I have bureaus that are just over 15 yrs. old from IKEA & I just put them in our boys rm. this past wk. Are they still in pristine condition? No but they still look pretty good! DH finally threw out a bookcase from IKEA this past wk. that I got at the same time as the bureaus.

I have the Hemnes 8 drawer dresser and the bedside stand. The dresser was difficult to put together. It barely survived a move, and I'm using it now figuring it will fall apart on me anytime. The bedside table is nice though. I would think the best thing to do would be to stick with the smaller pieces of furniture if your daughter really wants it. I think the size of the dresser just makes it unstable.
I also have a bookcase from IKEA that I bought prior to this dresser that seems much higher quality.

My daughter has a full size hemnes bed - it was her first big girl bed and she's had it since she was 2 (she's now 7). It still looks pretty much brand new and she isn't gentle with it - it gets daily use as a trampoline. She isn't heavy, but generally either I or my husband will lay with her to read stories before bedtime, and it has no problem supporting an adult.

It is very low to the ground though - that's my one complaint. It's actually great for a little kid (less distance to fall if they roll out of bed). But I'd love to use the space beneath her bed for toy storage with some of those underbed boxes, but it is so low to the ground that none of them fit.

Thanks for the input so far. She wants the bed and a couple of the big dressers....

Jen, if you're still following this, how long have you had your dresser?

lkplatow, they sell bed risers for like $7.99 there, maybe that would help? Glad to hear the bed seems sturdy.

Anyone else?

Thank you so much,
marrilyn

We are in the process of redecorating the room my 20 something daughter uses when visiting. We put in a Hemnes 8 drawer dresser and nightstand. For the bed we used their Noresund bedframe - it's dark metal and looks good with Hemnes, but doesn't overdo the wood pieces. For the money, I think the furniture quality is good. It seems sturdy and the drawers slide easily. The bedframe can accommodate either a mattress alone or a box springs and mattress. The dresser was a pain to put together, but it's doable.

Good Luck!

I have a 10 year old desk from Ikea that has held up well. I use it all the time because I work from my home.

I have found that all the furniture from Ikea is pretty good quality, and even if it only lasts a few years it is cheap enough to not worry about. I think for a kid's room it is the perfect solution, especially since you will want to redo it as they get older.

I love Ikea, I think it is the perfect solution for people on a budget to have a really interesting and creative space.

We have two Hemnes dressers. The only complaint is that the drawer bottoms collapse and I have to tighten all the screws on them from time to time. Otherwise they've been durable. For the money, I'm not terribly worried if I have to replace them as we find other "permanent" pieces.

Slightly OT, but we're very happy with the Liatorp line for shelving -- we have several pieces in the FR and are using the buffet for a TV stand. DH remarked during assembly that the Liatorp line seemed to be better quality than the Hemnes.

I've probably had it about a year and a half. Like zhkymom, the bottom drawers seem to be the main problem. I also bought it as temporary furniture, because I didn't want to spend a lot on bedroom furniture until I bought a house. I probably wouldn't have bought it if I'd known how poorly it would hold up, but prior to moving it, it wasn't as bad as it is now. As long as you have plenty of help putting it together and don't move it around once it's built, you'll probably be fine.

my girls have the hemmes tall boy dresser and bookshelf & i coudnt be happier with them. my husband was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the wood when he was putting them together. i love ikea - everything i do is done on a budget and ikea is my faithful go to store. :)

I just bought my dd (college apartment) a dresser from Ikea. Like someone else said, it was a pain to put together. One thing I didn't like was that the instructions are all pictures, and some of the pictures were so vague we couldn't tell which way some were supposed to be placed. After it was completely finished, including nailing the cardboardish type thing on the back, we saw that we had put one of the little boards facing the wrong direction.

One major problem I have with Ikea (and this wasn't with the dresser) was their customer help. When we were putting a chair together, we noticed that a part was broken. We had just started on the chair so I called the number, told her what chair, what part, etc. and the woman told me there would be no problem getting a replacement part sent out. By then we were at dd's apt, almost 100 miles from the store.

So we finished putting the chair together, hauled the boxes to the trash, and put the little wrench thingy where dd could find it when the part came in.

Two days later I got a phone call that they couldn't send out that particular part, and did I want to return the chair (uh, no, plus we already threw the box away) or have a partial refund. I actually wanted to return the chair, but I would have to drive our truck to dd's apt, then haul the chair down a flight of stairs, then make the trip to the store, and then come home again, almost 300 miles total. So we took the refund and dh will try to figure out how to repair it.

My advice would be to buy your furniture & then dig out the instructions, and if there are any parts that are of significant value or size (i.e. too expensive for them to ship to you) dig them out & examine them before you drive home.

As for me, I will never, never, never, never, never buy furniture I have to put together again.

I have Hemnes dressers, beds and nightstands in my children's rooms. They are SOLID. I had NO problems assembling them (and moving them to a new home). They are like new, and am impressed by the solid wood construction and gliding drawers. I would highly recommend them. and I'm picky.