IKEA Reviews

We have scored forty IKEA products, and they run from 6.8 on the LACK side table to 8.5 on the STOCKHOLM sofa. That spread is wider than any other brand we cover, and it is the most useful thing to understand about IKEA: the name tells you almost nothing, because the range spans engineered-board furniture priced like a takeaway meal and upholstery using latex and pocket springs that nothing else at the price touches.

Particleboard and fiberboard appear in most of what we have reviewed, and IKEA is upfront about it on its own product pages. That is not automatically a mark against a product. The LACK's honeycomb cardboard core lets a 4.4-pound table carry 55 pounds of distributed load, which is good engineering rather than a corner cut. The BILLY is particleboard with a paper-foil face, exactly as advertised, and at $79 for a full-height adjustable case the value is close to implausible. We score those builds low on construction and high on value, and both halves are honest.

Where IKEA genuinely competes on materials is upholstery. The STOCKHOLM uses latex foam over a steel pocket-spring unit with a coir and natural latex backrest on a solid pine frame. Sofas lower in the range carry ten-year coverage, which is more than several brands charging three times as much disclose at all. Buy IKEA by the individual product, never by the brand.