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 size one would take up too much space.
After we rented 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. I'll consider posting photos of our actual home. All opinions are my own. All product images are screenshots from the official website(s).
Aliff liked these so much that we've collected six—five in the larger size and one smaller. They fill up a room well, 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. They're also popular in all sorts of commercial stores and storerooms.
It may not be as high quality as handwoven Persian rugs, but it still is plush and transforms an area with its rich warm colours. Looks more expensive than it is. The centrepiece of our living room.
Even after taking measurements, we overestimated the first midsize rug we bought which turned out to be too small for the space. We ended up buying a second one and putting the two next to each other.
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.
I sold the idea of using it as a TV bench. We have it configured with the tallest white storage boxes on either end, with 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 a room divider.
The bench top shoe rack that we wanted to get was slightly longer which we feared may not fit in our small entryway, so we got this cheaper option instead.
Nice for an open wardrobe. Has movable rails and hooks. Three shelves to store any items that will fit, not just shoes.
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 I thought it would. Seems to be discontinued at the time of writing (April 2022).
Wasn't our first choice, but it offered nice style for a fair price. It starts to creak after a while, but we probably just need to retighten the screws. I'm impressed that it manages to look both classic and modern.
Simple and stable rack. Holds Aliff's entire set of casual going-out 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 due to being pushed by wind from the ceiling fan. Has gone up in price a little.
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 near the kitchen most of the time, but being able to wheel it around is handy. Has also gone up in price.
Haven't fully utilised the rail and hooks on the back. Very sturdy, will probably last a lifetime with careful use.
Graduating from a much cheaper IKEA desk that wobbled a lot when you wrote on it, this desk conquered our expectations at a time when physical stores were closed. Unlike all the other items on this page, we bought this online without ever seeing it in person. It now holds mainly Aliff's PC monitor and monitor speakers.
A nice neutral shade of dark pink. Changed to these from light linen curtains, and it worked wonders to keep out the unbearable heat at the worthy expense of the home being fashionably dark most of the time.
100% cotton rug, great value for the price. You can usually spot someone grabbing one on every IKEA visit. We put this under our dining setup.
We chose to buy two of these instead of the longer 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 compared to unlacquered wood.
Went up in price some time after we bought one. Other desks I've used before were bigger so this one felt compact, but it's workable with a laptop up to 14" plus room for a drink and other small things on the side. The wheels make it easy to move around when needed since it's moderately heavy. The other two feet are adjustable to eliminate wobble.
The newest large piece in our home which has drastically improved our kitchen-dining area. A good height for light tasks like pouring liquids and buttering bread. The middle shelf is customisable to three different levels. We have it set to the centre.
A totally unplanned grab from the AsIs which ate into our food budget. Comfy and easy to maintain with removable, washable, and replaceable covers.
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 due to inadequate power supply?) like I imagine a real gas lamp might, or do they?
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 win.
After years of sitting on cheap chairs to do computer work, this tilting and height-adjustable chair was a godsend. There is a castor lock function that makes sure the chair stays in place when there's no weight on it—can be a plus or a minus. Aliff was reluctant to spend another RM 40 for a BORTBERG lumbar cushion, but it completes the setup. The selling point for me was that it's all fabric, plus the seat cover can be removed if it needs a wash.
We'd been wanting to buy a single bed frame for quite some time; not just to lie down on, but to help absorb sound in the home office, and to give my old mattress a place to live that's not on the floor underneath our main bed. 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 on the app.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
This was bought before we moved out, and didn't actually get used much for the first few years. In our new place however, I noticed that my back would hurt a lot when using my laptop normally while seated at a table. It's much more comfortable now using this while sitting on our firm sofa. Since my laptop is a tiny 11", there's still room for me to use a mouse. This product is constantly refreshed with exciting new fabric covers, but we happened to get the most boring one... A neutral is always good though, not complaining.
Heavier than it looks. Very sturdy little table. Rather than a bedside companion, it has mostly been used to hold Aliff's portable gadgets like his audio interface, preamp, and mixing headphones. It sits underneath the desk.
I had no particular inclination toward this blue shark for the longest time—I've seen it around since more than ten years ago. It has now become the third member of our family. If you have the space and the money, I highly recommend it for anyone. It's the best RM 60 (etc in your local currency) you could spend.
Aliff loves golden retrievers, and this good boy was on sale. We had him before moving to the new place. Sadly he has lost the prized spot on the sofa since we got BLÅHAJ. Has been relegated to guard duty on the top shelf of a HEJNE.
Heavy enough to be sturdy, light enough to move around. The tabletop can be tilted and adjusted to three different heights. There's just the one initial bump as you put weight on it. Haven't used the cup holder. Not only good for working with a laptop, we've used it for 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. Also the pattern designer is a genius in my books.
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'd been using the bigger 1.5 l version for a few years now, 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 drink tea almost every day so it's being used a lot.
Certainly not the best-feeling bath mat you can find in the IKEA store, 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. Also mostly stays in place with the rubber backing. The pictures made me think it had a bluish tint, but it's a regular light grey.