Reviews of IKEA Kivik, Carlstad & Poang? Q: After two years in a bad living situation, I'm finally getting my own place and I'm super excited because I have always wanted an apartment with a white/blue/black beach theme. I have an extremely tight budget and can only spend about $400 on a sofa. I had settled on either the Ikea white Kivik or Carlstad sofas. However, I have read mixed reviews. If it is a bad purchase I would have to disassemble it and ship it back to them at my own expense, which is out of the question. I just don't want to waste what little money I've got on a bad product. Can anyone give me a seriously honest view of their experiences with an Ikea sofa? I am also interested in the Ikea Poang chair — is that comfortable as well? Sent by Dead Broke Diva Hear Peter Klinkert tell the story of IKEA: Editor: Leave your suggestions for Dead Broke Diva in the comments — thanks! • Got a question? Send us yours with pic attachments here (those with pics get answered first).
Want a spot to rest your feet without splurging on a budget-breaking buy? This DIY pouf from Kristi Murphy upgrades an IKEA footstool to create this geometric, black-and-white pouf.If you're looking for a chic alternative to your standard vanity, check out this super-glam IKEA creation from A New Bloom. She paired the EKBY ALEX shelving with old-school wooden legs and a sheepskin-covered bench to create a gorgeous place to spend your mornings.Tea people know: Storing your tea neatly can be a challenge. That's why we love this colorful tea chest from Sugar Bush Avenue so much. Taking an IKEA MÖPPE chest of drawers (sadly, not currently available through official channels in the US) and adding a bright burst of color to the front makes an ingenious solution to any tea storage problem.: Before & After: Dusty Old Lamps Are Transformed Into a DIY Pendant LightIt's rare you get something so classy from IKEA's seen-everywhere LACK coffee table, but blogger Triple Max Ton's pulled it off. By removing the lower shelf and attaching wooden tapered legs, she created a mid-century classic that's entirely modern.
Last fall we bought an IKEA Ektorp sofa. At $399, it was a steal. If you’re unfamiliar with this classic IKEA sofa, here’s what you need to know: you buy your sofa base and choose your own slipcover from a dozen or so options. I had planned to get beige slipcovers, but they were sold out. Since we live 120 miles from IKEA, popping in a few days later to pick one up wasn’t an option. So we went with white. Before you tell me I’m crazy (four kids and a dog!) let me explain: I’d done my due diligence. I’d read many blog posts (like here, here, and here) from busy moms who love their white Ektorp sofas, and who swore they’re not hard to maintain. If you read those posts (and the other Ektorp reviews online), you’ll notice a common thread: the people who love their white couches wash their slipcovers all. (Typical recommendations are to wash weekly or every other week.) We’ve now had our Ektorp sofa for four months. The maintenance routine looks like this: I strip the slipcovers from the base and the couch’s six cushions.
I wash them in two separate loads (even though I have a front-loader, it’s a bit much for one load). I dry each load separately to 60 % or so and s-t-r-e-t-c-h the covers back onto the frame and cushions. (I hate that last part.) The whole drill takes about 30 minutes of active time, which isn’t a lot. But it’s not time well spent when I’m actively trying to decrease my time spent on home management. The sofa looks best when I wash the slipcovers every week, but I don’t wash weekly unless we’re having guests or somebody spills something. It looks pretty good with every other week, and I can stretch it to three if I need to. But that’s still way more time than I want to spend maintaining a couch. I have found a few things that make the maintenance a bit easier:My mom gifted me my first bottle of this nontoxic instant stain remover, and it’s amazing. When I spilled red wine (sad but true) on the arm of the sofa, the Folex made it disappear. (My kids have rules about where they can and cannot have snack, yet I’m the one always spilling wine and coffee everywhere.
Anne may mean “graceful” but it doesn’t always fit.)This product relies on grapefruit seed and orange extract for cleaning power, and I love its fresh, subtle smell. My favorite part of washing the slipcovers is the way the whole living room smells when they’re newly cleaned. We use Biokleen because my girls and I have sensitive skin, but the important thing is to choose a detergent you really like the smell of–because the smell will permeate the whole room on that first day.I use this in every load to brighten and whiten. Similar to OxiClean but I prefer this brand.No, it’s not gentle, but I bleach the slipcovers every 3 washes or so to get rid of the dinginess that comes with having 4 kids and a dog (and a mom who sloshes her coffee). I like my sofa. I love the look of the white. And I know I can buy new slipcovers or dye the ones I have or cover the couch with blankets to protect it. But what I really want is to not be high-maintenance about my furniture. My sofa may have been cheap, but I can’t believe how much it’s costing me.
