An IKEA Home
PREAMBLE Click to expand
When we got married, my husband Aliff moved in to my bedroom in my family's apartment unit. It was meant to be temporary, but we lived there for four years. He essentially slept on the floor the whole time (on top of a large low pile rug) because I only had a single bed, and because we thought getting a bigger one would take up too much space.
After renting our own place, we had the freedom to choose the furniture we wanted to fill it up with, and Aliff finally had a bed to sleep on. We tried going to local stores, but they were expensive for low quality and didn't suit our taste. It just turned out that IKEA was most affordable for the quality and design, at the time. We bought few items over multiple visits, transporting everything on our own. As it stands, our home furnishing is about 99% IKEA. For the record, majority of the items here were purchased from 2020-2023, so they may no longer be available in store.
This page is meant to be a casual record of personal history to look back on, but it'd be a bonus if my descriptions can help anyone who needs it. All product images and information are from the official website(s).
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This single piece drastically improved our kitchen-dining area. A good height for tasks like cutting ingredients and pouring liquids. The second tier is customisable to three different levels, which we have set to the middle.
An impromptu gift from a family member. I was surprised that the assembly didn't require any screws, and it was a little tricky to do alone. Ours stays in its spot next to the BROR most of the time, but being able to wheel it around is convenient.
A discreet floor accessory but it relieved me so much from Aliff's feet moving the previous mat around, thanks to the rubber backing. Great texture, nice length. Elevates a humble kitchen space.
We chose to buy two of these instead of the single 4-seater size because we'd planned to configure them differently, but it didn't work out. In any case, having two square tables allows more space and separation when people sit side by side. The lacquered finish is really easy to wipe clean.
Once upon a time, we invested in 40 of these for our orchestra project. With some help from a few of the members, we assembled them all one by one. Now, we have only a handful left with the two of us. We'd intended to use these temporarily as dining chairs, but it's been four years and counting. Honestly, besides some minor creaking, they are pretty comfortable especially with JUSTINA chair pads, and I got used to being able to lift my chair with one hand.
I expected that these would lose their cushioning quality with use, but they have held up extremely well over the years.
Cotton rug that we put under our dining setup. Having used it for a few years, I've wished to replace it with something less lightweight because it tends to get easily moved out of position.
A value for money item. I asked Aliff to find the brightest bulb possible, and so we've managed to illuminate the entire space with one lamp. Not having to use the white ceiling lights is a great feeling.
We'd been using the bigger 1.5 l version for a few years, which Aliff had bought for himself before we were even a couple. We didn't need this smaller one, but it was too adorable to resist. The size is perfect for two people and makes washing much easier. We often drink tea so both sizes have been well-utilised; the bigger one to serve three or more.
It may not be as high quality as a handwoven Persian rug, but it is plush and transforms an area with its rich, warm colours. Looks more expensive than it is. The centrepiece of our living room.
Aliff liked these so much that we've collected six—five in the wider size and one narrower. They fill up a room, look good, and can hold whatever you desire. High weight bearing capacity. There are many pre-drilled holes so you can really customise the location and number of shelves. Although I've put this under ‘living room’, the six that we have are split between three rooms.
I sold the idea of using it as a TV bench. We have it configured with the tallest white storage boxes on either end, which take up the entire vertical space, and shelves in the middle. It houses our audio cables, electronic peripherals, printing paper stock, and other small tools. The modular aspect is convenient; it can be easily repurposed as necessary. There's no weight limit stated but I think it would also work well as a bench or room divider.
A nice neutral shade of dark pink. Changed to these from light linen curtains and it works wonders to keep out the unbearable heat on hotter days, at the worthy expense of the home being fashionably dark most of the time.
A totally unplanned grab from the As-Is which ate into our food budget. Comfy and easy to maintain with removable, washable, and replaceable covers.
This was bought long ago but didn't actually get used much in the first few years. Noticing that my back would hurt when using my laptop while seated at a table, I've found it much more comfortable to employ this item while sitting on our sofa (which is not on this page because it's not from IKEA). Even using it with a 13" laptop, there's still space left over to use a mouse. This product used to be constantly refreshed with exciting new fabric covers, but we happened to get the most boring one… A neutral is always good though, not complaining.
Heavy enough to be stable, light enough to move around. The tabletop can be adjusted to three different heights and tilted, but sometimes it creaks as you put weight on it. Besides working with a laptop, it's also been useful for other provisional purposes.
The coveted(?) cat cushion. The cover is non-removable. Aliff discovered the interesting engineering where if you roll it forwards or backwards, the pattern is always upright.
The wheels make it easier to move around if needed since it's moderately heavy. The other two feet are adjustable to eliminate wobble. I did happily use it as a laptop table for a few months, but after my back hurting (refer BYLLAN laptop support entry) it's become a makeshift hallway table.
Serendipitously, this rug fit so well underneath the FJÄLLBO table that they look like an intentional set of two. Each rug in the store looks a little different, but I really like the one that I happened to pick. I like the slightly rough surface.
