Not content with merely furnishing every room of your house with IKEA stuff? Well, if you have a bit of land and $86,500 to spend the home furnishings chain could provide you with an entire (albeit small) house in which to put your Ektorps and Malms.
The 745 sq. ft., 1BR/1BA Aktiv is actually a creation of Oregon’s Ideabox, who worked with IKEA designers to craft the structure around IKEA items.
The kitchen has IKEA appliances, cabinets and counters. The bathroom has IKEA sinks and storage, and the bedroom closets are all built around the retailer’s closet system.
And you won’t need one of these instruction videos or a plastic baggie of wood dowels and pressed metal wrenches to put the house together. It is delivered in a couple of pieces and assembled on the spot.
You can check out more pics and the floor plan for the Aktiv at the Ideabox site.
Gallery: Inside Ideabox’s Ikea creation [Sustainable Business Oregon via HuffPo]
Thanks to Harper for the tip!
More From Consumerist
-
Help! Neither Best Buy Nor Asus Will Give Me A Laptop That Works
-
Best Buy To Price-Match Online Competitors
-
Free Shipping And Free Delivery Are Different Things
-
Best Buy Needs Your Personal Info To Sell An XM Radio Receiver, Can’t Tell You Why
-
Time Warner Cable Dangling Free Xboxes To Entice Customers To Sign Up At Best Buy
But it would take you 2 years to build, you would have 150 left over parts, and you would need to tighten everything every two-weeks.
RTFA next time, punk. It comes assembled. Some people. (there I saved you all the time…)
Aww man I had a short bus driver joke all ready to go!
/I keed, I keed.
Still if it came with 150 left over parts, that’s stuff you don’t have to buy replacements for for a while.
And how many Allen wrenches!!??
Sort of like a trailer home for yuppies.
I dunno. It looks like a single wide trailer might actually be a step up from this.
Doing some quick googling, that is right in the standard size range for a single wide. Heck, most singles I’ve been in had 2 bedrooms, and this only has 1.
Not to mention the fact that you can get a BRAND NEW Single Wide mobile home for around $30,000, or a well-maintained 7-8 year old one for half that (since mobile homes depreciate instead of appreciate).
but you can pronounce the names of the furnishings in the trailer which makes it less fancy
I’ve known single wide owners with a better sense of style then most people that shop at Ikea.
Wow. That was the harshest insult I’ve read all week. My compliments.
I think the space for the second bed was used for the dining room.
That’s what I was thinking. You can buy a nice single wide for around $30-40k, built and delivered on to your lot. Even a stick built house this small wouldn’t cost that much.
Agreed. Plus the colors are kinda pukey.
I thought it looked like a communal outhouse or shower house at a campground.
The wash-up sink (you know, the kind where they drill little holes in a long horizontal water pipe to spray into a trough) is in that part of the open structure in the back right corner.
Does this mean that Ikea is trying to become Sears from before the 1950′s? If so, I am OK with that… As long as they stop before becoming Sears of the 2000′s.
Tornado bait
It looks like it belongs in a trailer park.
Yaay. So, which Aisle and Bin # is it in?
Lol, they only have one on the ground floor. If someone buys it before you, you’ll have to find an associate to get one down from the next shelf up.
Unless there’s one in scratch and dent next to the dirty white Flurvenverfen sofa.
Actually, the dirty Flurvenverfen sofa should be *within* it.
It’s flat-packed so you can put it in your car and take it home.
Click on the link and look at the pictures inside, it’s surprisingly cozy and tasteful.
http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/02/gallery-inside-ideaboxs-ikea-creation.html?s=image_gallery
Thank you…having lived in my share of shitty apartments, this looks just fine to me.
Those pictures make it look way bigger than 745 sq. ft.
If you miss a payment on your IKEA card, does it go into Fõrklưrse?
You sir, owe my employer a new keyboard and mouse.. LMFAO
Oh god I laughed more than I should’ve. XD
You win the entire year of internetz!
I like the idea, although I would want at least a two (2) bedroom.
