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> Most of the "back in the day" furniture came from tearing down virgin woods. Sorting + shredding-recycling + making new "cheap particle board crap" furniture takes a lot of energy, but not a lot of non-renewable resources.

It also lasted a lot longer. I have inherited furniture that must be around a 100 years old now and a lot that is over 50 years old and doing fine. A lot of my friends have older (even hundreds of years old in a fe cases). A lot of IKEA furniture will go in a decade or less, and they are far from the worst - I have chucked out furniture after three or four years. My IKEA wardrobe has deteriorated after five years.

You do not have to make better furniture by chopping down virgin woods. You can get timber from well managed forests. It is also an incentive to grow trees to maturity. You can upcycle things (the largest bit of old furniture I have got rid of went to someone who did just that). You can make better furniture by better use of recycled materials.

> particle board will be much lighter than "normal wood" furniture

It slowly buckles under load which is bad for things like bookshelves.

> I have inherited furniture that must be around a 100 years old now and a lot that is over 50 years old and doing fine.

The rest of the furniture didn't last long enough to be inherited.

You've never seen ikea furniture if you think it lasts less than a decade.

I moved a lot, and in different countries. I bought different IKEA furniture pieces. There's no one size fits all. IKEA is different by country, by price, by product line... For example, I have a bed I bought from IKEA made of pine wood. Just a few years old, but it shows no signs of wear, and there's no reason for it. On the other hand, I've inherited kitchen countertops and cabinets from the previous owner, and judging by the tags, they've started their second decade sometime this year. It's particle board all the way. The hinges have completely destroyed the nesting in the doors. The doors, literally, fell off. The countertop bent because of weight, temperature, humidity... it's the kitchen after all.

I've been trying to fix these things as the problems appeared, but, really, most people in this situation would probably tear the kitchen down and put the new one up. It's ironic, because we live in a "historic" neighborhood, where the houses have been built in the 18 hundreds and some, perhaps, even 17 hundreds. But absolutely nothing in these houses is more than a decade or two old. They also use materials that superficially resemble the old stuff: plastic panels with wood-like texture, unnecessarily thick aluminum window frames that resemble the old wooden ones (and open in the wrong direction!), plastic shingles that look like ceramics... And everything is made of crap. So much so that the whole neighborhood is perpetually under construction. It's like the Winchester Mystery House that its owners keep building in hopes to stay alive.

There are definitely different tiers. I've bought simple shelving that began to fall apart within years (Billy maybe?). I have 10 years old bedroom furniture still going strong (Kallax/Malm).

Did you read my whole comment?

I said some lasts less than a decade, and I have quite a lot of IKEA furniture. I also said its better than most cheap furniture.

I even mentioned a specific piece of IKEA furniture I own that is clearly not going to last a decade.

Doesn't last through undergrad in most cases. Mostly because you move a lot.

undergrads are also drunk and partying a lot.

the drywall also doesnt survive angry drunk undergrads punching through the wall, or practicing sports inside

Damn, you think Ikea furniture is great?

Useful, or passable, sure. Great though?

"The only thing it lacks is weight." You must be being a bit hyperbolic no? Have you ever looked at artisanal/quality goods in comparison to IKEA? You can't see any quality difference?

I varies widely on piece, but even some (not all) of the cheapest wood stuff they have are pretty remarkable quality (or maybe I should say durability, the design side is still super simple for flat-packing optimizations). The non-entry-level stuff is quite good in my opinion.

But on some other stuff I tend to agree, their sofas are pretty bad in my opinion. The beds are okay, but even the non-cheap ones aren't "great".

The sustainability has to be weighed against the fact that cheap furniture doesn’t last. I know people who had to throw away furniture within just a couple years, because it was breaking down.

Meanwhile, I also know people who own pieces that are 50 years old. They look incredible and function great. Of course, we have a culture of consumerism. Most people have no desire to own or maintain something so old, they want new.

This seems delusional to me, being older and more experienced with how long IKEA stuff actually lasts.

8 years is long for IKEA furniture, usually something has irreplaceablely broken by then.

IKEA also refuse to sell you spare parts.

Give me real furniture anyday.

> IKEA also refuse to sell you spare parts.

Sorry to call bullshit but I think that’s exactly what this statement is.

Just looking at our wardrobe and thinking about how it’s actually not one thing at all, but made up of dozens of different SKUs, and how I could reorder any of them individually if I needed. There are also third party sellers of parts such as runners, door rails, and the like (not that you need them since these can all be purchased from IKEA anyway).

The challenge with IKEA is colours: they used to offer more colours, but now lots of stuff is black white, grey, or beige with no other options (and sometimes white is the only option). If you need to replace a part in a colour other than that nowadays, you’ll perhaps find it difficult to impossible.

IKEA sells spare parts and for small items (like bolts and fittings) will send them for free.

Depends on the specific piece of furniture, and how well you treat it. I have had quite mixed experience. Its not going to last like expensive stuff, but its generally far from the worst.

Quite a long comment to write that you've never once seen ikea furniture.

I live in Sweden now, so yes I have seen some IKEA furniture around.

> IKEA also refuse to sell you spare parts.

dont they just give the spare parts away for free?

just show up at the help desk saying your box was missing a few pieces and theyll give you more

... i have ikea furniture thats ~20 years old, still kicking

the ikea cabinet set is ~25?