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Comment by mmooss | Hacker News Reader

Ikea is nice design, but from what I've seen it doesn't last. You still get what you pay for. That makes it perfect for young adults, who aren't buying for the next 20 years, but it's not a vote of confidence in the startup.

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Ikea has different quality levels. You probably default to thinking about the MDF furniture which can never be successfully moved to a new place and is cheapish and breaks. That's what most people think of, and I believe how they started. But they also have 100% wood or steel framed furniture that while not fancy is durable and has a nice design.

I dunno if they have different designs in different regions, but even the "cheap" stuff on ikea feel a lot better than equivalent price cheap stuff from other stores.

Like their MDF stuff feels more solid/denser? I don't know how to explain it.

It's possible their MDF is really HDF, which is literally the same thing but denser.

I kin the US at least, IKEA’s cheapest stuff is usually particle board, not MDF (which would probably actually be a step up). They also have this weird cardboard honeycomb with a very thin layer of mdf on top that they use for their cheapest desktops and the infamous Lack side tables.

As much as people joke about breaking up over building ikea furniture, it's almost always easier to assemble than other furniture at a similar price point

That's fascinating because I have the complete opposite experience. Flat pack stuff from eg Wayfair or Target is way more annoying to assemble compared to the Ikea versions of the same, which just feels like it has more thought put it into it on how to assemble it.

You’re in agreement with the parent comment; I lean furniture is comparatively easy to assemble.

MDF is considered premium now, when they even substitute screws with plastic.

> But they also have 100% wood

Yeah, the bed I'm sleeping in is something like 20 years old, has gone through 3 moves (plus one where it wasn't dismantled) and is from Ikea. It's a full wood and is quite sturdy. I guess my parents paid what was needed for quality stuff.

Very little is 100% wood, mostly because it doesn’t need to be. The best mid century furniture is typically veneered. That said the Stockholm range from IKEA comes with a 20 year guarantee and is vastly better than almost anything sold by supposedly “proper” chain furniture stores. IKEA know a lot about how and why things break and wear.

> but it's not a vote of confidence in the startup.

I'll take a startup that doesn't waste its money on overvalued furniture over the opposite any day of the week. Shows they're not stupid about spending money. I've seen the opposite too often to count.

You can get the Aeron after the money starts really flowing in.

Well, it doesn't have to be an Aeron, but if a startup wants someone to gamble half their compensation or more and fuck up their back with long hours in cheap and painful office chairs, they may not be able to get good employees.

I think in the US a company could be subject to legal action for not providing ergonomic equipment

https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/osha-national-news-re...

You'll sing a very different tune once you reach an age where parts of your body start sending you twinges that they didn't before. Workplace ergonomics matter. I'm not going to sacrifice my health for any kind of employer, startup or not.

I am at that age. And I stand by my point; you can have ergonomics with Ikea products.

The main problem with those Aeron chairs is that most people don't have fixed sitting arrangements in the office anymore. With hybrid remote work people just take the first chair available and people don't bother tuning those every single day. So all those knobs on those chairs are not only useless, but harmful.

My office uses the "Markus" IKEA chair and those are great, fit well with most people and only has two adjustments possible: height and inclination.

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