So you are considering buying an IKEA bunk bed for kids, right? You probably know from experience or heard from others that they are good since they are cheap and they are well suitable for those who are on a budget.
That is completely true. However, there are some points you should be aware of, especially when purchasing a bed that is for your kids.
Quality truly does matter, and if the whole thing isn’t going to be sturdy, it’s just wasted money that could have gone somewhere else.
IKEA Quality for Bunk Beds
Now, I’ve heard that some people buy everything from IKEA. All the furniture you can think of is probably available in IKEA stores.
But with that comes the cost.
You could never, ever, have such a huge monopoly in furniture in terms of incredible price, and then not suffer anywhere else.
That’s right, quality (and variety) suffers the most. However, a question does arise from that. Are IKEA Bunk Beds any worse than regular bunk beds that are roughly in the same price range? They are actually not. Believe it or not, you get what you pay for.
If you decide to pay $100 bucks for bunk beds, there is a big chance that after 3 years you will need a new one as soon as possible. They are just not made to last. And considering that you buy it for your children, I would strongly recommend reconsidering buying such cheap things. Kids need to be safe, and although you may pay less right now, it may bite you back down the line.
If you want some affordable bunk beds for kids, check this link out.
But, if you choose to pay some extra money, up to $300 and more, then I’ve heard that most people don’t have a lot of problems with sturdiness.
The bed might get a bit wobbly but that’s an issue that a lot of bunk beds suffer from, so you really need to be picky about which bunk bed is the best. Read the reviews, and see how people respond to different products.
There are different materials available, both metal and wood, so you can choose whatever you want. I would recommend going with wood for certain reasons, especially since I’ve heard that IKEA bunk beds that are made out of metal, squeak a lot. No one loves that sound but it’s inevitable. You can, however, get rid of it but you will have to do some maintenance for it, and nobody got time for that.
Now, I wouldn’t say ALL the bunk beds that IKEA offers at an affordable price range are bad. You can actually get a pretty good one if you pay the extra price for it.
Can you combat IKEA’s sturdiness problem?
Yes, you actually can. In one of my articles about bunk bed accessories, I mentioned about a thing called a “stabilizer”.
What it does is, the bunk bed will be firmly placed against the wall. This thing basically connects itself to a wall and your bunk bed. So when you sway back and forth, the stabilizers won’t allow you to move.
It might be bothersome if you move your bunk bed often, but who does that anyways, right?
You install the bunk bed, and you leave it there.
Variety of Options
Although they have quite a lot of furniture altogether, the bunk bed category is lacking a bit of variety. As far as I’ve seen, you have only 4 beds to choose from. And not only that, they all look like they were made by the same person. Almost no difference whatsoever.
Update: I see that the list has been updated a bit, but it certainly isn’t a lot bigger compared to a couple of years ago.
The one where the ladder is placed in the middle is interesting though. I’ve actually never seen a bunk bed design like that before. Usually, it’s always on the sides or in front.
That is a bit unusual for IKEA shops. After all, people do know it as a giant maze with furniture inside it.
“Man I got lost in IKEA last weekend, i had to find the bedroom section and sleep there for the night.”
Let’s do a quick review of the most popular IKEA choice: Vitval Bunk Bed
Currently, Vitval is a top seller in the IKEA bunk bed section. What do I think of it?
I am not a big fan of metal bunk beds but to each their own. If this is the most popular among buyers, then let me speak on some points:
The instruction manual for assembly, while amusing, is atrocious.
It started off well, but it got really confusing, which isn’t helped by the fact that the instructions are only visual – zero text on it. I guess they wanted to please everyone by not needing a translator for every language, but by doing so they pissed off everyone, as it’s really confusing to follow.
Some screws aren’t properly aligned with holes as well, which makes every assembler think that something is wrong. IKEA furniture isn’t that hard to assemble (typically), but this one does rank high among the worst pieces of furniture to assemble.
But, let’s get to the meat of it, what about the user experience? The metal bunk bed usually has that annoying sound problem after a couple of months of usage. Luckily, there isn’t much noise coming out of it. It is swaying a bit due to its design, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen in this price range.
The rungs on the ladder are something I have to complain about the most with this Vitval bunk bed. Having thin metal rungs can be fine when your kids are less than 10 years old, but when the kids get older, the weight of the body makes it painful to step on them. On top of that, the ladder is 100% vertical, which makes it very awkward to climb up and down.
There is more that I could say about this bunk bed, but I’ll reserve it for a full review once I am ready.
So would I recommend IKEA’s best-seller bunk bed? Only if you really like the design and are short of money. After all, IKEA is known for its incredible prices, but because of that, it cuts corners in quality and design.
But, I’ve seen much worse bunk beds, so if you really want to get one like that, check it out here.
Should You Buy From IKEA at all?
Well, that is an interesting question. Yes, their variety isn’t as good. Yes, they lack in quality. But their prices are really good, and their cheap products are slightly better than usual. But only slightly. They are still a bit hit or miss I would say.
In my opinion, I would still recommend other furniture shops to check out. If you want affordability, this lists all the best bunk beds you can get for the money, and you will also get a lot more variety. I would even advise checking some of my reviews out for them – some are good, and some are not.
Happy shopping to you! But for now, IKEA bunk beds for children are too limited in choice for my recommendation.
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