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SusanJ Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007 Location: New Jersey
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 8:48am | IP Logged
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I've recently stumbled upon a brilliant home reorganization plan that will solve lots of our problems and provide lots more accessibility for my 5yo in a wheelchair. Aren't you all thrilled for me
Dh and I are trying, of course, to keep costs down and we are thinking of purchasing from IKEA. Part of what we are "fixing" is the fact that our sofa is on its last legs. This is extremely frustrating for us because the sofa was new in September 08. But we were on a budget then, too, and we went to a decent furniture store and bought the cheapest sofas we could aesthetically tolerate. It was even cheaper than most IKEA sofas. We do not have the money to invest in a really good sofa when we have other furnishing priorities and we are loathe to buy another cheap one. Also the layout of our house is making us lean more in the armchair direction for comfortable places to sit. We're wondering, I guess, if the money we put into armchairs at IKEA will be worth it or if upholstered furniture really needs to be high-end to withstand families. Although, for the time being, the chairs would be upstairs and mostly away from the kids.
So, we are planning to purchase a bunk bed set, a room dividing bookcase, and two small, leather armchairs. Any thoughts on any of these items? Or on the quality of IKEA furniture in general? We go there all the time but we've never bought any large furniture from them.
__________________ Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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guitarnan Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005 Location: Maryland
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 8:53am | IP Logged
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We have several IKEA bookcases and they have held up well through moves and overloading.
__________________ Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stefoodie Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005 Location: Ohio
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 8:56am | IP Logged
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I only have shelves and kitchen cabs (which I love) from Ikea but I've considered buying leather and fabric-covered couches from them. When I was considering that (and before plans changed) I was doing a bunch of research online for opinions -- and I found mostly mixed reviews, like some people having their furniture last for years and then others having really bad complaints about them being cheaply made/not durable at all. I think it's mostly knowing how to pick good "bones" if you will, like choosing a house.... if the couch is well-made, joints, etc. it would be a much better buy... I've got a couch-buying guide somewhere... if I find it I'll post.
Oh and dd-18 has a loft bed from there which we've had 5+ years. Old but still sturdy and working.
I believe MacBeth has Ikea furniture....
__________________ stef
mom to five
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SusanJ Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007 Location: New Jersey
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 8:57am | IP Logged
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We have a couple bookcases that have held up similarly but we are worried about furniture that is taking more active use: climbing on, sitting on, inevitably some jumping, though my kids aren't that rambunctious.
__________________ Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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Martha Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 25 2005 Location: N/A
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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I don't know about the living room type of furniture, but I absolutely adore and will never part with my high chair from there. Best baby purchase ever.
__________________ Martha
mama to 7 boys & 4 girls
Yes, they're all ours!
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Mimip Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 17 2009 Location: Florida
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 9:44am | IP Logged
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Susan,
We have had varying experiences with IKEA Living room furniture.
First; Our friends that live in Mexico have thier entire house fitted with IKEA! Literally it could be a show room. They used all the money they got from their wedding and bought a ton of pieces including shelves and couches and they have loved it BUT they only have one small child. Also they themselves are very petite people (neither over 5'10") I think IKEA furniture works better for smaller people.
Second; My brother moved to Philly a few years back and needed furniture he could just use and then either sell or give away (It was a 18 month position) He bought IKEA furniture and it barely lasted the 18 months! BUT my brother is 6'3" and huge! He says the wear on the couches was really tough. He did bring home the coffee table because he thought my kids could use it for a playing table, it was the perfect height and very large. Sadly it lasted in our house less than 4 months.
That all being said I want this bunk bed for our two little ones! I hope someone else has it already and can comment!
__________________ In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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CrunchyMom Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 9:52am | IP Logged
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Martha wrote:
I don't know about the living room type of furniture, but I absolutely adore and will never part with my high chair from their. Best baby purchase ever. |
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Our high chair is only just showing signs of wear with my third, and my boys have ABUSED it.
__________________ Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 9:57am | IP Logged
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Have you considered window seats, Susan?
Our kitchen is Ikea cabinets, and you can use an upper, over the refrigerator cabinet on the floor with a counter top on it to make an easy window seat. Not armchair comfy, but might be cheaper (and more functional) than a couch.
__________________ Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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kingvozzo Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2005 Location: Maine
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 10:02am | IP Logged
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We've had their Ektorp sofa for just over a year, in addition to almost our entire school room being outfitted with Ikea. Suffice to say, both those areas get a lot of wear and tear. I've been quite happy with the sofa and I the fact that it has slipcovers (that are reasonably priced ). My only neg. observation has been that the middle back cushion has gotten smooshed in a weird way. It seems to be a freak thing, and I'm planning on contacting them to see about a replacement. They have a generous warranty period.
