We review IKEA’s latest offering in the sofa world, the Vallentuna sofa. Is it the best IKEA sofa ever? Or is there something fishy in the state of Sweden?
Actually, I’m not going to waffle on: it’s kind of a mixed bag of hits and misses.
There are quite a few reasons, but first, let’s talk about the fine details. Launched in March 2016, the Vallentuna is the latest completely modular sofa series from Sweden, intended to be contemporary and modern. It’s made up of freestanding modules which can be either seating, sleeping or storage modules. Designers – Lisa Hilland, Eva Lilja Löwenhielm, and Andreas Fredriksson.
Now, let’s take a look at one of the Vallentunae.
This is the IKEA Vallentuna 3 Seat Sofa with Bed. I’m not even going to touch the low hanging fruit of the fabric; just look at that gap in the backrest and protruding centre seat. Personally, that is going to spell a lot of accidents in my future. The sleeper module is also just a single bed, so it’s not really the best for sleeping on after a night out.
You might think that the 3 seat Vallentuna is acceptable. And I’ll agree with you, it’s decent. Except for the shorter backrest / armrests and protruding seats on either corner. That’s the only downside of this piece.
But then you have this suggested configuration. At which point I just have to ask, why?
The good points
Okay okay the Vallentuna really isn’t ALL that bad.
Here are some benefits:
– It’s modular, so it could be combined and moved around to a configuration of your preference
– Cushions are firm: you don’t sink in nor are they as hard as rock.
– Setting up the sleeper was fairly easy, just pull and transform the cushion
– Fabrics come in 8 different basic colours
Apart from this though, we can’t say that it made a very good first impression between us:
Chuck: “Great concept, questionable execution”
Feli: “I couldn’t bring myself to sit on it. It looked horrible.” (editor’s note: she really did refuse to sit on it)
Chris: “It’s too small for me. Also, no real support. Those walls make you feel like you’re in a cubicle.” (co-editor note: yes he’s a bit of a tree)
So there you have it.
The overall verdict would be as follows for us:
– Design/Aesthetics: 5/10
– Practicality and Comfort: 7/10
– Price: 5/10 (Would prefer a Kivik any day)
But to each their own of course, so if you have a different opinion altogether – feel free to drop it in our comments section below.
P.S. We now have custom Vallentuna sofa covers, if you have need of them.
26 Comments
by Gail
Looks like it should be in a doctors waiting room
by Isel Rante
Not everyone has the same style and taste. On that note, I personally really like the Vallentuna Series as it is very very versatile. I have been to Ikea 3 times now. I brought my husband and kids there today to get their approval. We all really like it. The sofa bed is comfortable and doesn’t feel foamy. The sofa bed is extremely easy to set up and if you need more padding, which we all agreed we don’t, then it’s an easy fix of adding a mattress topper or putting a feather donna on top to sleep on for a softer feel. We didn’t like the bonded leather fabric as the storage seat in leather is hard and uncomfortable. The storage in fabric is very comfortable though. We have a small house and so we need to utilise as much space a we possibly can and to also accommodate guests for overnight stays. Overall, the couch has more positives than negatives for us. We would love to have more fabric and colour options though so we are looking forward to this being available at Comfort Works. Anyway, we are going to buy it next week, 2 sofa beds and 4 storage seats.
by Roberta Scott
The complaints from IKEA Vallentuna system reviewers are matters of taste! So very obviously a personal matter that no person can judge for another.
What would have made this less biased is if you had also talked about:
– Ability to choose pieces to configure as desired
– Comfort in seating
– Ease in arising from seat
– Type of sleeper mattress / durability
– Ease of set-up / break-down
– Adequacy of storage / accessibility / safety (think children’s fingers)
– Fabrics: texture & feel, ease of care, stain resistance
and the like.
I think that would have also been more helpful as a product review!
by Chuck
Good points Roberta,
I couldn’t have agreed more that this post was a bit one-sided;
Thanks for the feedback – we’ll definitely update it accordingly 🙂
Cheers!
by Steve
We were at Ikea yesterday and found the vallentuna to be by far the most comfortable fabric sofa they have. I agree that it looks really ugly though. We have a very small room though, so being small and allowing us to only pick the bits we need is a big plus. Also the under seat storage will be very useful. Its brutal minimalism is growing on me.
by M fazaldin
I’m very tempted by this series as we live in a flat with two small children and every piece of furniture has to work very hard for us. I’m ditching the traditional sofa we have ASAP and hoping to invest in this sofa. I figure I can get some great cushions and a soft throw to ease up the angles.
Not sure I understood why this useful system was so heavily lambasted. I love design and I appreciate the utilitarian design greatly.