I recently moved into a new apartment and ordered a bunch of furniture from IKEA to get started. Despite a few setbacks during the order, I eventually got everything and it took me about four evenings plus a weekend to put everything together and subsequently clean out and setup my apartment. Here’s a list of what I got, plus a few tips and my opinions on the furniture.

Living Room

• Sofa: EKTORP

  

  This is a great, comfortable and low-cost fabric sofa and I wholly recommend it. Of course, you’ll want to visit an IKEA to try it out yourself. The sofa itself should be used with a washable cover, and the covers come in many different colours. Different coloured-covers cost different prices, so this explains the price differences. I went with white because it was the cheapest – the sofa and cover end up costing only $500 CAD. Also, white looks decent and matches my apartment anyways.

  There are also lumbar cushions that go with this sofa, and I got two of them. Not necessary, but great for sitting purposes.

• TV Stand: STORMARK

  A grey-coloured TV stand that goes well with both CRT TVs and newer flat-panels, STORMARK isn’t too big and so it doesn’t take up a lot of space. With the glass shelves, it also looks sleek. The cable holes at the back allow for neater wiring, and also allow you to attach a power bar/surge protector onto the unit using cable ties. The only setback is that it’s a bit more work to assemble than it looks.

• Coffee Table: LACK

  This one was a no-brainer for someone on a budget. It’s $30 CAD, and just looks great, especially in the black-brown veneer. It contrasts well with the white EKTORP sofa and was fairly simple to put together. The bottom shelf is also nice for storing away stuff you need, but don’t really want to see all the time.

• Side Tables: LACK

  Got two of these in the same black-brown colour scheme to match with the coffee table. In addition to being cheap, ($20 CAD each), they are also dead simple to put together, even for me. Each one took only about five minutes to assemble. While decidedly minimalistic, these side tables get the job done.

Dining

• Dining Table: JOKKMOKK

  What can I say? It’s the cheapest four-chair dining table package, and it’s also lightweight. (Perhaps the two go hand-in-hand…) It was also straightforward, but tedious, to put together. By the time you’ve put together the fourth chair, you’re ready to just quit. However, JOKKMOKK was the only product I got that wasn’t completely disassembled – the table top already had the sides and leg supports attached, so you just needed to secure the legs, simplifying things.

• Folding Chairs: JEFF

  While not necessarily for dining-purposes only, I didn’t want to create another section just for these. JEFF is a cheap ($10 CAD) plastic and metal-framed folding chair that doesn’t take up much room when you’re not using it. I plan on using them for when guests are over or for seating outside on the balcony. I picked up two of these cheap and effective chairs.

Workspace

• Desks: FREDRIK work station, FREDRIK desk and drawer

  So maybe this was a bit overboard in terms of workspace, but I spend a lot of time at my computer, and so I like to have the room. I even eat a meal every now-and-then at my desk, a spillover from my university days. The FREDRIK work station and desk both offer ample room, and more importantly, are easy to assemble and take apart, should the need ever arise. They also look nice, but I guess that’s just my attraction to minimalism. The extra drawer was quite pricey – $30 CAD – especially considering that the work station itself was only $170. However, it’s quite handy, and so I wouldn’t want to be without it.

• Drawer unit: MIKAEL

  Got this in the same birch-effect colour to match the desks. It’s quite the upgrade from the low-cost plastic drawers that I had used for the past four years. While it was a bit of work to put together, it’s a quality unit that has ample storage space. The bottom can even be used for hanging file-folders, though this requires you to leave off the bottom. This diminishes the utility somewhat. However, the casters make these drawers very easy to move from place to place.

• Deskpad: PRÖJS

  Another cheap item from IKEA, the PRÖJS deskpad costs only $7 CAD but protects your desktop from scratches and other damage. It’s quite large (65 x 45 cm) and thick as well, and the back is made of a grippy texture so that it doesn’t slip or slide on your desk. It’s also translucent. I think I’ll pick up another one to cover the rest of my desktop space.

About the only bad thing with IKEA furniture is are the small tools (namely, Allen keys) that they provide are almost useless unless you only have to put together one piece of furniture. But, you can’t expect them to provide real tools at these prices. Thus, it’s beneficial to have proper tools on hand; trust me, it makes the job much easier.

Keeping things neat

Another benefit of the new furniture was that it gave me a chance to clean up cabling for my various devices. Since most of the furniture had open legs, it gave me a chance to try out something I’ve been wanting to for a while. I decided to use cable ties to affix surge protectors to the sides of table legs to free up floor space. This also went well with the FREDRIK desks, since they have a cable organizer that runs horizontally under the desk – it basically allows you to run cables neatly along it. Here’s a few pictures:

So far, it’s worked out great, and the advantage of using cable ties is that the fixture is non-permanent.