two categories. Either you buy the Amazon/Wayfair version made of pressboard for $100-$200, or you can find a solid wood heirloom version for $2,000+. The domestic plywood or cheaper solid wood options are no longer mass pr…
>My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. I would wager that this is a proxy for the housing market. It's correlated with renting (majority) v/s buying (minority). And renters don't want the middle. That's pretty much how I view everything I buy. It's ephemeral. >I think one reason Ikea is so popular is that they ride the upper end of the che…
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I had one of those plastic locks snap during a move. And found out Ikea will mail or provide one at the store for free. Repaired my item and it's as good as new.
They used to just make them out of zinc so they wouldn't snap at the drop of a hat. Guess that $0.10 savings per unit was worth the shipping though
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>My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. I would wager that this is a proxy for the housing market. It's correlated with renting (majority) v/s buying (minority). And renters don't want the middle. That's pretty much how I view everything I buy. It's ephemeral. >I think one reason Ikea is so popular is that they ride the upper end of the che…
Per https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/renters-vs-homeowne... ~2/3rds of households own vs. ~1/3rd rent. Not intuitive to me tbh either.
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Solid wood is an absolute nightmare to move. And I've found that most stuff from IKEA lasts quite a long time.
How long is "quite" in this reference. I've got ikea crap which is falling apart and its only ever held towels and linen, not even 5 years.
Most of my stuff is from ikea and nothing has failed yet, but I specifically select stuff that seems sturdy which most of it is.
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As a (hobbyist) woodworker myself, I’ll spend 4 weeks of my spare time (couple hours every couple days) making a piece and then feel like I saved myself 2000$ at the end of it, only to see the same thing on Etsy for 400$. Raw wood was probably 100-200$ alone. The middle is out there, it’s just not in mass market stores. Honestly some of these sellers must not value their time like I do. If you know the right things t…
If you’re a handtool woodworker you can add to that the thousands of dollars in specialty tools you’ll inevitably acquire. Woodworking is insidious :-)
My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. For the most part if you want a piece of furniture (ie a nightstand), there are two categories. Either you buy the Amazon/Wayfair version made of pressboard for $100-$200, or you can find a solid wood heirloom version for $2,000+. The domestic plywood or cheaper solid wood options are no longer mass pr…
>My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. I would wager that this is a proxy for the housing market. It's correlated with renting (majority) v/s buying (minority). And renters don't want the middle. That's pretty much how I view everything I buy. It's ephemeral. >I think one reason Ikea is so popular is that they ride the upper end of the che…
We're now renting in London, and our furniture is almost exclusively Ikea, plus one mid-range sofa from John Lewis (£2000 or so). We view our furniture as mostly transient. All our expensive furniture is in storage in the US now, and will only come back out when we move home into a house we own and plan to stay in again.
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How long is "quite" in this reference. I've got ikea crap which is falling apart and its only ever held towels and linen, not even 5 years.
I’ve got some of the malm draws that have been in use for 15 years now and they still look fine. Most of my stuff is from ikea and nothing has failed yet, but I specifically select stuff that seems sturdy which most of it is.
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So we purchased a couch three times: once from IKEA, again at a thrift shop, and once more from Rooms to Go (R2G). R2G was, by far, the best option. I know that the sofa is "cheap" compared to what a "quality" couch would cost. (I paid $3200 for a three piece sectiona.) However, going into the showroom, having oodles of oodles of styles we could sit on, and giving the salesperson my card and having them take care of…
I almost bought an IKEA couch without trying it,but I managed to buy one at a local store for not much more. A few weeks later I found my self at IKEA and tried out the couch. I was so glad I didn't buy it, all of them were so uncomfortable.
Granted, it's just six months old so I don't know yet how it'll hold up. But I'm very happy this far.
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Almost everything from IKEA is particle board or MDF. If it's solid wood it will be priced higher - even pine. I have a couple of particle board items from them and they are definitely heavier compared to actual wood.
> If it's solid wood it will be priced higher - even pine. The cheapest nightstand they sell is solid pine. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/rast-3-drawer-chest-pine-104847... The cheapest full bed is solid pine, too. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/neiden-bed-frame-pine-80395248/ I could go on...