We've never had an expensive sofa. We're on our 3rd after 13 years of marriage (one was replaced because it barely fit in our new house). My kids are rambunctious, but it's never the frames that go, it's always the fabric. That's why I'm loving the slipcovers.
We also have a Poang chair and it's also held up quite well.
__________________ Noreen
Wife to Ed
Mom to 4 great kids and 10 sweet ones in Our Lady's arms
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SusanJ Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007 Location: New Jersey
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 10:08am | IP Logged
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Mimip wrote:
That all being said I want this bunk bed for our two little ones! I hope someone else has it already and can comment! |
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I think that's the bed we're going with, Mimi! My 5yo wants a floor bed. He has a really hard time rolling over and we finally discovered that he's afraid to fall out (he's parapalegic). He asked for a "bed like at Gramma's" where he sleeps on a futon mattress on the floor. Then the top bunk isn't too high for my 3yo. I hope--am I nuts to put a 3yo up high?
__________________ Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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SusanJ Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007 Location: New Jersey
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 10:09am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Have you considered window seats, Susan?
Our kitchen is Ikea cabinets, and you can use an upper, over the refrigerator cabinet on the floor with a counter top on it to make an easy window seat. Not armchair comfy, but might be cheaper (and more functional) than a couch. |
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I would love window seats! Maybe when we own--our windows here mostly have old steam radiators in front of them.
But I did buy a new toilet brush last night
__________________ Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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Mimip Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 17 2009 Location: Florida
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 10:50am | IP Logged
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SusanJ wrote:
Mimip wrote:
That all being said I want this bunk bed for our two little ones! I hope someone else has it already and can comment! |
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I think that's the bed we're going with, Mimi! My 5yo wants a floor bed. He has a really hard time rolling over and we finally discovered that he's afraid to fall out (he's parapalegic). He asked for a "bed like at Gramma's" where he sleeps on a futon mattress on the floor. Then the top bunk isn't too high for my 3yo. I hope--am I nuts to put a 3yo up high? |
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We are getting it for our 4 year old on the top and 2 year old on the bottom! When we went to see it at the store, we loved the fact that the top bunk was so low!!!
So excited to here you might get it, now to wait for your review.
__________________ In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Bethany Forum Pro
Joined: Oct 16 2006 Location: Texas
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 10:59am | IP Logged
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We have bookshelves, a desk, and dresser from Ikea and I've been pretty happy with them all. I also have the Beddinge sofa/futon thing, which we bought mostly to have extra sleeping space for guests and such. It's pretty good too, but it does have a metal frame, which I think helps.
I've never been able to pay what they want for the upholsted pieces. The really inexpensive ones aren't comfortable or large enough and the other are just too much to pay at Ikea (imo). Do you have a Salvation Army or Consigment store near you. When we moved into our house, about a year ago, our couch was on it's last leg. The fabric was awful. I got rid of it and we were just using some love seats and chairs we already had. I hated the arrangement and nothing was comfortable for everyday. The worst was that the girls and I couldn't all fit on the love seat to read and me not go crazy! I went to a Salvation Army store and was absolutely blessed to find a Century brand sofa and chair (from Robb & Stucky $$$) and a matching pair of Sherrill chairs that went great with the sofa. I never would have even looked at this furniture new because it would have been waaaay out of my budget! I paid about $650 for everything, including delivery and was able to sell the furniture I had on Craigslist for $900, so I was ahead on the deal and we're now comfortable and my room is much more inviting.
I'm usually anti-upholstered furniture second hand, but this was so great and good enough to recover some day. After this find and another dining room hutch that I bought for $150 and painted to store books and such, I'm not sure I can pay even Ikea prices anymore .
Just throwing that out as another option to Ikea.
__________________ Bethany
Wife to Mike, Mommy to Amelia (6/02), Sarah (10/03), Martha Grace (10/05), Rebecca Anne (12/07), Laura Catherine (3/10) and Reed Michael 7/4/14.
