IVAR Side unit, 19 5/8x89 "
Price $ 35.00
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Since IVAR storage system is so good at what it does, it has faithfully served customers’ needs across the home for over 50 years. Attics, living rooms, pantries and bedrooms – they all love IVAR.
Article Number604.846.55
Product details
Untreated solid pine is a durable natural material that can be painted, oiled or stained according to preference.
Solid pine is a natural material which ages beautifully and gains its own unique character over time.
Designer
IKEA of Sweden
Measurements
- Height: 89 "
- Depth: 19 5/8 "
Reviews
Tricky but the end result seems to be the sameCaitlinI’ve handled the old side units that came assembled and these will be equally sturdy if done correctly but as the other reviews note, it requires some skill. Just ignore the laughably small piece of pine provided to use with a regular hammer, and pick up a 1 lb dead blow hammer on the cheap to knock the tenons in. The holes on the other side will not simply line up, you’ll need to gently force them from the outside in, just tapping a little bit at a time in a 1, 5, 2, 4, 3 pattern. I started with the other half on the floor to use the floor as a “third hand” and I tapped everything in a little to get it started. While you’re holding pressure you might need to tap sideways on the joining part to get it lined up with the opposite mortise. Then I flipped it over and returned to the 1, 5, 2, 4, 3 pattern. Everything comes out fine and straight. I have assembled 7 of these with no duds, and the snug fitting is what makes them sturdy, especially onced anchored to the wall.
Bring back the Old DesignJeffreyLike others. I hate this DIY side unit
Never again till you bring back the old side unitsTrennaWorst decision ever to make these DIY. The response that it's normal for customers to assemble IKEA furniture: This is not "assembly" this is "construction." ZERO other IKEA products require this level of construction. And "Hire someone to assemble"?? For that a person can go buy much better stuff.
I don't love IVAR but committed to using it everywhere because it's wood, it's been around so long I trusted IKEA to keep making it, and I can reconfigure it. I have about $2500 of IVAR everywhere, and tell everyone starting out just use IVAR till you can afford something else.
I hated the 2020 shelf change, but this side unit thing is the last straw. It stopped the $800 IVAR purchase I was about to make, which stopped the whole $2500 purchase I planned (which I do every 2 years). I'll buy wood and power tools instead. Without prebuilt sides, corner shelves, other cabinet types, drawers, crates, cute doors, and decent shelves, IVAR is no longer a good value at all.
Bring old IVAR backKatyaThe system was great before IKEA decided to change the side units to be customer-assembled. The price almost doubled while the quality went down the drain
Worst IKEA product of allAngelaI’ve put together so many different IKEA products in my life, but this is the first time I was physically unable to build this on my own. Even with a hammer I couldn’t put the side pieces together.
Difficult, Noisy AssemblyRyanLike so many others, I had so much difficulty assembling the side unit. One must hammer in the wooden dowels. It makes a TON of noise in the process, which is not ideal for those who live in apartments. Cutouts are misaligned as well.
Tip for others - I found it much easier to start the dowels with one or two taps of a hammer and then step on them with a leather-soled dress shoe! This process got the dowels flush, while avoiding annoying my neighbors.
Why? Absolute disaster of a revampSharonThe person(s) involved in revamping the IVAR so that you have to assemble a side unit should be forced to sit and assemble a wall-full, daily. I have assembled countless IKEA products in my life. This revamp improves nothing. What used to be a plug-and-play system, with its really simple charm, is now a multi-step process of hammering in dowels that don't fit, and braces pieces that take forever to fit jiggle in cutouts. IVAR has gotten worse and worst over the years (eliminating the corner units, for example), but this by far has to be the biggest middle finger to every loyal IKEA customer. This is not a rhetorical question: Who designed this? How did it make it to production?
I have never left a review of any IKEA product. The only silver lining: I get to take out my frustrations on a half-assembled side unit with a mallet.
IVAR has changed production location and it is NOT the same not in an improved way for customersAnneThe IVAR product line has been dramatically reduced in offering. The side units are no longer put together at the factory in a way that is sturdy. You put them together with a block and a mallet, dramatically increasing the time to put together a unit. So if you value your time, this is no longer a good value. I have a lot invested already in this system so I'm screwed. But I no longer recommend it especially to my customers.
Easy with a 5/16” drill bitBetsyAll the bad reviews re: assembly are spot on. I wouldn’t attempt without access to a drill with a 5/16” bit because literally every hole on the horizontal pieces is at least 1/16” off from the vertical holes and the dowels are nearly impossible to hammer in.
Once I recognized that and just drilled each one out after hammering the horizontal pieces in, it wasn’t all that bad. Still a ton of hammering but was down to 15min per assembly by my fourth one.
The extra work was worth it to me, I’d buy again.
Not buying ever againJenniferI read these reviews when I was about to buy Ivar again. However, not only did Ikea obviously destroy this product, they discontinued the various sized heights which used to make this product line useful. On top of that, please, Ikea, don't ever respond to these reviews for Ivar again till you bring back the old line. It is obvious you are doing nothing to address your customers' wants. That is why I am not even trying this new line. I was so disappointed reading your non-answers to people, which basically says, yeah, we destroyed it, you are all upset, and we intend to make no response to you at all. I used to think Ikea was a customer-driven company. Not anymore. Awful.
