A bargain masterpiece (Ikea Mala Easel)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Ikea Mala Easel
Date:	07/06/09 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: really good value

Disadvantages: haven't come across one yet

I was looking for some new lounge furniture a few months ago, and happened upon the Ikea website. Along with some of the furniture I wanted to look at I spotted this easel for the bargain price of £12.99. I immediately thought it wouldn't stand up to much at that price and my other half dismissed it straight away. We were thinking of getting our daughter an easel for her to do drawing on, but weren't sure which one to get.
As we were paying a visit to Ikea anyway, we passed a stack of these easels in the warehouse on the way to the tills. I went to have a look and was suitable surprised at how sturdy they were looking on the floor. I called my other half over and he agreed in my opinion of the easel.
After a couple of minutes of pushing and prodding, we decided that it was worth paying the £12.99 for. Even if it only lasted a year then it would be money well spent.

The easel comes ready built but at 118cm high and 62cm wide, you should find it'll fit in the car with one of the seats down. I would imagine anyone visiting Ikea with an intention to buy would have provision for transporting furniture home any way, so and extra light weight piece wouldn't make too much difference.

We were pleased to realise when we first took the easel out of the packaging that it could be folded away when not in use if we needed to take advantage of saving space. I had a spot in the dining room in mind, so the plan was to let the easel stay up all the time for our daughter to use as and when she felt like it, but it was good to know the option was there.
It slots together easily by opening up and slotting the pencil tray into the grooves in the wood on the sides. These are obvious and no instructions are needed to find them.

Once together the easel provides you with a whiteboard and a blackboard. There is also a decent pencil tray which is fairly deep and we have found we can store chunky crayons in this without the risk of them spilling over the top of the tray which is a good plus.

We had forgotten to purchases any chalks or whiteboard markers, but to be honest I thought whiteboard markers were a bit dangerous in a toddlers hands so we have held off with these and instead use the whiteboard side for taping paper to and letting her use her crayons. This serves a much better purpose and we know that as she is scribbling away she has a great area that she can cover without doing any harm.
On the blackboard side, I have found it's appears good quality even after several uses. The chalk wipes off well and the board doesn't appear too stained or smudged even after you have tried to wash chalk remains off.

Overall we have been very impressed with this easel, especially for the price we paid for it. It hasn't been tipped over once despite crayons being used quite roughly on the paper. The wood is a decent smooth pine and we haven't found any rough edges that could contribute to any splinters being received from playing with the easel.
I really wasn't expecting too much for the money we paid, but it clearly was a bargain and if you're looking for a cheap easel you can't go wrong with this one.

Summary: a great value easel