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Bookswithtea Forum All-Star
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 12:09pm | IP Logged
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We have a lot of IKEA bookshelves and cubbie systems. They are excellent. We have also used IKEA cabinets more than once now. They are also excellent. We bought a cheap IKEA couch many years ago. It didn't last long and it wasn't comfortable, either. A child stood on the arm and dented it within the first 6 mos and it went downhill from there. We bought a more expensive couch from IKEA about 6 yrs ago. It was an oversized style that was already designed to be sort of slouchy (I don't think they make it anymore). It gets brutal abuse as its in the basement and my rule is, "You can tear apart and jump on the basement couch but no jumping on the upstairs couch." The slipcover needs to be replaced, but the rest of it is still functional. And you can ask anyone in the house and they will tell you it is by far the most comfortable couch *ever*. The matching chair is also still in good condition.
That said, if I could do it all again, I would consider crate style couches where the cushions and covers can be replaced forever and the wood can be sanded down if necessary. Amy Dacycyzn (Tightwad Gazette) wrote about this in one of her newsletters and made a very convincing argument that these are the thriftiest option for a family with lots of kids (she had 6).
__________________ Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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MelissaClaire Forum Pro
Joined: May 16 2007
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 1:14pm | IP Logged
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We were just there on Saturday looking for furniture. We looked at that same bunkbed and another one that was a bit taller. Neither seemed terribly sturdy to us though. The one you posted looked like it would be very easy to make for less, and make it more sturdy. The other bunkbed seemed so shakey.
Costco has had couches in it recently that seem to be a good deal and value. Have you looked there?
__________________ Melissa
Mom to a dd ('02), ds ('03), ds ('05), dd ('07) and baby due 9/01/09
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SimplyMom Forum Pro
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 1:46pm | IP Logged
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I love Ikea. One tips I could recommend that improves their lifespan and durability. Use wood glue in the construction. Take a little bit of sand paper and rough up the joint on the finished surface area (if needed) and then lay a bead of glue down before you assemble each joint.
__________________ Darcee
SimplyMom from Simply Catholic
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Waverley Forum Pro
Joined: Nov 12 2006 Location: Minnesota
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 1:49pm | IP Logged
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I can't help you with the upholstered furniture but we have owned an Ikea bunk bed. I would not recommend it. I agree with Melissa that the beds just are not very sturdy. The loft bed we purchased is awful. It shakes, it creaks and that's after we strapped it to the wall and added a supporting desk underneath. I would be especially careful if you are using bunk beds with a child underneath.
Sorry, we love IKEA for so many things - just not the beds.
__________________ Waverley
wife to Dh for 19 years, dd (16), dd (11), dd (8), ds (6), dd (4), dd (9-13-1996)
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SusanJ Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007 Location: New Jersey
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 2:05pm | IP Logged
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Dh did express some enthusiasm about "just building" a bunk bed. In theory, I'm okay with that. But he's never really built anything so, in addition to the wood, he'd need tools and I had just figured that by the time you made a sturdy frame, ladder, guardrail, and some kind of slatted base for the top mattress it would be cheaper to buy one already made.
We need a setup with my son on the floor and my daughter lofted above him. There isn't space in the downstairs room we're using for a bigger bed or two separate beds. But most loft beds are too high for her age and since their new "bedroom" is not as private as you'd normally see in a bedroom we're partitioning the beds off a bit with a room dividing bookcase. So the lower loft would fit more "inside" that "wall". Know what I mean?
Anyone having an inspiration for me? Or know of happy IKEA bed users?
Waverley and Stef--do you know what type of loft beds you have? You've had such different experiences.
__________________ Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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Bookswithtea Forum All-Star
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 2:39pm | IP Logged
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SusanJ wrote:
Anyone having an inspiration for me? Or know of happy IKEA bed users? |
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I meant to add that we've looked at their beds several times and shaken the models on the floor. They do seem to shake a lot. In the end, we've always had better luck buying used. There are always people looking to unload a bunkbed for a reasonable price. And we have also altered used bunk beds to make them fit our rooms. We shortened one to make it fit a wall. We also turned one into a loft without a bed under it. IT depends on the construction of each bed, of course. This might be cheaper in the long run than making one from scratch. Maybe you could shorten the end posts at the right point so that the lower bed is closer to the floor and the upper bed is not quite so high?
__________________ Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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CrunchyMom Forum Moderator
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Posted: Feb 01 2010 at 2:45pm | IP Logged
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Would you have room for a trundle instead of a loft? We found a "trundle" in the as-is section of Ikea which was part of a sofa bed. Then you just need a platform with casters or something like those "Moving Men" things you put under furniture to move it smoothly. This would allow your son to have his bed like Grandmas.
__________________ Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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