The 8 Worst IKEA Products You Should Never Buy

See my other video on the best IKEA products here.

1. SOLARVET solar lights

I bought these because I thought these little lanterns were so cute for the patio. But they didn’t hold up well after being out in the rain. They began to look gray, and grimy, and I couldn’t clean them. They’re made from white nylon and the material absorbed dirty rainwater. 

Maybe they are best used in a covered area. But I still don’t recommend them because of their quality. They didn’t last. They’d be on, then dim, then they just would die after about half an hour. It was disappointing and expensive for a string of solar lights that only lasted a month. 

I did try changing the battery inside the solar panel, but the lights just didn’t hold their charge. Maybe I got a dud but after this experience, I probably won’t buy any IKEA solar lights at all.

2. HÖLMO floor lamps

Another lighting product I would never buy again is the HÖLMO floor lamp. We have three of these lights. We bought three because they were cheap and at the time we just desperately needed some floor lamps. They serve their purpose, but I still dislike them. 

They are extremely fragile since they’re paper and very delicate. 

But the real problem is that they are too small and short to be impactful in a room, especially if you have high ceilings. However, they’ve been discontinued, maybe because other people had some of the same issues with the lamp.

This lamp seems to have been replaced with the VICKLEBY, which I think looks even worse. 

3. The LACK series

When I was broke and moving into my first apartment, I went to IKEA thinking I’d be able to make my place look great like their catalog for $20. When I got to the store, I realized all I could afford was LACK furniture, which is the cheapest line IKEA carries. I feel like LACK gives off very temporary vibes. 

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with LACK, but it’s just so incredibly basic. It’s really just a hard surface made out of particleboard. My advice is to use your money to buy something more substantial and made of solid wood at a thrift store or Facebook Marketplace.

4. BÄSTIS lint roller

It’s just not sticky enough to pick up lint. I had to use five sheets of it to get anything off my fabric. I fell for it because it was .99 cents, but just buy a better quality one that costs a few dollars more.

5. LISTERBY console table

This is one of my most regretted IKEA purchases. I wanted to buy the lighter wood version, but at the time they only had the darker-tone version. I really needed a surface for my entryway. My husband and I hated the way it looked once we assembled it.

It looks clunky and the proportions are weird, maybe because the shelves are too thick. It doesn’t have that airy Scandinavian furniture feel that I was hoping for.

After a while, the veneer started to peel off the top edge of the shelf, basically where the table connects to the leg.

6. LÅNGFJÄLL office chair

This chair is a huge disappointment. They look so nice compared to standard black mesh seating. Within a few hours of sitting in one, I realized it wasn’t going to work. It is way too hard and shallow. They don’t have good lumbar support and the armrest is just metal bars that felt like they were bruising my arms. Mine also didn’t seem to recline properly.

7. KLIPPAN couch

We had this sofa long ago. It was actually launched in the 1980s and it’s surprisingly still around. It was one of the worst IKEA furniture pieces because it was super uncomfortable. Also, you can’t really fit two people comfortably.

8. RUNNEN deck tiles

These wooden tiles are absolutely beautiful. They are used in many deck and patio DIY makeovers. They completely transformed the look of our crappy plywood rental deck. We managed to lay them out in an hour since they are interlocking.

The problem with these tiles is that they are advertised by IKEA as outdoor decking but they do not hold up well to harsh winter weather, at least not here in Canada. 

The sneaky thing is that on the product page, it doesn’t specifically say that you need to bring the tiles in to overwinter them. But on the outdoor flooring page, I did find a little blurb that says something like “when our Canadian winter season makes its return, and the weather sends you indoors, it’s easy to disassemble and store for next year.”

I totally understand bringing in a few outdoor cushions for the winter, but needing to bring your entire deck floor is not very practical. The tiles did fade and needed a bit of resurfacing after being outside for one winter–after all, they are wood and wood weathers. 

The one complaint I kept seeing crop up in multiple reviews was the warping and lifting of the wood. When customers tried to lift them to repair them, the plastic clipping mechanism snapped and broke probably because they became brittle after being exposed to freezing temperatures. If you live in a climate with harsh winters, make sure you want to buy these tiles.

The worst IKEA products 

I hope you enjoyed this roundup of some of the worst IKEA products I’ve ever owned. Do you have any IKEA products that have really let you down? Let me know in the comments because I’d love to know.