IKEA Landskrona review – Farewell, Karlstad

Sad news! The Karlstad sofa has been discontinued and is no more. We’ll be giving it a proper send-off, and taking the new replacement line for a test sit.

We’ve also received reports that individual stores are clearing out stocks. It’s a great shame that this very popular line is moving on, so let’s take a moment and remember all the good times that your Karlstad had as well as the pretty sofa covers you could get:

Alright now that’s over with, let’s move to where the party’s at. So who’s the new kid on the block?

The IKEA Landskrona

…And he looks very familiar to the guy on the way out. Yes, the Landskrona is available now in IKEA but only in tufted leather options for now. Word from our reputable source says that there will be fabric options coming soon – but if you can’t wait we could build custom slipcover for you!

The good thing about the Landskrona – I couldn’t see this anywhere else other than a professional office / sophisticated modern apartment. Just like the Karlstad, Landskrona also comes in a lot of configurations; loveseats, armchairs, and even conversation pits. One of the most versatile sofas from IKEA and it’s great to see this being carried on to its successor.

Needless to say when this came out, we toddled down to our local IKEA and tested it out in real life. It’s hard to tell at first glance but the main difference between the Karlstad and Landskrona would be the positioning of the sofa legs.

You can see that for the Karlstad, the legs are directly below the armrests while the legs of the Landskrona is underneath the body base – I guess IKEA is trying to go for the more modern, possibly Scandinavian look.

In terms of comfort, the leather Landskrona isn’t that comfortable in my opinion – think leather Karlstad. The cushions are very firm which is good for support but not so much for comfort. Tufting is also mandatory for now, which might not appeal to everyone.

Seating is pretty deep in as well, which means if you’re “vertically challenged” (I’m 5′ 10″) then the floor might be a reach too far. The tufting might have created this illusion as well, since it compresses the puffiness a bit – we tried the Landskrona, and went to sit on a fabric Karlstad to see the difference. The leather Landskrona just seemed “flatter” in the rear region.

The armrest is just like the seat: firm. In a pinch it’ll do for a makeshift seat but probably not highly recommended since the legs have been re-positioned so I’m not entirely sure hold up – I didn’t dare push its boundaries and buy another sofa I didn’t need.

Similarly to the Karlstad, the 2 and 3 seater are rather hard to tell apart as they have the same number of seat+back cushions. AND, there’s another discontinued leather sofa called the Karlsfors that looks identical to the Karlstad but seems to be a bit smaller. No one really knew much about the Karlsfors, it just came and left like a wandering spirit…

IKEA also offers a choice of wooden or metal legs for the Landskrona so you can customize your sofa to be homey or modern. Oh btw just in case you guys aren’t aware, we’ve also recently launched our very own line of legs for your IKEA sofa :)

This way to IKEA sofa replacement legs

Verdict:

Overall, we gave the Landskrona an 7/10! Great choice, firm support and nothing but improvements on the classic Karlstad design – meaning the Landskrona has a bright future ahead. The only thing that could be improved on is the price (US$779/AUD$1,049) – but as they’re currently only available in bycast leather sofas, we’re accepting of it for now.

Design: 7
Comfort: 6
Versatility: 8

Overall : 7 out of 10

Are the Landskrona covers offered by IKEA very limited? Check out our fabric collection of more than 70 styles (with various functions as well) here:

Check out our fabric collections