To not replace all my IKEA stuff

[Missmarple87]

Why are people so snooty about IKEA? My friend told me she was slowly replacing all of her IKEA home stuff because she didn't feel it was 'grown up' enough. This was in the context of me discussing a purchase - the only one I liked was IKEA.

Now my house is by no means 100% IKEA but a surprising amount of the furniture is (storage, shelving, kids beds, a desk etc). I actually really love the airy, scandi look and it works well in my home with my art and paint choices. If you choose wisely, it also lasts and doesn't NEED replacing so feels wasteful to do so.

Are you snooty about IKEA? Or do you love it? (Would love to see photos of IKEA stuff looking amazing if anyone is willing!)

Pretty much my entire house is IKEA, I love it. Mixed in with a few other pieces I doubt you could tell, well maybe you could, but I don't care. It's my preferred aesthetic, my home not anyone else's, and I don't wish to purchase new stuff just because, as that's terrible for the environment. We do have an ancient kitchen table from there that DH hates & is looking worn now, so we will be replacing that soon. I think it shows a lack of imagination if you think that IKEA is just for starter homes.

Everything I have needed furniture (apart from sofas), ikea have made it in the right size, relatively inexpensive ly and available right away.

I love IKEA!

My Swedish SIL said the names of the products make her laugh.

I was chatting to an assistant at my local IKEA while waiting for my order and she told me they only get a 15% staff discount. I guess they don't want their staff buying for all and sundry with their discount!

I’ve got loads of IKEA furniture in my house. I’ve even got Malm chest of drawers and Billy bookcases that have survived more than one house move.

I’m not going out to replace perfectly good furniture just for the sake of it.

Our kitchen is MFI, it's still going 27 years later.

We bought loads of Ikea furniture when we moved into our house as it was much bigger than our tiny flat and had to kit jt all out on a budget. It has all now been replaced but only as and when we’ve done the house up. And it’s largely been replaced by built in solid wood furniture which can be painted if and when we want to redecorate but it’s just very classic/plain in style so should in theory last us until we move/die!
Still have quite a lot of the kitchen implements and roasting trays etc and have had them for going on 20 years now and they’re still in great condition .
I don’t notice much snobbiness about ikea but I don’t think anyone else in my family would turn there as their first port of call for buying furniture and I wouldn’t either now we have an established home, more likely to either build it or buy a one off item somewhere. Was a godsend for kitting dd out for uni though!

We have a mixture. Daughters room set all ikea. Lounge 1 item, actually reflecting on it I have replaced a lot of ikea! I'm 57 now so I guess that's why. Great functional furniture though that served us well.

Spot on - it is wasteful to replace it before you need to, just because someone has expressed an opinion on it. Doesn't every house in the country have a Kallax shelving unit?

IKEA is great for storage, childrens things and teenagers. Our son kallax 25 years old is now in the garage, storing paint etc.

One son had the canvas wardrobe and canvas shelving unit. He brought it home when he moved back. That was very wobbly.

Grandchildren have IKEA storage cubes again good.

The ikea desk has chipped badly, the mock leather office chair sheds the leatherette coating like dandruff.

Our 3 Billy bookcases moved around with us and did sitting room, home office, teen’s bookcase and finally garage storage. They lost their fiberboard backing quite early on but what more do you really want?
We went through a period of buying forever furniture so now we have the “good” bookcase, wardrobe, dining table, desk and sofa. And they’re a joy to behold.

OTOH we equipped this kitchen with the cheapest of cheap IKEA (KNOXHULT) and after 7 years of careless student use the laminate cupboard and drawer fronts are all water damaged.
For what they cost and to avoid an overhaul, I’m thinking of spending €99 on a new unit, keeping the fronts, sealing them this time and throwing away the carcass. No carpenter could make me similar for that price.

IKEA is very good at what they do and quality wise can be better than more expensive brands but I definitely recognise the 'starter home' vibe if you have too much and there are some things that are ubiquitous. That's why there are so many IKEA hacks and companies like Bemz and Noremax to customise your IKEA.

