IKEA KNARREVIK Bedside Table Review: A 10 kg Limit the Listing Never Mentions

Black IKEA KNARREVIK bedside table at a three-quarter angle on white, a top panel and one lower shelf bolted between four square steel legs

Product image supplied by the brand

In this guide

THE SHORT VERSION

IKEA Australia lists the black KNARREVIK bedside table, article 005.699.78, at A$19.99 including GST, with three measurements (42 cm wide, 33.5 cm deep, 52 cm high), a two-part material line and a care note. It gives no maximum load. That number, 10 kg, sits on page two of assembly document AA-2547698-1, under a warning triangle and next to an instruction not to sit on the table.

It is the same frame IKEA sells in the US, and the same booklet, so the gap carries over: a steel frame invites the idea that a speaker or a printer will be fine on it. Below, the listing, the booklet and the return terms sit side by side, against the smaller A$14.99 KNARREVIK and a KULLEN two-drawer chest from the same bedside range, ending with the cases where an open frame is the wrong buy.

Our verdict

A sensible A$19.99 bedside table for a lamp, a phone and a few paperbacks. The 10 kg ceiling rules out a printer, a speaker or anyone sitting on it, and the open frame has no drawer.

A good fit for: A small bedroom, a share-house room or a guest room that needs a 42 cm wide table with one open shelf, put together with the included hex key.
We would skip it if: The top will carry more than 10 kg, you want a closed drawer for medication or chargers, or bare steel edges and visible bolt heads bother you.

Reasons to consider it

IKEA prints a hard load figure, 10 kg, in the assembly booklet, which most tables at this price leave out
Steel throughout with an epoxy/polyester powder coat, no particleboard, in a 3.82 kg package one person carries
Sixteen screws, one hex key and six booklet steps; IKEA describes metal bars without welded joints

The compromises

The 10 kg limit and the warning against sitting on it appear only in the PDF, so the product page shows no limit at all
Open shelf and open sides hide nothing, and the 33.5 cm depth is shallower than the KULLEN chest's 40 cm
Flat steel edges and bolt heads are part of the design, and the booklet's only alignment check is a square-frame diagram

What we have not verified: The 10 kg figure is IKEA's own line in the assembly document; IKEA gives no separate figure for the lower shelf. How the cut edges are finished and how square the frame assembles are not covered by any document read for this review.

The things in this guide

A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.

Buy it as a lamp-and-book table and keep the load under 10 kg

KNARREVIK Nightstand

For A$19.99 the KNARREVIK gives a 42 × 33.5 cm top, one open shelf, a powder-coated steel frame and a published load figure, in a 3.82 kg flat pack that assembles with the included hex key.

Before you buy: No drawer, no door and no anchoring hardware, and the 10 kg limit is not on the product page; the flat steel edges and bolt heads are part of the look.

$19.99 at IKEA Australia

Price checked 5 November 2026. Retailer prices can change.

What the assembly booklet says and the product page does not

Page two of AA-2547698-1 carries a warning triangle and, in the English block, two lines: "WARNING - Delicate table - Do not sit on the product." and "WARNING - Delicate table - Do not place heavy objects on this product, maximum load 10 kg (22 lb)." The same pair runs through pages two to four in the rest of IKEA's languages. There is no tip-over warning and no wall-anchoring step; the booklet treats the KNARREVIK as a table rather than storage furniture.

The Australian product page has no load line anywhere. Its one structural statement is a compliance sentence saying the table has been tested for light, non-domestic use and meets EN 15372 for safety, durability and stability. Someone reading only the page learns that the table passed a furniture standard and nothing about what it is rated to hold. Ten kilograms is the figure to plan around, and it matches the 10 kg IKEA prints for the paper-cored LACK side table.

The published measurements, the steel and the care line

IKEA lists this KNARREVIK at 42 cm wide, 33.5 cm deep and 52 cm high, so the top lands near the height of a mattress on a low base. The material line reads, in full, "Steel, Epoxy/polyester powder coating", with no separate entries for top, shelf or legs, and the product copy describes metal bars without welded joints. The only other note is "Only for indoor use", which for a powder-coated frame reads as a corrosion caveat rather than a strength one, and it rules out a covered verandah.

Care is two steps: wipe with a cloth dampened in a mild cleaner, then wipe dry. Nothing covers touching up chipped powder coat, and nothing says how the cut edges of the flat panels are finished. Because the material line names only steel, the shelf is metal like the top, not a timber insert.

A 3.82 kg box, sixteen screws and one hex key

The KNARREVIK ships as one flat package of 54 × 35 × 4 cm weighing 3.82 kg, light enough to carry home from the store under one arm. The booklet, dated 2024-08-08, runs to 12 pages, and its hardware page lists one hex key, part 100006, and 16 screws, parts 10118490 and 10118469. No drill, no wall plug and no second person appear in it.

Steps one to five bolt the side rails to the top and shelf panels two or four screws at a time, flipping the frame between steps; step six is a last pass tightening all 16 screws with the hex key. The final page shows a square frame beside a crossed-out leaning one, the booklet's only alignment check. Comparing the two diagonals before that last pass is the practical way to use it, since the tightened screws lock in whatever shape the frame has.

Against the 37 cm KNARREVIK and a KULLEN two-drawer chest

IKEA Australia sells the KNARREVIK in two sizes. The 37 × 28 × 45 cm version, article 805.763.19, has a usual price of A$14.99, so the larger 42 × 33.5 × 52 cm frame costs A$5 more for 5 cm more width, 5.5 cm more depth and 7 cm more height. Both pages carry the same metal-bar description, and both link the same AA-2547698-1 booklet, so the 10 kg ceiling applies to either size.

For a drawer at the bedside, the KULLEN chest of 2 drawers, at a usual A$59.99, is 35 cm wide, 40 cm deep and 49 cm high, in particleboard with paper foil, and its page warns that it must be anchored to the wall. The trade is plain: the KNARREVIK has a stated load limit and a 3.82 kg box, the KULLEN has closed storage, a 9.82 kg box, a wall fixing to install and A$40 more on the price.

When to skip it

Skip the KNARREVIK if the top will hold anything near or over 10 kg: a pair of bookshelf speakers, a compact printer, a heavy ceramic lamp base, or a person sitting down to pull on socks. IKEA's own warning says not to sit on it, and the 10 kg figure is IKEA's line, not an estimate. Pass on it too if you want a drawer, since the open shelf shows everything on it and the series offers no add-on to close it.

IKEA Australia's 365-day full refund applies to unopened items in their original packaging. An assembled KNARREVIK falls under the opened-product rule instead: 60 days, all packaging kept, and in-store credit on an IKEA Returns Card based on the assessed condition, without affecting Australian Consumer Law rights. Keep the box until the table has proven itself beside the bed.

How we put this together

Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.

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