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IKEA KALLAX

8owners with an opinion
50%of verdicts positive
1/2positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for durability and ease of use; criticized for build quality and repairability.

What people wrote

Doesn’t like itOwned 20 years
What are some examples? What I've noticed buying Ikea stuff over the last 30 years so that it's gotten progressively lower-quality. Take for example their Kallax shelves. I've purchased them at least 4 times in the last 20 years, each time, a part that was metal before got replaced by a plastic or wood part, the wood got thinner or less dense, .... They still work so maybe that's innovative.
Likes it
I love KALLAX the most of all IKEA series. Sturdy as heck, can take a lot of weight, extremely versatile and durable. I've used it as a bookshelf, for putting boxes away, as a wardrobe organizer, you name it. Oh and the price is right. Nothing else comes close.
Neutral
As an EU resident with a modestly large flat who's dedicated 1/3 of it to a large living room because we prioritized room to relax and spend time together, I pine for the chance to have more than a pair of IKEA KALLAX to store (and pile upon) all my electronics stuff and 3D printer(s).
Doesn’t like it
At least in Germany quality has gone downhill. I still own some Billies made in 1995 or so by Ikea. Literally massive wood and damn good book shelves. The ones bought by me in 2008 or so very noticeably less well build but still ok. The ones we bought in 2018 or so are shit, especially the shelves are so thin that they begin to sag. In 2008 or so a friend of mine bought a "kallax" (another name then) and it was awesome, it's still in his basement and looks good. We bought one in 2023 and it's basically only paint, some "wood" and air. It's ok to store stuff in, but it's impossible to drill a screw into the wood. It's like trying to screw paper.
Likes it
BILLY is the shelf where you stop the back panel with nails or rivets, right ? It's absolutely not made to be disasembled. You'd need to go with the HEMNES line to have something a bit more solid and well thought out. People put all IKEA stuff in the same basket, but they have different designers who can have pretty different philosophies on how the furnitures are structured. Some are really clever, others really cheap and dumb. Their EXPEDIT / KALLAX line is another line that is extremely good regarding flexibility and modularity. We actually use two as bookshelves.
Likes it
It is in the instructions (which typically don't have words, IIRC.) Brackets have been included with all shelves we've purchased - even ones that seem short & sturdy enough to use it. IKEA also sells furniture of varying qualities - for example, KALLAX is a well-known line of shelves that many vinyl enthusiasts use to store records. Records are extremely heavy, but these stand the test of time. Another example is in the bedroom department: MALM vs KULLEN. The former is much thicker and sturdier, with drawers that have metal hardware. Kullen on the other hand is thinner, flimsy, and uses plastic hardware for the drawers, giving them an awful tactile feel.
Neutral
When I tried to move my KALLAX [1], the top row of cubicles lost its structural integrity. It was the best thing to happen because it made a great pot rack. I removed the top half of cubes and in the vacant space I put a black pipe across the walls. I can hang at least 15 pots and pans on the pipe using hooks, and in top shelf can go even more pots. KALLAX one of IKEA’s greatest hits. [1] https://www.ikea.com/us/en/assembly_instructions/kallax-shel...
Doesn’t like it
I used to buy a lot of Ikea stuff (to save time) and recently I've just started making my own from basic plywood etc because the quality has totally gone to shit. It's designed in such a way now that if you use it slightly outside of parameters it's fucked. Like, pick up a chest of drawers the wrong way and the particleboard snaps in a way that is impossible to fix properly without replacing the entire beam. Try and screw something to the side of a Kallax or whatever, it's honeycomb cardboard so screws just fall through. Yeah you can do it with a bit of effort, but I mean, meh. I don't think that square items of furniture like that should be disposable. You should be able to just cut it up and use the scrap wood for other projects.
Doesn’t like itDoesn’t say they own it
Kallax is ridiculously expensive and you pay for the hip IKEA brand (yes, IKEA is fancy in many regards). Especially for a bookshelf, you can build it yourself way cheaper. Go to IKEA to get inspiration and to check how the fiberboards are put together to construct the furniture. Then you can go to a hardware store that sells fiberboards, cut to your size specifications. In many places you can ask them to cover specific edges too. You buy the screws, the door hinges etc. A bookshelf is essentially four boards plus a few shelves themselves. Ridiculously easy to construct yourself out of boards and won't cost as much as a Kallax. Also IKEA is often not even using fiberboard but hollow cardboard like this https://www.ikea.com/de/de/images/products/lack-couchtisch-w... Once you get some routine, it's no huge deal to build more stuff yourself. With my dad, we built all our kitchen furniture with MDF boards, 3D modeled in the SketchUp software by us for millimeter precision. And again, you can ask hardware shops to do a lot of stuff for you, like make curved cuts etc. Couches are of course another deal totally. But shelves/cupboards/wardrobes are totally possible to build yourself.