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!)

Instagram has some brilliant videos of women that personalise IKEA stuff. They paint, change handles, stick on dado type stuff. It's fascinating how it can be done

We pulled the laminate off the front of our kitchen and painted, looks great. Worth a go, as the door under the laminate is a good quality (well, our doors are).

Oh dear, our house is 90% IKEA. She'd hate me. I'd have no idea where to shop for furniture if ikea closed.

I completely disagree with the poor quality comments, we've had PAX wardrobes for 2 house moves that still look good. The solid wood furniture has been excellent, ie Hemnes, Skogsta ranges. The cheaper ranges have their place for temporary furniture, student accommodation etc.

Some of our Ikea furniture is over 20 years old and still looks and works great. We have a mix of solid furniture, antiques and Ikea and it all works well together.

You can get the cheapest Ikea items which are essentially made for student flat type living and expected to be thrown away. (Although the desk we got DD for €30 9 years ago was well used for 4, dismantled and stored, then remade and worked fine in lockdown as an actual desk for me to work on for 9 months until better desks were back in stock, so it's now dismantled and stored away again.)

You can get quite expensive (but cheaper than "design" brands) furniture that is expected to last a lifetime.

And quite a range in between.

In lots of styles, with a wide range of family types and lifestyles in mind, and plenty of practicality and flexibility in how you use items and adapt to your own space.

I've just had to love to a new city on temporary assignment for 4 years and had to furnish an apartment so have bought (and made) a lot of Ikea. The Pax wardrobe I have here is much better than the expensive wardrobes we got fitted at home!

And when dd grew out of certain things, they've been moved in within the family and to others around us very successfully

I was never snooty about IKEA and still love it for bits and pieces but I would steer away from bigger furniture as it hasn’t lasted for me.
Bought a Kallax and it looked terrible after about a year - the coated PDF chipped all over and we got rid. We started buying proper wood furniture - much more expensive but will last for a generation plus.
The Kallax was the nail in the coffin for IKEA furniture for me.

IMO IKEA can be a good choice, but there may well come a point where you don’t want flat-pack any more - traditionally constructed wooden furniture, often available relatively cheaply 2nd hand, is more appealing.