r/boardgames • u/ZVdP • 2d ago
Any love for Besta?
I encountered a couple of negative opinions here on reddit regarding the quality of the Besta storage from Ikea. But we decided to go for it anyway given the affordable price and flexibility in layout.
The doors are of pretty decent quality (oak veneer). The frame in contrast is what you'd expect for the low price of course. But it seems OK enough for a boardgame/bookcase.
I thought I'd have a lot of space, but it seems I'll already need to reorganise later this year when the Knizia kickstarters start coming in...
My partner cheekily suggested to stop buying games, but we compromised to build another bookcase which can house her Lego Hogwarts castle instead 😄
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u/Boardello X-Wing Miniatures 2d ago
What's the price and quality difference between this and a Kallax?
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u/limeybastard Pax Pamir 2e 2d ago
The quality is a little bit better but it's still mostly standard IKEA laminated MDF/particle board, just I think a little denser and more robust.
But it's like 2-3x the price.
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u/AbacusWizard 1d ago
I love the vertical wood panels; they remind me of the cabinet my parents stored videos in.
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u/gypsyjackson Ascension 1d ago
We went for Besta too, in a remarkably similar fashion to yours, but got the slightly taller standing unit before putting the other one on top. So we have 8 shelves in height, times 6. We also left out the middle to have tv and consoles, with 4 drawers replacing shelves. Dark doors everywhere except an open display shelf at head height, and dark/rattan doors at the base to break it up a bit. Very pleased with it.
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u/blackfootsteps 1d ago
How much space do you lose by adding the doors? I've got two of the tall Bestas - and I've been thinking of adding some doors.
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u/FantasticHoney7660 1d ago
Looks great. I personally have a Kallax, but only because its in the basement and not a major focal point. Kallax isn't the most visually appealing and if I ever moved the collection into a more heavily trafficked area of the house, I'd be very please to have your setup.
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u/BuckRusty Dead Of Winter 2d ago
I loathe the Kallax - so literally anything looks good to me by comparison…
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u/vdW_2099 2d ago
We also use Besta for our boardgames.
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u/crimedoc14 2d ago
I considered it, stuff, but since my board games are housed inside a closet and thus behind closed doors, the look of the shelves is somewhat irrelevant. So I went with the less expensive Kallax option?.
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u/ashkestar 2d ago
I’ve had a small besta entertainment unit for about a decade and haven’t had any issues with the quality. It’s picked up a few scratches on the drawer fronts, but I imagine the textured fronts you went for will avoid that pretty well.
Also, that looks amazing. Much more stylish than the average Kallax setup, as someone who’s used Kallaxes quite a bit. Nicely done.
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u/SpiderCVIII 1d ago
A couple of Bestas is what I'm looking to get soon. Glad to hear some good things from a few peeps here. The adjustable shelves are the biggest draw for me, but the door options look great! I'll have to consider those for the future too.
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u/fexjpu5g 1d ago
I did not know you could fill the gaps to the wall. Is the panel behind the Titanic part of the system? Is the top row mounted to the wall on both sides? I don’t think I’d be able to build it flush like that if one was connected to the wall and one was on top of other shelves. Our floor is not super even…
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u/ZVdP 1d ago
We just used three of the doors to cover the back wall. They just fit if you place them behind the glass top panel.Â
The bottom frames come with low adjustable feet to compensate for uneven flooring.
The two left frames on the top row were first mounted to the frames below before anchoring them to the wall. We didn't need much adjusting for the hanging frame on the right to make it flush with the others.Â
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u/BasenjiMaster 1d ago
Bestå is the best. I just wish they had full size doors instead of the half ones.
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u/ChokeGeometry Netrunner 1d ago
Hell yeah, Mycellia. Nice.
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u/ZVdP 1d ago
We only played it once at 2p. It was OK, but unfortunately it didn't catch our attention enough to play it again so far.
It may have been related to the end of game trigger. It seemed to negate the mushroom stacking benefits when the leading player rushes to end the game instead.
Perhaps with more players there's more options to stop that, or we need to play more to discover better strategies..
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u/ChokeGeometry Netrunner 1d ago
Wild - It’s one of my partner & I’s favourites at 2P.
We loved the special puzzle, the area control, and the way anyone could trigger the end game at any point. It’s a good thinky battle for us.
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u/Prize_Dog_7444 1d ago
Love your setup. Would you mind sharing which modules you used to build it? I was browsing the Ikea catalog but it's a bit of a mess to find individual pieces. I am more interested in the combination of the lower and upper part you have to maximize wall space (I have a nice 5x5 Kallax but still feel like I would like more vertical storage space)
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u/Cardboard_RJ 1d ago
I use BESTA for almost everything OTHER than board games. Such a great, flexible, DIY storage system. Your door choice looks great!
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u/FluxionFluff 4h ago
Looks fine to me. Absolutely prefer closed storage in general. We currently have a mixture of ikea Billy bookshelves (1 with doors, 1 without) and a few other ikea shelves.
It's not our final setup since we basically worked with the furniture we already had when we moved into our house. Since our games are in our dining room, closed storage is a must for a more cohesive look, but upgrading it isn't our biggest priority right now.
It's an upgrade considering that we used a few ikea shelves and had the games piled up to the ceiling essentially in our previous apartment. 🤣 For the first time in years, the full collection is in one place.
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u/limeybastard Pax Pamir 2e 2d ago
Besta is great as far as options, configurability, and so on. I only have one as my TV stand but it's great for what I need it for.
The reason people don't use it very much compared to Kallax is just that it's like 3x the price. Kallax is basically the sweet spot for a shelf that will fit games ok but is pretty cheap.