Ikea Slakt storage bed experience - mixed reviews

[DoreenDo]

I need to maximise space in my ridiculous 3rd bedroom which is like a small box. Bulkhead, radiator occupying a wall etc etc
Creating my own thread for traffic off the back of similar thread
This bed looks perfect BUT has mixed reviews and the bad ones are really bad - saying the bed is useless within a year, slats falling through meaning mattress dips. Has anyone actually got one ? Thanks in advance. Pic below in case the name means nothing 🤣

My daughter has this exact bed in her small room (not as small as yours). We got it when she was 5.5 and now she is 10.5. We have a thinnish foam mattress from Ikea, she is a pretty petite girl, not had any problems with the slats. Had heavy guests stay on it a few times a year. Still in very good condition but make sure you never need to move it, it’s near impossible to move on carpet at least partly due to size and partly due to lack of areas to grip onto, eg bed legs to pull. Her bed is against the wall on 3 sides and she has lost books and other precious things down the side which are really tricky to get out and some are impossible! We ended up shoving an inflatable pool noodle around the edges and blowing it up to block the space off.

The drawers are a bit of a pain due to the gaps around them; items inside can get dusty. We tend to store stuff like Lego or crafts which are put into plastic boxes. Consider whether you will actually be able to pull the drawers out fully - bearing in mind they only go to half the depth of the bed. We built the bed with the shelves at the foot end as her desk has to come right up against that end of the bed, but that limits what can go on the shelves. The drawers at the head end are blocked about halfway out by her wardrobe (and bear in mind bedside table) but again; things like teddies she doesn’t want to throw away and other things she doesn’t use much get put in those drawers.
the lengthways half of the bed that isn’t taken up by the drawers is a useful void - I have stored Xmas presents and big play items which are only wanted occasionally in there- this probably only is feasible if you have a fairly light mattress like we do.

it is a big bed (ikea size is bigger than usual UK size) and as she is only short, probably won’t exceed 5’3” I do think in terms of saving space in her room perhaps we’d have been better off getting a normal size bed for her and bought boxes to go underneath. But I probably wouldn’t think that way for one of her brothers likely to be 6ft before they leave home. It’s a good sturdy bed. But not sure it’s always the answer to small room / lack of storage problems as it is so big.

Pic of it in situ (excuse the mess!).

We saw this in ikea and I really liked it but like you was put off by the reviews as there is a lot of negative ones

Also wanted to add; for our twins we bought a bunk bed with loads of storage from this company a year ago. It was one of their own designs manufactured here (comes flat pack like Ikea). We built it ourselves and have been really pleased with it and their customer service was really excellent, very communicative and helpful. They do sell some single beds with storage (uk size) so maybe some of those might be better than the ikea option. Especially if the quality of the Slakt has changed since we bought ours!

www.sleeplandbeds.co.uk/sleepland-unique-childrens-beds

Thanks for your help here. My gut feel is the regular Malm bed with drawers might be best and to have a monitor on the wall and a flip down wall mounted desk - is that even the right way to describe it ? Just thinking to save space !

I think I gravitated to jkea as easy to assemble but the fact it's so heavy really puts me off as does the wasted space and potential for dust.