We still have most of our IKEA that we've bought except a bookcase and the classic toy kitchen that the kids grew out of so we put to a charity shop because we didn't need it anymore. Our Klippan sofa is 21 now though and not as comfortable as it once was so I'm looking for a vintage sofa to reupholster. I've alway acquired or bought vintage furniture and now with sites like vinterior it's easier than ever to get exactly what you want. I only buy new for the house if I can't find what I want second hand. You get better quality for your money with vintage.

We've a house full of IKEA and similar
It's cheap and cheerful, but after 3 moves lots of it is falling to bits. As it wears out we will replace with better quality stuff, but I wouldn't dream of replacing furniture for the sake of it, even if it is a bit naff.

I’m not snooty but with the exception of a set of dining chairs and a sofa I find it just doesn’t last. Whereas either original Victorian or much pricier new does. I’ve chucked out all the old kids beds/desks/chest of drawers as they no longer worked.

I find it bizarre that your friend thinks it's "grown up" to replace functional and attractive furniture with new (if it's ugly/falling apart, that's different).

I have new IKEA pieces and some that are 15yrs old. I put the money that I could spend on new/more expensive furniture into my pension and use it to pay off my mortgage early. I'll feel very grown-up when I'm retired in my 50s with my mortgage-free house, even if it does have IKEA furniture in.

My house is 85% Ikea and I have absolutely no shame!

Even my kids joke that if we have nuclear bombs dropped on us, they're getting under the ikea table!

I'm not snooty about Ikea. I had Ikea stuff for years but it started looking worn and tatty so last year I decided to get new living room furniture. I looked at the IKEA ranges first but I didn't like the selection available and preferred the style of a bit more expensive chain (I'm not in the UK) so got everything from there instead.
I don't agree with your friend that it's not "grown up". It depends what you choose and how you style the place.

We had a LOT of IKEA stuff when we first bought our house. We have upgraded some to more expensive IKEA, we have got rid of some, and we have recycled some. We had a 4 part Kallax that now has drawer inserts with brushed gold cone shaped handles (not from IKEA) and elegant splayed legs, 1960s style. We bought 2 Hemnes bookcase/drawers with glass doors and they have been upgraded with the brushed gold handles as well.
We still have a lot, where it still fits the style of the room we have kept it, where it doesn't we have either re-used it elsewhere or given it away.

if you like Pax, check out the new Pax 2.0 - toolfree assembly.

In IKEA 😄! And smaller chains like https://www.mio.se/ or independent shops.

I have replaced most of my IKEA furniture over the years because it does tend to be a bit flimsy, but still have a lot of tableware and kitchen stuff which is of excellent quality.

IKEA is bloody fantastic. YANBU.

It's affordable and super practical and I think actually looks really neat. The storage solutions are epic.

Kallax is literally the greatest invention ever. YANBU

IKEA was once seen as the way to start out, especially pre Freecycle and Facebook groups. When we got our first house 22 years ago we started with IKEA things and then replaced when we found the bits we wanted. I don't think we have any IKEA furniture now, just a variety that we have built up over the last 22 years.

I haven't been to an IKEA for years (16?) it is too far to go in the hope I find something I like.

I'm not sure of my 22 year old pine stuff though, but it still does what we need it to do.

I have lots of cube storage but it is the Argos equivalent.

Big fan of IKEA, I like the minimalist look so need lots of sleek storage. I have billy bookcases from the '70s still going strong.

DH hates it but turns out to have dreadful very fussy tastes so I've stopped even considering replacing my lovely plain billy bookcases and malm drawers.

We have had some custom build storage from real wood which I do love but it was serious £££s and billy bookcases when full of books do pretty much the same job.

If it came to it, I'd upgrade DH rather than the IKEA bookcases. I was sad the day I was in IKEA and realised that I had run out of walls to put their bookcases up against.