what are your best finds at ikea?

[jess_g]

They are opening a store somewhat near me (an hour away) in November and I am wondering what great kids furniture they have. What are your favorite pieces? And are they hard to put together? I have heard so much about them.

Thanks,

Jessica.

[brittone2]

We just moved to an area without an Ikea and I'm missing it :(

Some things we have planned to buy if we get there over the holidays are possibly a child's table and chairs set (they have several types), and a bookcase. They have one with lots of cubbies (I think 4x4 grid of boxes type thing) that is 99 dollars I believe. Someone here had pics up a while ago of their playroom and they had several shelves...they looked great.


Other cool kids items:
We have the farm set, but I think they've changed it and the last time I saw it I didn't like it as much
Train set
Easel (we don't have one but a few moms here have it...I think mixed reviews but it is only 19.99)
Bead maze (we don't have this one but it is cute)
Finger puppets (ditto...don't have it but they are cute)
GREAT baby gates for less money than BRU. We have latching ones at the top and bottom of our stairs that we have been very very happy with from Ikea.
Kids pots and pans set

Non furniture favorites:
Leadless tea light candles
Awesome storage baskets, etc. very inexpensive compared to somewhere like PB
organization items
Our $10 step stool that I love from there
Glass food storage canisters (we have huge lidded ones and they were maybe $8 each?), tons of cheap kitchen stuff
Plates, cups, glasses etc. for everyday use that are super inexpensive
Little Swedish snacks they sell like cookies ;)
Faux plants if you like them are cheap there...like silk ficus trees


We have two kitchen islands from there that we can't fit in our current kitchen but have been repurposed to my craft room/office. One has 12 drawers with plexiglass fronts on them and nickel pulls. Anyway, it has held up great and I use it for scrapbooking. It fits 12x12 sheets of paper in the drawers perfectly.

have fun!

[tina-t]

We drove there a few weeks ago (1 1/2 hour drive) to get some book cases. We also found the basic wooden train set which ds enjoys playing with. We also brought the little step stool which ds uses as a seat while playing with his trains. I wish we had bought the easel.

[lizamann]

Bought the easel a few weeks ago ($29.99, not $19.99). So far so good, but I have heard people say that it doesn't last that long. I was worried it would be too tall for my 2.5 yr old since it's not adjustable, but she can use it just fine. I was looking at easels online for a loooong time and finally just decided to get this one when I was at Ikea to put an end to the search.

I LOVE our Minnen table and chairs. We got the red chairs, which are adorable. Easy easy to put together, you just need a child-free hour to do it. DD loves them too.

[kensjen]

Beth,
Which kitchen island holds the 12x12 paper?? That sounds like something I NEED. :)

[brittone2]

//www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=12&productId=19247&langId=-1&parentCats=10110*10255*10257

We bought a larger sized top to go with it originally because for a while (in our old house) we had two islands butted up against each other ...one was this style and one was a different style. We had counter height stools at them and this was our eat in kitchen seating. We eventually rearranged our kitchen, and the island pictured above ended up repurposed in the office where I figured out it fits 12x12 paper, which has been awesome! It is a LOT of storage. The drawers haven't been chintzy feeling at all...the mechanism that they slide on is really smooth and it doesn't feel cheap at all. The plexiglass in the fronts is sort of opaque/frosted so it also hides the boatloads of scrapping and other craft stuff stashed in there really well :)

[ett]

We love our Minnen table and chairs.

We also got the easel several months ago. I think my mother paid $25. It's not the best in terms of quality, but it's definitely a good deal for $25. I wasn't sure if DS would really enjoy using the easel so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Even the plastic easels cost more than $25.

[sue_g]

Beth,
Can you post a link or the name of the bookcase with cubbies you are referring to? IS it good for toys?

Thanks.

[youngmommy]

Has anyone tried the Mammut table and chairs?

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15567&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=15362&langId=-1&parentCats=15567*15659*15668



http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/30531.jpg

[brittone2]

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15561&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=11499&langId=-1&parentCats=15561*15639*15651


I don't have this but I know a few people here have posted pics in the past where they used these in their playrooms with baskets. It looked really nice IMO and the price is great.

[brittone2]

Ack...I responded at the wrong place. Scroll down for info on the bookcase.

[BME]

here is a thread that might interest you...

#100123, "going to IKEA! item recommendations"

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=37&topic_id=100123&mesg_id=100123&listing_type=search

[AngelaS]

We have the Henderson/Henrikson? something padded, slip covered barstools and we LOVE them! The covers come off and they wash up perfectly every time. My girls have spilled darn near everything on them too!

I really like the flatish shelves too. They're $6.99 I think. I put several of them on the wall and then put a bunch of framed pictures on them. It looks really cool and it's easy to rearrange the pictures as I add a new one or change them out or whatever. :D