2/28/2025

EKET Cabinet with Door (White, 35x35x35 cm)

I like the simplicity and elegance of the Eket line. Having a cube with a door allows me  to store and hide ugly-looking stuff from work, study or art making. The cube is made of a wood-like conglomerate, which you can clearly see on the individual panels inner sides when assembling them. It's sturdy material but light. I can move the cube around easily with my bare hands. The white matte paint and the overall design result in a neat elegant storage solution. The door has a push-opener integrated, and opens by making a bit of pressure.
 
This Eket cube can be hung from the wall (you'd need to buy the wall fittings separately), can be attached to another Eket cube (you'd need to buy the joining fittings), used with legs (ditto) or on its own. I own two pieces, which I use separately, resting on top of two Trotten storage units with castors (now discontinued) of the same size and the ensemble looks like water for chocolate.

I found the cube easy to put together. However, the instructions leaflet wasn't the best as includes instructions for other Eket combos and models. Linking and clicking-in-and-down the side 'knobs' was easy in theory. However, despite pushing down the panels like a champion, I couldn't make them click down fully. That being the case, I had to use a small hammer (protected with a thick fabric kitchen towel) to do that. 
 
DESIGNER  Jon Karlsson.
ASSEMBLY LEAFLET that came in the box is not available on the website any more.

OSTBIT Bamboo Serving Tong

 I love anything bamboo so I was delighted to find a tong in this material. Price was cheap, the design beautiful and I urgently needed a replacement for my broken tong. I choose this over a metal tong because I like organic materials, especially bamboo. My delight was short-lived. This tong grip is not good. It doesn't open/close properly, so it's difficult to comfortably grab anything with bulk. It's not specially good for salads either. I don't think that the Ikea Sweden team was inspired the day they created it. I don't recommend.
DESIGNER Unknown.

VESKEN Narrow Trolley (White, 54x18x71cm)

The Vesken narrow trolley with castors is a super-cheap solution if you have a narrow space in your kitchen, bathroom or craft room and want to use it to the fullest potential. Both the trolley and castors are made of sturdy plastic, no tools or screws are needed, and holds a maximum of 6 Kgs. This Vesken holds a lot of fluffy bulky stuff or many small heavy-ish items. I have it in my kitchen, in the small space existing between my fridge side and a cupboard side. 
 
This shelf is quite wobbly unless one of its sides leans against a firm, steady surface. Otherwise, the trolley will fall, especially if stands on tiled flooring. Supposedly, the trolley can be used in the shower, but I don't think this would work because most shower floors are tiled or slippery. I tried in mine and was a disaster.  

I keep the trolley stationed in the same place with the occasional pushing/pulling in and out. I don't think the overall design and the plastic castors were made to move it around as I do with the metal trolleys I own. 

Despite the ridiculously cheap price, I wouldn't buy this item again. The reason is that, despite the instructions leaflet being clear, I had trouble assembling it. This is a click-in sort of assembly, no screws or tools needed. However, as the material is not rigid and you have to exert some pressure to click-in and down all the bars, I didn't know how much pressure I had to exert without breaking the bars. Also, I found difficult finding the right position for the bars to click in fully. 
 
DESIGNER David Wahl.

HARVMATTA Letter Tray (Anthracite, 32x25x32 cm)

Like the rest of the Harvamatta series, this tray is both practical and stylish. It's quite large and you'll need a bit of space to place it. (I think it fits inside a Kallax cube). It's also a bit heavy (about 4.5 kilos); most of the weight comes from the individual trays as the outer shell is quite light.

I use this letter tray to declutter my desk and other surfaces in my home office. I store papers that I haven't classified yet (e.g. letters, postcards, receipts),  printing paper, and current documents that I want to keep at hand (e.g. medication prescriptions, medical referrals or certificates, bills to pay). The  trays are sturdy and hold A4-size paper pads, small sketchbooks, small items of stationery, and phone chargers. In a way, this letter tray is a mini-shelving system. The individual trays can be pulled out for convenience and their cork lining and outer curved flap prevent anything from sliding off and out.

Assembly is easy. The only difficulty I found was clicking in the last piece of the outer shell. 

DESIGNER Eva Lilja Löwenhielm.

HARVMATTA Box with Lid (Anthracite, 24x35x6 cm)

This box is the largest in the Harvamatta box set. I can easily store up to A4-size documents, stationery, unused painting brushes, colouring pencils and pastels, among other things. They're a bit pricey, but also good quality.

The box is very elegant and minimalist, with a hint of formality. I love the contrast between the metal anthracite colour and the cork lid woody colour. As they are so stylish, I can leave them in full view even though they might contain a lot of crap that, otherwise, would be cluttering my office. These boxes pile on each other perfectly, and they look great on top of the Harvamatta letter tray.

The main downside of the Harvamatta box line is that they don't have any closing or securing system. On the one hand, this favours easy piling on each other. On the other hand, if the box falls down, you'll have its contents all over the place. I would have loved these boxes having some sort of vintage-like wired closure or fasteners; even a tight closure like those that pickle traditional jars have. 

DESIGNER Ebba Strandmark.

CITRONHAJ Salt & Pepper Shakers (8 cm)

This set is made of glass and stainless steel and the screw top can be open to refill. They can be used to store any spice, not just salt and pepper. The cap has two rotating sliding blades under which there is a set of small holes and a large aperture.

I don't use this set on my table as it looks cheap and not especially elegant. I use them in my kitchen when I'm cooking and only because I  don't want to dispose of them. In all honesty, I won't buy any more of these to store any spice as the cap sliding blades aren't fasten enough and  they open easily at random. Besides, the holes are too big and not many, so I cannot properly get the right dose of spice. 

Although I paid very little money for them, I got what I paid for. I don't recommend them.

DESIGNER Friso Wiersma.
 

RÅSKOG Small Trolley (white) with NORRÅVA Lid (28x38x61 cm)

I have two taller larger Raskog trolleys, which I love, but I needed something smaller (this is 61 cms tall instead of 77 cms) to tuck it under my desk when not in use, and to place it beside during my painting sessions without obtruding the area.  

The  antique-white epoxy coating is beautiful and goes perfectly with the Norrava bamboo lid. Besides, the epoxy coating  is easy to clean from paint splashes and stains.
 
Despite its small size and lightness, this trolley holds a lot of stuff. I place my brushes holders on the top shelf when painting, which I remove when not in use and place the bamboo lid. It's true that the lid protrudes a cm or so over the edge, something that didn't happen with older models. Yet, I don't see this as a big issue. On the shelves underneath I keep different painting media I often use (gesso, basic paints, palette ceramic plates, wipes, painting tools, gels, etc.). Although I use this unit for my painting needs, this trolley is perfect for kitchen and bathroom storage when the space available is limited.  

The trolley is easy to assemble thanks to the very clear instructions leaflet. The castors are great quality and roll beautifully in all directions; they can be locked in case you want to use it as non-movable storage unit.
 
DESIGNERS Nike Karlsson & Ellen Hallström.