For 86 Grand I would buy a foreclosed 1500 sq ft 3/2! Or build a container house like that weirdos on Doomsday Preppers!
I saw that! 20,000 lbs of food? That’s a bit extreme. Bug out buses? Cache’s along the way? They must have missed the Mad Max movies, ’cause everyone knows you have a decoy truck with sand instead of gas to allow the bus with the good stuff to get away.
Did you see the episode where the people in New England don’t believe in guns, and they felt they could talk to people who approached them after the apocalypse? Um, no…you’ll need to defend yourself or you’ll be on the outside looking in (best case scenario) or dead in the yard.
That guy’s bug-out plan had one big gaping hole in it. All the vehicles were powered by gasoline. True preppers would have gone with Diesel. It’s far easier to make a Diesel fuel substitute than gasoline.
Buy the foreclosure 3/2 down the street from me for $51 grand (its asking price) and use the extra 35 to fix it up. Seriously, the sooner that thing stops dragging down my property values the better.
After a single stiff wind, it’ll be flat-packed all over again.
Comes in a couple of pieces and assembled on-site? That’s the definition of a double-wide also. It would be more impressive if IKEA also made it tornado-proof (sarcasm intended).
And while small may be fashionable, 745 sf is smaller than many apartments.
I would kill for a 745 sq ft apt.
Try living in NYC where you read ads that boast about 400 sq ft being huge.
The cardboard box that it’s shipped in is probably more sturdy.
This would only appeal to fools who don’t realize that the land is the bigger cost in many houses. I’m turning my garage into a 600 sq ft apartment. If I were to start from scratch and build from the ground up, I could have a beautiful apartment for under $30k. $86.5k? That’s ridiculous.
That’s wholly dependent on where you live. In the Houston suburbs you can easily find land or lots in a nice area pretty cheaply. In New York, not so much.
In NY, I almost purchased a 4 bedroom farmhouse, with 114 acres of land, barn, garage, pond, stream, separate buildings for tractors, etc. – $90k
What I did end up purchasing is 18 acres (attached to 7500 acres of state forest which includes numerous apple orchards that I’m the only one who picks from) with a 4 bedroom home, barn, etc., for $40k. Land isn’t expensive in most of NY.
Sorry, I was talking about New York City.. I should have been more specific.
Granted, I’m sure that if you’re willing to buy land an hour or more out from NYC you can get it fairly cheap too..
You’d be surprised at how far you have to go. The suburbs of NYC have spilled into Eastern PA at this point. Anywhere within that range would still be somewhat pricey.
Just to put that price in better perspective, I did a quick search for other modular homes. The first site I found with prices – a 28×48 home (home only, no land), that’s 1344 square feet, was under $40k. That’s for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, eat in kitchen, utility room.
This is fully furnished & built in.
Increase size to 1,500 sqft. and we’ll talk
$86,500 for a 1 bed 1 bath 745 sg/ft home?
Is that like a good deal in California or someplace with ridiculous housing prices?
Over $100 a sg/ft not including land is ummm…. IKEAtastic I guess.
No, because it doesn’t include land. Buying a plot to place this thing on would easily run $200,000+ in lower-middle class suburban areas of socal. Maybe as little as $30,000-$50,000 in outlying areas beyond the LA basin.
Frankly, for what it is, the price isn’t very good. If I remember correctly, Katrina Cottages were about half that price for similar appointments in a much more tasteful packaging.
Interestingly enough, I’m in the middle of reading Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
The author spends quite a period of time discussing Ikea and their role in the bigger picture. During the Ikea discussion, she mentions the fast and cheap construction of homes in Levittown, NY. It was a quick and dirty solution to the housing problems following WWII. The homes were 2-bedroom shacks measuring 750 sq. ft.
hmmm…
Awesome book! I read it a couple of months ago and it validated everything I’ve ever believed about how to spend the money I’ve got — keep saving until you can buy quality. Cheap is always expensive — if not to you, to someone else.