Bring IVAR Back!ChristinaWe have bought hundreds of these side units over the past many years for our businesses. Now they are just AWFUL to piece together and take forever! The quality has gone down so much, they aren't as straight and easy as they used to be. So many little pieces and holes and pegs and you have to hammer etc, when in the past, everything would just click into place. And now we are paying the same price for a product which isn't good, and takes so much more of our time, or we have to pay taskrabbit to assemble them, so they're worse quality for a lot more cost. Please bring IVAR back!!
truly horrible -- used to be amazingKristinthere was a change in the design and now you have to assemble these yourself. these are extremely difficult to put together and once you do, they are not straight. my shelf looks hilariously lopsided -- so much so that my engineer dad burst out laughing. there is no way to fix. we have a whole wall of ivar shelves and this one is embarrassing to have alongside them. wish we could return but looking at the reviews, the replacements would be similar. such a shame to ruin an excellent product.
Excellent valueEmilyI am a handmade business, and the IVR system is irreplaceable to my booth. It easily collapses and fits in my midsize SUV. It’s light enough for me to set up on my own. I’m 5 foot and 130 pounds. No, it is an heirloom furniture, but offers excellent value for the price.
Takes some effort to assemble, but worth the priceBetsyI purchased a set of IVAR shelves for the first time last month that required four uprights assembled. The assembly took more force to hammer together than I expected, but using the included wooden block to get everything sitting nice and flush worked surprisingly well. The work is loud and best completed with two people to make sure all of the horizontal slats stay in alignment as you hammer everything together, but it's not complicated or difficult. It seems obvious to me that it is something one should do outside if there are people inside who would be disturbed by the noise. I think some of the holes did indeed not quite line up perfectly when I was driving in the pegs to keep each of the horizontal cross pieces in place, but it didn't matter in the end as the wood is soft and the pegs still were able to be hammered through flush on both ends. For such a low price, it was worth this one-time effort to me. I used an old blanket underneath to protect the wood while I worked.
I guess I got lucky - assembly was pretty easyJudithI found the assembly to be relatively easy. You do need a good heavy hammer, as the parts are a tight fit. I was nervous using more strength than usual to fit them together, but all the parts held up fine. Make sure you use the wood piece they give you to avoid denting the shelf. The only tricky part was lining up the cross beams for the second side post, but that would've been much easier with a second person, as they recommend. The cross beams don't fit into the slots by hand at all, so you have to line them up carefully, then hammer to get them started. For the second side post, you need to tap each one in just a little bit to get them positioned, then make a few passes hammering each one in a little more so they stay even.
I could see that the peg holes didn't quite line up, but the wood is soft, so once you get them hammered through the hole in the side post you can force them in the rest of the way with a few strong taps. The extra effort was worth the cheap cost for me.
Like many othersThembiI much prefer this system before the design change. Honestly I could get used to it but another result of the change is I can no longer find the shorter ends anymore and what was previously easily interchangeable is no longer.
I was just about to revamp my whole set up with the Ivar system but after getting this new setup, I’m rethinking the idea. I’d love to know if you ever go back.
shedBonnieworked well
These used to be amazing. Now? Putting them together may not be worth it. AnnI’ve used ivar shelves for a while and in general, I’ve always found them great and convenient. About a year or so ago, they stopped carrying the shortest end pieces, but you could still get the two longer ones pre put together to assemble the full unit. This year they made the change to stop putting together the end pieces.
Not only do the slats take a decent amount of mallet use to try to fit into the pre cut spots, but getting the holes to align for pegging them into place is almost impossible. Additionally, the pegs are on opposite sides of the shelf for each side making it impossible to “hide” them.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, they were so impossible, in trying to get the pegs in with a mallet and the tiny terrible piece of wood they say should work, I pinched myself so bad the entire area is purple/blue/red.
If these had been like this before, I would not have completed them and would have returned them. Now? I won’t purchase or recommend them unless this changes back.
Disappointed by design changeAnonymous reviewerI have been buying and using Ivar shelves since at least 2006. The various shelf design changes were unfortunate but understandable. The design change for the uprights is extremely disappointing. Assembly has gone from a shelf you can quickly throw together, to something you need to fully assemble. The holes where the parts fit together are poorly cut and not always aligned. On each upright, I had at least one dowel that would not fully seat in the hole, and one that was misaligned by ~3mm. So now I need a flush cut saw and need to sand down each joint. Another had a massive knot at the connection point. Because the parts are not mirrored, you will always see the pegs on one side. Even worse, the customer service replies to all the complaints are extremely dismissive, demonstrating that Ikea no longer cares about their reputation or product quality.
What happened to original IVAR?PatriciaThe main reason to buy IVAR in the past was its simplicity with preassembled side frames. It was a breeze. Now it's become a major headache to put together. I've never understood why companies (hear me Southwest?) take an extremely successful product and then change all the things about it that made it successful. Dumb.
Customer reviews
3Average rating
397Reviews
Material
What is solid wood?
Solid wood is one of our favorite materials and is part of our Scandinavian heritage. It is also a timeless material with many uses. Regardless of the tree species, it is durable, beautiful and renewable. We strive to use this raw material as smartly and efficiently as possible to avoid waste – and we also invest in facilities and logistics so that we can increase the use of recycled wood.