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Ikea Malm Chest : 4 Drawers
by CallMeRalph
It was about ten years ago I first discovered Ikea. It was on a shopping trip with my mum and dad, back then we were hunting for some furniture and to be honest the place bored me senseless. Now I'm a bit older and own my own furniture I love Ikea to bit. The fact is that if you want cheap good quality furniture then this place is ideal. ... This particular set of drawers is one I bought about five years ago. Only last week I moved them from my old house to new one and had to go through the laborious task of pulling them all to bit and rebuilding them. So at the moment I am very well acquainted with these particular drawers.
So this review is for the Malm 4 drawer set from Ikea. The ones I own are actually in black and if my memory serves me correct they come in a few others colours such as cream, white and brown. As with the vast majority of furniture from Ikea these drawers come flat pack so you have to assemble them yourself. Back when I bought these I remember they were very heavy and the box was not one I could lift on my own so be aware that you may need some help if you do buy these.
So first of all the putting them together part of my review. This took me around an hour and a half if I remember correctly. I did manage the entire job all on my own though and I do remember quite enjoying the experience. There is something quite satisfying about building something, even if you are following instructions. I built the outer frame first and this is quite simple if you follow the instructions, they have well labelled pictures and as long as you go along in order they do make sense very well. The drawers were a little boring to put together but once you had mastered the first one each one got that little bit easier.
As with most Ikea furniture all the screws and bits and bobs come in a pack. I was happy to report that none were missing. You also get a few alan keys which you will need to use in the construction of said drawers. Much of the drawers are held together with clever interlocking screws which I really do like and think are very clever. To say I built this myself ten years ago and it is still standing today shows how well the designers of these drawers have done in conveying how it should be built.
So when you have your finished set of Malm drawers standing in front of you, what exactly do you get? Well these are very deep drawers and wide as well, so lots of rooms for clothes or anything else you desire to put in there. They are quite a tall set and stand just below chest high on an average size person. The top is smooth and has a nice finish to the wood so you can either leave it clear or put things on top of it. There are four little screws that you can see on the top but these are the same colour as the drawers so they don't stand out.
The drawers come out on little runners which are very smooth and even after five years of use they still work just as well as they did when I first put them together. After five years of use these drawers are still in wonderful condition. The only slight issue is that one of the drawers has come a little bit lose at the bottom, but this is something that was not overly difficult. The drawers then are very hard wearing and have lasted very well and will probably last for many more years into the future.
As I mentioned I did recently take these down and relocate them at a new home. Sometimes when you do this you have some real issues with things breaking or screws that are damaged. This was not the case with the Malm drawers. Everything came apart really easily and everything went back together really well, I even managed it without looking at the instructions. Another plus point there for the Ikea drawers then. Also these were on a wood floor and yet they have not scratched the wood. When you get the drawers they come with little pads that you can place on the bottom of the drawers if you want to, yet another very good idea from Ikea.
So what about price, obviously something that is quite important. Well when I bought these I seem to remember they cost around the £80 mark. I had a quick look online and could not find these on sale now so maybe Ikea have replaced them with a newer version. There were a few second hand ones online though as some of these were as cheap as £20 and if you could pick these up for that kind of money then I would say they were a real bargain if they are good condition.
The fact that you can also pick different colours of these makes them very good indeed. There is a nice variety to choose from and they would not look out of place in many rooms. I have these in the bedroom but they could also be used in other rooms. One thing I should mention is about the handles. When you look at these from a distance they look odd as there are no handles, but the front of the drawers has a gap at the top where you pull them out and as they are on very easy runners they do slide out very easily.
So as you can probably tell I really like these drawers. They look good, work well and offer lots of space. They have lasted for over five years and look like they could go for more than double that with no real issue. They are not overly expensive and for the standard of drawers you get they are excellent value all round. So the Malm drawers come highly recommended. If I was kitting a new house out I would seriously considering buying these or something very similar all over again.
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