PREAMBLE > 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 for all that time (on top of a large low pile rug) because I only had a single bed, and because we thought getting a queen-sized one would take up too much space.
After renting our own place, we had the freedom to choose our furniture to fill it up with. And Aliff finally had a bed to sleep on. We tried going to local stores, but the furniture was expensive for cheap quality and didn't suit our tastes. We never planned to furnish the entire home with IKEA but compared to other sources, IKEA furniture was very affordable for good quality and good design. We bought few items over multiple visits, transporting everything except the work desk on our own. As it is, our home furnishing is about 99% IKEA.
This page is meant to be a casual record of personal history to look back on, but maybe my descriptions can also help anyone who needs it. All opinions are my own. All product images are screenshots from the official website(s).
Tags
Kitchen & dining
This single piece drastically improved our kitchen-dining area. A good height for light tasks like pouring liquids and buttering bread. The second tier is customisable to three different levels, which we have set to the middle and holds our microwave.
An impromptu gift from a family member. I was surprised that the assembly didn't require any screws. A little tricky to do alone, but I managed. 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 has saved me grief 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.
100% cotton rug, great value for the price. Could usually spot someone grabbing one on every IKEA visit. We put this under our dining setup. Having used it for a few years, I wish to replace it with something less lightweight though, because it tends to get moved out of position.
Sturdy, great value for the money. 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 the best.
We'd been using the bigger 1.5 l version for a few years, which Aliff bought before we were even a couple. Technically 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.
Living room
It may not be as high quality as handwoven Persian rugs, 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. We've also spotted many other HEJNE in the wild.
I sold the idea of using it as a TV bench. We have it configured with the tallest white storage boxes on either end (they 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 so handy; 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 worked wonders to keep out the unbearable heat during hotter months, at the worthy expense of the home being fashionably dark most of the time.
A totally unplanned grab from the AsIs which ate into our food budget. Comfy and easy to maintain with removable, washable, and replaceable covers.
This was bought long before we moved out but didn't actually get used much for the first few years. After 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 firm sofa. The laptop I used over ten years was a tiny 11", but even after upgrading to a 13" I find 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 sturdy, light enough to move around. The tabletop can be adjusted to three different heights and tilted. Sometimes it creaks as you put weight on it and the cup holder hasn't been used much. Not only good for working with a laptop, it's also been useful for plenty other makeshift purposes. Clean design that goes anywhere.
The coveted(?) cat cushion. The cover is non-removable. Aliff discovered the interesting engineering where if you roll it forwards and backwards, the pattern is always upright.
The wheels make it easy to move around when 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 sideboard.
Certainly not the best-feeling bath mat you can find at IKEA, but for the cheap price tag it's 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 position I put it in, it's inconspicuous yet allows quick access to things.
Bedrooms
Wasn't our first choice, but it offered nice style for a fair price. It starts 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 after being pushed by wind from the ceiling fan.
There is a rail and hooks on the back for additional storage. Very sturdy, will probably last a lifetime with careful use.
Kind of an impulse purchase. The store only had black at the time, but we may have waited for the beige colour if we knew. 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 sturdy of all its parts. If we have the option to in the future, we'll probably purchase something better.
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 every piece of furniture we bring in ends up looking way bigger than we thought it was. The beige colour of this is pretty interesting.
Home office
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, we bought this online without ever seeing it in person. You can install the drawers on the left or right side according to your preference. Aliff's PC monitor and studio monitors on their isolation pads take up most of the top surface.
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 probably works better on a hard surface rather than the rug we have it on. 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 first midsize rug we bought 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. Very sturdy 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. The price is pretty cheap for great 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 around 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.
Accessories
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.
Grossly overestimated the size of the 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.
The bench-type shoe rack that we wanted to get was slightly longer which we feared may not fit in our entryway, so we got this cheaper option instead.
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 cuddly friend, I highly recommend it for anyone. It's the best MYR 60 (etc in your local currency) you could spend.
I was elated when I saw they were selling the baby sharks in our local stores. Seeing two blue sharks hanging out in our living room makes me all happy inside. The smaller one is the same great quality as the larger one. Nowadays (Sep 2023) there are always customers carrying a small or large plush shark at an IKEA.
Intended to place this along the entryway which has always been bare, but the dark colour felt unsuitable. Luckily, it goes alright in a different corridor. Incidentally, I had been aiming for this rug for the kitchen but budget didn't permit then. SOLLINGE turned out to be a perfect fit sizewise so this one would've been slightly too big.