So … IKEA flatpack wardrobes … reasonable quality? Sturdy? Fit together well?

May or may not be used for storing stuffed badgers or other assorted mammals/birdies

Thank you so much! 🙂

Yes, pretty good service here. Proviso being we bought them when we moved in and haven't tried moving house with them, which is where the construction / jointing would be more tested.

Maybe not what you want to hear but I have had a few and IMO they don't like to have too much in them, the drawers bow and the fixings give up. They're OK for the short term I suppose but my advice would be to save up and get some proper stuff. We have some john lewis stuff thats lasted years and as such is far better value. Sorry CG.

Yeah they're fine.

Although I'm not sure whether an IKEA wardrobe wouldn't look out of place in your gaff 😕

We've got a few of the oak pax range here.
A corner, a 50cm and a 100cm, all 236cm high. Got 2 matching drawers and a 6ft makeup bench type thing for the boss.
Ours are absolutely packed tight with clothes and junk. The smaller one has 10 wire basket drawers in it.
After 6 years, they're still in perfect condition and very sturdy. But the longevity only depends upon how you assemble them and fix them to eachother.
Options are endless too
I really like ikea furniture, b lot of people slate it but for what it costs and what you get, it really is excellent and cant be beaten.

Thanks for the replies. 🙂

I have been impressed with other IKEA furniture, ie table and chairs. But moving house with flatpack furniture is another matter. Have moved several times with Argos wardrobes and they haven't stood up too well.

Thought about more expensive, freestanding ones but not sure whether my stairs could be successfuly negotiated!

Oh the joys of not knowing how long you will stay in your home for. 🙄

Oh, and really Ernie, talk to Talkameda – he will tell you that C_G Towers is a perfectly normal home. 😉

But the longevity only depends upon how you assemble them and fix them to eachother.

That must be it then – nothing wrong with my drawers.

It won't be long. There's really only one way to assemble these things; they're not exactly giant hadron colliders.
Edit; Just remembered the father in law built one. Mind you, he's been a chippie for 40 odd years…..

We have a few of them and they are very good, they fit together really well and are good value.

IMO they go together easily enough, are ok as long as you don't overload them, but for heaven's sake never try to move house with them. When we last moved I ended up throwing two out of the window in order to get them to the tip easily! (Have bought some more mind!)

🙂

IME/IMO, the trick with Ikea furniture is to take the time to build it properly first time and to reinforce every join/seam with woodglue and screws. I've not had a problem with moving stuff so far. Some people try to disassemble their Ikea stuff in order to move it – it doesn't work out well.

konabunny – Member
IME/IMO, the trick with Ikea furniture is to take the time to build it properly first time and to reinforce every join/seam with woodglue.

This is the secret – some of our Ikea tat will double up as an Anderson shelter should the need ever arise 🙂

i guy wrte in his will that when he died he did not want a normal burial, but to be placed inside an ikea Billy bookcase and taken to the local tip to be recycled..

serious.. conclusion, whilst the bookcase could be classed as controlled waste, a whole body can not (body parts can btw) so he would not be accepted as waste at the local tip…

as for wardrobes – we had some, but as someone above mentioned they do not like being loaded up..

konabunny – Member Some people try to disassemble their Ikea stuff in order to move it – it doesn't work out well.

I have done this with IKEA furniture/beds/tables etc but not tried it with a wardrobe. Not had any trouble at all with them and if you lose or brake any of the fittings IKEA will replace them for you.

IME/IMO, the trick with Ikea furniture is to take the time to build it properly first time and to reinforce every join/seam with woodglue and screws

+2

I spent a (afternoons for pocket money) couple of years building flat pack Ikea stuff for a landlord, unless you glue every seam and joint you'll be lucky to see more than 12 months from the furniture .Got it down to 15 mins per wardrobe .Made more than pocket money in the end and it was a shame when it ended

The problem with IKEA wardrobes is that you go round the awful maze of a showroom trying decide all the individual parts you need to build it, then go all the way down to collect the bits only to find half of them are out of stock. Then you go all the way back to the showroom to decide on some alternatives, then find they're out of stock…. and repeat this until you eventually give up and arrive back home with a load of tat out of the kitchen showroom bit like metal cutlery holders and stuff.

