Quality: ★★★.5

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Ikea manufactures most of its products abroad in Indonesia, Vietnam and China using a variety of woods, fabrics, and materials.  

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While Ikea products can last for decades - the 10-year + warranties are testament to that - many sofas are made with particleboard, fiberboard and other composite materials that may not be as durable as solid wood.

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The cushions are made with polyfoam. Typically, the higher priced Ikea sofas are built with more durable and substantive foam than the less expensive models.

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Additionally, the legs are often made of plastic - instead of wood - and the joints are typically bound by a screw into wood, rather than a secure metal bond.

 

Essentially, the quality is not top notch, but it is functional and if it breaks within the warranty you should be covered.

 

Design: ★★★★

 

Ikea develops its furniture designs in house. The brand focuses on building functional, comfortable, family-friendly pieces suitable for the modern home or office. They are also increasingly developing furniture elements for smaller living spaces and often incorporate storage or sleeping functionality into their sofas.

 

Ikea designs tend to be simplistic and straightforward, rather than stylistically trendy. They often feature clean lines and modern reference. In other words, while your Ikea sofa may not be the design centerpiece of the room, it nicely complements other design elements in a soft and welcoming fashion.

 

Customer Experience: ★★★★

 

The website features filtering tools that make it easy to find a sofa that meets your price, size and style preferences. Ikea also has an interactive web tool, which allows shoppers to make configuration and color changes to sofas online while seeing price alterations for each piece.

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Checkout was simple and included the option to schedule delivery. Delivery costs start at $99 plus tax and increase depending on your proximity to Ikea stores and distribution centers.
 

While the flat-pack box shipping makes it more convenient to move Ikea sofas into tight spaces, assembly can take time.  That said, Ikea offers sofa assembly services for delivered items ranging from $39.00 to $79.00.

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Ikea has a 10 + year warranty on many of its sofas and lets customers return sofas up to 365 days after purchase. The warranty and return policy are significantly longer than many other brands.

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Overall, Ikea has offers relatively lower priced furniture that's comfortable and functional. The customer service can be slow and assembly is lengthy (although you can pay to have it assembled).  Additionally, the quality of the materials and construction is not as good as higher end brands; however, ikeas extended warranties and return policy provide with purchase assurance.

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Sustainability & Safety: ★★.5

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Ikea’s People & Planet Positive strategy lays out increasingly sustainable retrofits by 2020.

The brand uses phased out PVCs, minimizes formaldehyde content and other harmful chemicals.

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What’s more, over 60 percent of the wood comes from FSC certified forests or recycled sources.

 

Although the company says it uses 100% recycled material in packaging, the sofa was delivered with extensive plastic and cardboard packaging.

 

Ikea is actively seeking to improve reduce its environmental footprint and explicitly promotes its commitment to sustainable and equitable supply chains on its website.