My Mom grew up in a Levitt house (Farmingdale NY, the town next to Levittown). My Grandfather bought it when he came back from WWII. I wouldn’t call it a shack. Nice size backyard. A nice big basement. Bedroom upstairs. The kitchen was tiny, as were all the rooms, but for what it was, it was a cute little house in a very nice development.
That is truly sad. The deck on the mockup looks as big, or bigger, than the house itself.
Also, I doubt that many cities will allow this. Most have restrictions against modular housing.
Attach 4 wheels and no problem
Just don’t wash it or allow any standing water on any surfaces, or particleboard will start to bubble, and the whole thing will turn into a pile of wet sawdust in a day or two.
Nope…. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120302-710321.html
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Ikea disputed recent media reports that it intends to enter the prefab homes business as blogs buzzed with the speculation Friday.
The Swedish company, known for low-cost, DIY furnishings, said confusion started when one of its U.S. stores, Ikea Portland, agreed to collaborate with an Oregon-based prefab company, ideabox.
A version of an ideabox prefab home is being sold with Ikea items, including lighting, cabinets and furnishings. Interior designers from Ikea Portland helped furnish the home, and an example, with the Swedish-sounding name “Aktiv,” was on display at the recent Portland Home & Garden Show.
Each home of this type sold by ideabox will include the same Ikea furnishings inside, but Ikea stressed that it doesn’t manufacture or sell prefab homes.
Reports, along with comments on the headache of putting together an Ikea house, reached the point that Ikea sent out a release Friday to debunk the reports.
“Ikea has not launched and is not selling prefabricated homes in the United States. Any reports saying otherwise are not accurate,” the privately held company said.
YIPPEE! Throw away houses, just what we need.
I’d think I’d rather opt for a Huf Haus.
Or you could buy an existing house for 30k (foreclosures/short sale) in the burbs. Pay off the mortgage real fast, then fix it up with ikea swag?
For less than 86k and more than one bedroom/745 sq. ft.
But what do I know – it isn’t like there is a surplus stock of housing in the U.S. or some kind of housing bubble just burst or something.
Pressboard shouldn’t even be legal it falls apart so quickly.
It’s just a prefab, nothing that hasn’t been around for a really long time…
Exactly…Sears used to sell built-it-yourself houses, and even Lowe’s did eons ago.
And this news coming the same week tornadoes are ripping through the Ohio Valley.
that explains the high winds last night and why they started testing the sirens.
I’m in Michigan BTW
$116/sqft? Seems pricy for what’s essentially a trailer.
One bedroom , no basement, no thanks
It is entertaining to read how people respond to something new. We get ideas in our heads about how things should be and anything that does not fit that we develop reasons to reject. Comparing the price of a new home of any kind that has yet to be built to an existing home usually does not add up. Guess why the new housing market is still depressed. You can’t build any kind of new home that can compete with a crashed market littered with forclosures. This house would be perfectly workable for any individual or couple. Except for all of the “Stuff” we collect and drag around with us our entire lives. That is why we need 3000 sq. ft. homes. Not for us, just all our crap.
$86,500 for a 750 sq ft house is no bargain.
Average cost for a 1000 sq ft house is $46,600.
Its actually something I would not mind living in once the kids are out of the house. Except I can get a Modular house at half the price. And it will look just as nice, have 2 bathrooms and 2-3 bedrooms.
http://www.expressmodular.com/view_plan.php?id=680
Dont you love how the illustrations show a Husband and Wife, and 2 kids playing with a dog on the deck, yet it is one bedroom? Where do those kids sleep? In the storage rooms?
Jack in the box
745 Square Feet won’t pass most town/city minimum building size and DEFINITELY not any subdivision HOA requirements.
Now-a-days even 1000 sq feet doesn’t pass the minimum and it’d have to be attached to a permanent foundation.
If you want a portable house, by a camper/RV. If you want an affordable house, build a cob or strawbale house.
I can put up a 1500 sq foot Post and Beam modified Strawbale for about $25K add $15K for a full off grid solar/wind/septic/well and I have a nice little low cost, no utility cost home for $40K or less.