This thing should have come with a maid. IKEA furniture: tell us all about yours in comments. You are not locked down to just one location. Add your home, work and even favorite city. Use a specific address for the best results!See Listings Nearest to You!Sofa Bed SectionalChaise Lounge CouchDiy Sofa BedIkea LoungePull Out Sofa BedCouch BedIkea Sleeper SofaCharcoal SectionalComfy CouchForwardBACKABRO allows you to place the chaise lounge section to the left or right, and switch whenever you like. There is storage space under the chaise for extra linens. The lid stays open so you can safely and easily take things in and out.As much as we love IKEA, there’s no denying the brand’s products are inexpensively made. We see you, medium-density fiberboard, and you’re not passing for wood. Thankfully there are plenty of IKEA hacks out there to help you not only make your flat-pack, big-box-store finds not only look more bespoke and unique but also more expensive. Read on for a few of our favorite ways to put a tuxedo on IKEA.
Swap in New Legs One of the simplest ways to give an IKEA table, sofa, or chair a face-lift is to swap in new legs. Prettypegs sells furniture legs designed specifically to customize IKEA furniture (and they have a universal fit, so they can be used on other furniture, too). We love these brass and natural-ash legs blogger Brittany Cramer of Brittany Makes used with a simple console tabletop. A flat-pack IKEA bookcase can’t compare to a custom built-in that’s original to a home… that is, unless you camouflage it with crown molding. Blogger Gwen Hefner of The Makerista helped her friend Laura with a makeover of her home, which already had wonderful, historic bones. Since custom built-ins aren’t cheap, the pair purchased three IKEA Billy bookcases, secured them to the wall so they were truly built-in, and finished them off with decorative trim and a library ladder to truly give it a historic look. House of Fara ($12) Wallpapering the backs of your IKEA bookcases or cabinets is a great way to add depth, texture, and a bit of visual interest to a simple and ubiquitous piece.
To jazz up this IKEA Pax wardrobe, Trovare Design chose a beautiful grasscloth wallpaper with an inherently luxurious look. Trovare also painted the piece with a coat of Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist paint and added a base to give it a little more heft. Replace Knobs With Bar Pulls Replacing a pair of knobs on a dresser or drawer with one long bar pull can dramatically change the silhouette of your IKEA furniture or cabinetry. We love the sleeker, more modern look that a light coat of green paint and a brass bar pull gave Sarah Sherman Samuel’s nursery dresser. You can give IKEA’s ultra-simple Malm drawers the look of an expensive campaign dresser by simply adding brass corner braces and a brass pulls to each drawer. Blogger Jackie DiCi transformed the flat-pack furniture in her Miami home, and it now has much more Floridian flair. Spray Paint It Gold There’s nothing a can of gold spray paint can’t jazz up. Everything from IKEA vases to desk chair legs to bookshelves is a good candidate for a shiny coat of metallic paint.
Better yet, you don’t have to be crafty to figure this one out. We love these gold-dipped glass bottles from blogger Sara du Jour—the extra bit of paint gives it a much more artisanal look. Get a Fancy Front Specializing in designer-quality fronts, cabinet doors, handles, and furniture legs to fit IKEA furniture, Stockholm-based brand Superfront helps you give your IKEA pieces a more bespoke look. We love the company’s new bathroom range, which includes bathroom sinks and hardware in upscale finishes like untreated brass and copper, in addition to graphic cabinet fronts. U.S.-based company Semihandmade also specializes in making one-of-a-kind doors for your IKEA cabinets. If you’re not keen on the basic solid colors IKEA has to offer in its upholstery department, or perhaps IKEA’s standard cotton twill doesn’t feel luxe to you, Bemz might be just what you need. The Stockholm-based company sells slipcovers specifically sized to each of IKEA’s upholstered designs, and you can choose from a wide range of patterns, like gingham and stripes, or simply upgrade to a solid in a more luxe material like Belgian linen.