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Ikea Lack Side Table
by thehonesttruth
I've recently moved house. Whilst when I first moved out on my own some ten years ago, I just got furniture cobbled together from friends casts off, this time I had the chance to really get everything coordinated - especially as my in-laws offered to buy us a few bits and bobs from Ikea, one of which was this 'Lack' side ... table.
We chose our table in Black/Brown, as it co-ordinated with our colour scheme and several other pieces of Ikea furniture we purchased at the same time. It cost us £6, but is available in many other colours, with prices ranging from £5 to £15.
Assembling this was very easy - it's simply a case of screwing in the four legs. It can easily by built by one person alone, and the instructions were fairly clear illustrations. It took me around 5 minutes to assemble this table, and I'm not too experienced with flatpacks, so I was surprised with the ease of assembly.
Once up, this table, which has a 55cm square top, and sits 45cm high. It's a very simple and basic design, just a square with four chunky square legs, and as such will fit in with any kind of decor. It also feels very sturdy once assembled - it certainly doesn't feel cheap. The black brown finish is really nice - dark without being quite as stark as pure black, and a sort of wood grain effect subtly visible in the surface. It wipes clean very easily, though it does seem that dust is very visible on the dark surface, so I do find myself dusting more now.
The table is a good size and height for popping a coffee on when I'm sitting on the sofa, as well as a plate of biscuits. I've taken good care of the table, as despite it's low cost I don't want to have to replace it any time soon, and with careful treatment, so far it hasn't sustained any scratches so far. Family members have had the same table before and said the veneer chips easily, but I have to say I haven't found this to be the case so far.
Really, at £6 for a table, you really can't go wrong. It's easy to put up, a good size for what I need it for, lightweight enough to move around if I need to, and fits in wonderfully with my decor. 5 stars!
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White Shaker Style Monks Bench Laundry Box
by ClareM78
At the end of October last year my boyfriend and I moved into our first house. As we had both previously been renting there were quite a few items that we needed to get for our new home and a laundry basket was one of them. I had had a fabric laundry basket previously which lived in a cupboard but as we didn't have that much closed ... storage space in our new home we wanted to get a laundry basket that looked nice and fit with the rest of the room. We decided that the laundry basket would live in the bathroom and that is currently decorated in white and pale yellow so I searched for a nice wide wooden (or wood effect) laundry basket and found this one at Argos. I really liked the look of it and overall it had good reviews on the Argos site (plus it was in the sale when I saw it!) so I bought this one.
The product
This fits the bill in that it looks like it is made out of wood although it is actually made out of mdf or something similar, but that is fine and really what I would expect for the price. I do think that it looks quite classy in our bathroom so I am happy with it on a visual perspective.
The measurements are H58 x W55 x D35cm and its capacity is 55 litres. In reality although it does look fairly small I think it does quite hold a lot, definitely at least enough for 2 full loads in the washing machine which is more than enough because once it gets that full we really should be putting some washing on!
The lid is on hinges and when you open it you don't have to hold it open which I think is quite useful as if you are trying to get a load of washing out you really want both hands rather than having to try and scoop the clothes out with one hand whilst using the other to hold the lid open. Obviously this does mean you have to actually close it when you are done rather than the lid falling back down. Personally I have not yet found the need for a seat in my bathroom but this box can, as the name suggests, be used as a seat when closed.
Assembly
When you purchase this product it does come as flat packed. At first we looked at it and thought 'how hard can this be?' as there are not that many pieces to it but actually it was a bit more tricky than we first thought. The instructions are pretty worthless as they don't actually make sense and they refer to the pieces as though they are labelled, which they were not in our case. Interestingly when I was searching Dooyou for this product I saw that someone else had written a review on this item quite a while back and they had exactly the same problem as we did, namely that we built the box and then realised when trying to attach the final piece that actually we had one of the pieces in the wrong position resulting in the bottom falling out, so had to take it all apart and start again - cue much frustration from my boyfriend, as obviously when I say 'we built the box' I mean he built it and I watched! Anyway, second time around we did get it right and hopefully we will never need to take it apart again.
Conclusion
I am very pleased with this product as I think it looks nice and it does exactly what we need it to do. I think the instructions could do with a rewrite but we got there in the end and it wasn't rocket science. This product is currently on sale at Argos for £34.99 (product code 832/5299) but when we purchased it we paid about £24 although to be honest I am so pleased with it that I would say it is worth the full price. I would definitely recommend this product and am just deducting one star because of the rubbish instructions.
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Argos 4 Drawer Plastic Tower Storage Unit
by myloh
I'm reviewing the ARGOS plastic storage drawers .
It is a plastic unit containing 4 drawers & comes in various colours which seem to change occasionally,but at present these ones come in Black....White....Silver....Red.The colours listed apply to the frame only & the drawers themselves are always white,but slightly ... see-through.
The unit is 86cms high .....32cms wide ....38cms deep (as in from front to back).
They cost £19.99.
First,why I chose this unit. Simply we needed a unit to hold bits & bobs needed for babysitting duty but, babies being babies, the children's needs increased & required bigger & sturdier storage & more space,so I requisitioned this for my craft paraphanalia. I sew & knit and my tools & supplies were stored in various places round the house,so gathering them all in one unit seemed a good idea.....and it works well for this.
The unit is very light ,so while it might be awkward to carry home, it is at least light,so swings & roundabouts on that issue really. Once the drawers are filled it helps keep it a tad more grounded though . I tend to keep the heavier things in the bottom drawer to help stabilise it.
It comes with castors which is handy for pulling it from it's position in a handy little gap between two wardrobes over to my sewing machine ,which is a big industrial machine & immovable.....therefore I simply bring the unit to the machine for accessing all the things in the drawer......,trims,ribbons,lace,tools,bobbins etc that I plan to use.
Good points,
it is cheap enough & the drawers are semi-see-through so you can see roughly what is in each drawer.
It is mobile due to the castors on it.
It fits in small places that big chests of drawers would never go.
The drawers are deceptively spacious.
Bad points,
it is a bit light. Even with the items in it. This means moving it is best done by gripping it low down.....around about the second drawer from the bottom works well for me......to avoid it possibly toppling over while being moved,especially on a carpeted floor.
The drawers tend to stick because they aren't on proper runners as such,but rather rest on ledges & I occasionally use a piece of candle wax on the ledges to ease pulling the drawers in & out. Plus I generally brace the unit with one hand while pulling/pushing the drawer with the other.....just to be safe.
My worry re children using it would be it toppling on them if they pulled at a drawer impatiently,as they often do. Yes,it is light & won't cause major injury,but even so I wouldn't chance it personally. Big kids would find it useful though for games & bits & bobs .
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