IKEA LACK Side Table Review

One of the best and worst things about going into an Ikea store is that it's hard to leave empty handed. The entire price range is covered by items large and small: you can't help but grab something on the way out even if it's from the café or mini-restaurant near the exist. And if you like colourful pieces of or funky pieces of furniture, there are plenty of choices that are moderately priced for one to walk out of the store with. Hurray for impulse buying.

On one such trip many years back, I just had to walk through the showroom and ended up spotting a bunch of colourful side tables. I think this was Ikea's colour experimentation year because I don't see them as prominently displayed anymore. They may not even be available. So, a farewell to colourful LACKs and BILLYs.

Ikea LACK Side Table

Well, if you haven't figured it out by now, I grabbed at LACK side table just because. It is a discontinued colour, but the item is still available in both traditional and fancy colours with less choice. Coming in at just 8 lb (website), this was a pleasure of a package to carry to a car. It's very much on the large side, so you may be able to carry it on public transit, you just won't make any friends.

Configuration
Ikea LACK Side Table - $12.99

Video
Close-up of Ikea LACK Side Table

Assembly
This was so simple to put together it wasn't funny. The package was a square with the table top on top (or bottom) and the legs stacked on the bottom. Once done unpackaging, I just screwed the legs with the screw sticking out the end into the pre-drilled holes on the bottom of the table. It was pretty simple to get the legs to line up with the sides of the table by screwing just a bit more or less.

Stability
As a short and square tide table with an expansive table top, it should be rather difficult to knock over. The only real worry should be with an uneven floor.

Expandability / Customizability
Nope.

Everyday Use
Hopefully, you haven't noticed that I stuck this in a corner of a room -- a pretty trashy looking corner. Yes, it has outlived its usefulness and I was thinking about getting rid of it by just taking the legs off and putting it out front. That's not to say it's a bad table.

During happier times, it was used on the side of a room to hold a modem and router. Not the most exciting usage. And now it's performing the same role except modem and router have been replaced by two rather expensive hair clippers -- don't ask. Under it is a paper shredder and more cables.

The surface is not real wood, it's painted. This means that it is very smooth and easy to wipe down. Years later, the surface is still pristine. Only a few small specs of dirt ever stuck to it, and they were easily scraped off with a finger nail.

As a proper side table at the edge of a couch, I think it might be a bit on the big side. It would be leaning on the smaller side as a coffee table set out in front of a couch. But, to each their own, and if size is the only complaint I can come up with, then you should just do some measurements to avoid trouble.

Also, I should mention that I also got a similar LACK-like, think it's an INGO, table in solid wood that is still in use. It holds up a modem, telephone, stereo, and a ton of magazines -- a proper side table. Unfortunately, real untreated wood is hard to wipe down with anything like a Swiffer pad. Dust is harder to simply brush off. The fact that it's still being used and was chosen over the colourful LACK table should say something about changing tastes and "fancy schmancy" furniture.


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