Certainly not the best-feeling bath mat you can find at IKEA, but for the price tag, it was an easy purchase just to have something to step on and prevent water marks on the floor. Mostly stays in place with the rubber backing. From the pictures, my eyes perceived that it had a bluish tint but it's a regular light grey.
This was a huge pain to assemble, but the finished product was worth the trouble. It's a cute steel box that we ended up using to store small camera and audio equipment in with a bunch of silica gel packs, so it's kind of like a crude dry box. Thanks to the colour and its position in our living room, it's totally inconspicuous yet allows quick access to things.
Grossly overestimated the size of this first ever rug we bought. It did end up serving a good purpose in another spot. Being small and unobtrusive, it can be put anywhere. We use it as space separation.
Intended to place this along the entryway which has always been bare, but the dark colour felt too gloomy. Luckily, it goes alright in a different corridor. Previously, I had been aiming for this rug for the kitchen but budget didn't permit. SOLLINGE turned out to be a perfect fit sizewise so this one would've been slightly too big.
I was immediately drawn to this stool when I saw it in the showroom. We decided to get two of these for our busking kit upon learning that it was foldable. They were used alternately to sit on and to hold our amps, but they're also handy at home. They feel very stable even though they are not heavy, and the folding mechanism is really easy.
The bench-type shoe rack that we wanted to get at first was slightly longer which we feared may not fit in our entryway, so we went for this one instead. I like the clean design.
Wasn't our first choice, but it offered nice style for the price. It started to creak after a while, but it might just need its screws to be retightened. I'm impressed that it manages to look both classic and modern.
Didn't think much of it but the design grew on me over time, and now I think it's quite pretty. Smooth action with pull-out stop. Fits more than expected. Seems to be discontinued at the time of writing (Apr 2022).
Simple and stable rack. Holds Aliff's entire set of casual clothes, and some of mine. I've used some white plastic clothes pegs as stoppers because I didn't like the hangers moving around and slipping down the rounded edges upon being pushed by wind from the ceiling fan.
There is a rail and hooks on the back for additional utility. Sturdy, will probably last a lifetime with careful use.
Kind of an impulse purchase. The store only had it in black at the time. Very pleasant dimmable lamp. Ours even flickers (probably not a feature but inadequate power supply?) like I imagine a real gas lamp might, or do they?
A replacement for our MACKAPÄR coat rack. The materials are a bit cheap, but it does the job. It was definitely a challenge for the two of us to bring home, assemble, and move to its designated space. The clothes rail feels the most solid of all its parts.
Nice for an open wardrobe. Has movable rails and hooks. Three shelves to store any items that will fit, not just shoes. It was being under-utilised, so it's been sold.
Our apartment must really be small because many pieces of furniture we bring in end up looking way bigger than we thought it was. The beige colour of this is intriguing.
A nondescript pickup because there was a need to add more surface space.
Graduating from a much cheaper IKEA desk that wobbled annoyingly when you wrote on it, this desk conquered our expectations at a time when physical stores were closed. Unlike everything else on this page, this was delivered after we bought it online without ever seeing it in person. You can install the drawers on the left or right side according to your preference.
After years of sitting on cheap chairs to do computer work, this tilting and height-adjustable chair seemed like a godsend. There's a castor lock function that makes sure the chair stays in place when there's no weight on it, which is either cool or annoying. The selling point for me was that it's all fabric, plus the seat cover can be removed if it needs a wash.
Even after taking measurements, we overestimated the size of this rug which turned out to be too small for the space—in the living room, originally. We ended up buying a second one and putting the two next to each other before later moving them into the office room.
Heavier than it looks, a stable little table. Rather than a bedside companion, it has been used to hold Aliff's portable gadgets like his audio interface and headphone amp. It sits underneath the computer desk.
This steel stand is such a nice-looking item on its own, you don't even need to use it with a monitor. The bamboo drawer is nice to the touch and has built-in compartments.
We'd been wanting to buy a single bed frame for quite some time; both to rescue my old mattress and to help absorb sound in the home office. Value is great for the quality and it has a nice matte powder finish. The no-headboard design is exactly what we wanted. We grabbed one as soon as I saw it was in stock in the app.
On IKEA Family sale, this was hard to pass up. It's a pretty shelf that is more suited to hold our books and files than HEJNE. However, there is a lip under each shelf that makes it difficult to fit in things taller than A4-exact, so they need some fiddling to pass through the gap. Having added some white TJENA magazine files and SAMLA boxes both new and old, it wouldn't look out of place in an IKEA showroom.
Aliff loves golden retrievers, and this good boy was on sale. We had him before moving to the new place. Sadly he lost the prized spot on the sofa after we got the large BLÅHAJ. Has been relegated to guard duty on the top shelf of a HEJNE.
I had no particular inclination toward this blue shark for at least ten years. It has since become the third member of our family. If you want a large cuddly friend, I highly recommend it for anyone of any age. It's the best MYR 60 (etc in your local currency) you could spend.
I was elated when I first found out they were selling the baby sharks in our local stores. This one has been my permanent bed companion. The smaller one is the same great quality as the larger one. You can always spot someone carrying a small or large plush shark at an IKEA.