to ask for your experience with DC having Ikea bedroom furniture?

[SheilaBruce]

Apologies for shamelessly posting here for traffic. We recently moved to Australia and I'm faced with an absolute dearth of affordable furniture for the DC that isn't complete useless junk. So, I'm considering turning to the good ol' faithful (and it's a 2 hour drive to the nearest store).

Is Ikea furniture any good for DC? Does it stand up to occasional jumping/bouncing/pounding? I'm just not sure about the robustness of it all (bedhead staying affixed and also the underneath slats).

DC are 6 and 3, so I don't really want to go for the toddler furniture. I'm considering the Malm range, definitely the single beds and probably the 6-drawer dresser (aware they need to be fixed to the wall). Or is the Slakt with trundle better?

Thanks for your opinions.

Ikea varies depending on range. We've got some of the Hemnes range which is really solid. We've got a huge Hemnes chest of drawers that we moved from Aus actually, that's pushing 10 years old and is in perfect condition.

As someone else mentioned Freedom is okay, Pottery Barn is lovely, West Elm is okay, Harvey Norman has some okay stuff amd I'm sure we've got something from
Domayne.

Fix everything to the wall.

I have white Kallax combined with white Brimnes bookcases and desks/dressing tables in my DC rooms and they have kept looking good, easy to clean, robust. Very impressed.

My only disappointment is that they don't do a Brimnes high sleeper, or I'd have bought the Ikea beds too.

p.s.s let slats be the least of your worries. Slats are cheap to replace: it's the frame and mattress that gets expensive.

We have the slakt, though the trundle part is in the loft as not enough room in dc’s current room to put it in. Seems very solid and hardy tbh, can’t see it breaking.

I wouldn't go for the mall 6 drawers - we have had 2 or 3 and they always now a little in tine.
However the three or 4 drawer ones have been fine.

Wardrobes seem ok too.
Have not had the kids beds, but other ikea beds have been fine

Stuve is good.

Oh and I'm not sure if they still do it but they bought out what looked like a cheaper version of Malm furniture a couple of years ago.
Looked ok but was in fact a flimsy heap of junk, so steer clear!

Oh no, Malm has gone cheap?

I'm currently laid on my Ikea brimnes king size with an IKEA mattress (I think hovag?).

Kids are forever jumping on it and it feels very sturdy however we upgraded the slats to the most expensive out of the three choices if you have that option.

We’ve got a Malm bed that’s 14 years old and been through 2 toddlers and one teen, along with its Sultan Hogbo mattress. Can’t fault it, except that if you have dodgy night vision like DH you may want to invest in shin pads because the corners are murderously sharp.

No, the malm is still good!

Just don't be fooled by a diferent named one that looks similar, if a little smaller!.

I've got the cheap one, I think it starts with a K. Foolishly thought my baby daughter wouldn't need much space. Absolute rubbish. Shallow drawers and a bit came off when I pushed it across the floor. Malm however - deep drawers, reinforced base. Love them.

DD is currently asleep in an Ikea bed, whose original (of 4) owners is now 21. It’s been in pretty much constant use for that tine. I’m not sure if the model. It’s mid brown wood a the ends slide out to make it longer, from toddler size to singke bed size.

DS has a table with exrebsbje kegs which he got for his second Christmas, 8 years ago.

Our Malm bed gets bounced on by the kids every time I change the sheets (they seem to see it as an invitation) and it's held up well. I'm glad I'm not the only one who seems to have permanent bruising to the shins from it though.

DS has a Hennes bed and that has also withstood bouncing. His Pax wardrobe is great for storage. We have loads of Kallax and Trofast was clearly designed especially for Lego

We have loads of Ikea furniture. The most robust has to be ds' bunk bed (see pic) and the trofast storage units we've had for years and years. He also has a malm wardrobe and drawers and they're still in perfect condition too.

The cube storage units are brilliant very robust and versatile (book shelves or toy cupboards if you buy the pull foldable boxes to go into it). We also had the Malm cheap chest of drawers and bedside tables that have lasted for years and a sofa bed which was amazing.

The Malm chests are really sturdy. Don't be tempted by the cheaper lookalike Kullen ones. They are flimsy and even in the store with nothing in them you could see the bottom of the draws were ill-fitting and bowing.

Remember to fix everything to the wall: Malm chests of drawers killed several children.

Thanks. Some good ideas. Any thoughts on the white surface?

Are there no second hand shops around? We get all our furniture second hand. All solid oak & modern. We have also managed to shop around & get everything from the same range so it all matches. It will last far longer than anything flat pack, plus if we do end up getting bored with it, it’s solid wood so can be sold on again afterwards (providing we look after it). We use gumtree & eBay as well.

Just put together a Malm chest of drawers and a Brimnes bed and wardrobe for a 12yo and it all seems pretty solid to me! The drawer bottoms are quite flimsy but have a metal bracket under the centre which should stop them giving way too quickly - that said, I would still avoid jamming them full of heavy stuff. The slats for the bed were sold separately so would be easy to replace if they got damaged/worn out.