Yeah – they are a good cheap solution, but moving them is a pain. IME you can move them once, but then you have to chuck them out and buy more.

glue every seam and joint

It had simply never occurred to me to do this. I'm very grateful for the tip.

Having the luxury of being able to afford furniture which involves dovetail joints would give me huge satisfaction though.

I've lost count of the number of times I've moved my IKEA cabinet I keep my vinyl in. Its been to 3 different houses, upstairs/downstairs/moved rooms in each and its still solid and sturdy. The hardboard back is next to useless (but always was).

dont attempt to buid an ikea wardrobe on your own… a bit unwieldy to say the least..my daughters wardrobe now resembles a piece of modern art 🙁

I have a £200 one that's been moved (carefully) twice – not sure if it will survive another move! Drawers etc seem sturdy enough though.

I have done this with IKEA furniture/beds/tables etc but not tried it with a wardrobe.

I've lost count of the number of times I've moved my IKEA cabinet I keep my vinyl in

In that case, I tip my hat and take back what I said! Apparently it is possible to disassemble and reassemble some stuff successfully. (Although obviously you probably can't disassemble stuff you've "reinforced" yourself as if it were only mechanically attached).

Got an Ikea shoe wardrobe with a proud edge. Didn't take the time to sort it out when I was building it. Gonna have to disassemble and do again somehow. Bugger.

Thanks again. They can't be worse than the Argos wardrobes that I will move when daughter comes to live with me. Reckon she will have tons more clothes and shoes than me so two wardrobes it is then! I'm having the new stuff which will be ordered online and delivered. 🙂

Oh the joys of living in a house with no built-in cupboards/wardrobes/storage space. 🙄

i have the Malm Chect of drawers and all of the bottoms fall out of the drawers – they still work but they bow and they're not holding lodas.

The Pax wardrobe is really good, but not the sturdiest. I've taken it apart once and put back together again, but not too sure it'll survive many more.

i've got a pax wadrobe stuffed to the gunnels and its fine, its got stuff on top too. Having said that, I have two identical drawer units bought 18 months apart, one is flimsy and the other fine…wondering if there is differences between manufacturing batches??

I've got an IKEA computer table (fits into the corner, sliding keyboard bit… Seems O.K. My guess is that because the wardrobe is subject to lateral stress, it's important to dismantle it before moving.

Also, (off subject), a couple of these

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59830628

which are impressively comfortable.

There's really only one way to assemble these things;

There's two – badly, and well.

As for lasting 12 months – our wardrobes are rammed with stuff and have been going well for almost 3 years despite not having been glued and reinforced. So the finger is pointing at your skillz carlosg 😉

Btw we have tons of Ikea furniture and none of it's failed so far. Some of the chairs have become wobbly because they are held together with bolts, but this in turn means you can just tighten them up once a year, problem solved. Like it says in the instructions 🙂

Ikea – by far the best flat pack stuff I've done. And very very good for cheap furniture. When I was starting out I was determined not to go to Ikea because everyone else did. I scoured the city looking for nice furniture and found plenty but it was all £500 for a bookcase and £1.5k for a dining room suite. Anything else at Ikea prices was absolutely awful.

PS my wardrobes are staying put when we move. Too much trouble to take them down, and they probably won't fit a different place anyway.

I think IKEA do a nice badger display cabinet too 🙂

I've had a couple of Malm pieces – I didn't take the time properly building it and the runner was never quite smooth and right but they were always solid. Glue down the side of the slot is a winner.

As above – they are ok but don't try to move house with them. I managed to drop one down the stairs, which resulted in it falling to pieces and punching a hole in the plasterboard at the bottom of the stairs. My mate who was supporting the weight from beneath somehow escaped unscathed as it all came down on top of him!