IKEA LACK Side Table Review: Ten Kilograms Is the Whole Contract

IKEA LACK side table in white, a square top on four square legs

Product image supplied by the brand

In this guide

THE SHORT VERSION

IKEA Australia lists the white LACK side table, article 104.499.09, at A$19.99 including GST, with "Max load on table top: 10 kg" printed under Good to know. Two numbers describe the whole product: that load and the 4.10 kg package. The gap between them is the paper honeycomb inside the top, which IKEA lists as a 100% recycled paper filling inside a particleboard and fibreboard frame.

The 55 cm square top stands 45 cm high, and the page pairs it with a 35 cm LACK at A$11.99 that slides underneath as a nesting table. The Australian article number differs from the one sold in the US and Europe, and so does the finish line in its materials list: paper foil rather than acrylic paint. The figures below cover the load, the construction, the sizes, the upkeep and the return terms.

Our verdict

Worth A$19.99 as a lamp stand, a plant perch or a bedside surface that sees no more than 10 kg; not worth it as a base for a printer, a small TV or anything that vibrates.

A good fit for: A renter or a first flat that needs a light 55 cm square side table, moved often, wiped with a damp cloth and loaded with a lamp and a mug.
We would skip it if: The top will carry more than 10 kg, the table will hold a machine that moves, or you want feet, floor protectors or a finish that survives a knock at the corners.

Reasons to consider it

A published 10 kg maximum load on the top, a figure most tables at this price leave out
The honeycomb paper core keeps the whole package at 4.10 kg, so it moves with one hand
Nests over the 35 cm LACK at A$11.99 for a two-table set at A$31.98

The compromises

Particleboard, fibreboard and paper foil throughout; no solid timber, no veneer, no replaceable parts
The care line asks the owner to recheck and retighten the leg fastenings regularly
The page gives no feet or floor protectors, and no hardware to stop the legs marking a timber floor

What we have not verified: IKEA prints no test method behind the 10 kg figure and does not say whether it is a static load or a margin, so it is a maker's limit rather than a measured one. Nothing on the page describes how the leg ends are finished.

The things in this guide

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

Buy for light loads you move often; treat 10 kg as a hard line

LACK Side Table

For A$19.99 the white LACK gives a 55 cm square surface, a published load figure and a 4.10 kg flat pack light enough to carry under one arm.

Before you buy: Paper-cored particleboard under paper foil with plastic edging and no feet; the fastenings need periodic retightening and a crushed edge cannot be repaired.

$19.99 at IKEA Australia

Price checked 5 November 2026. Retailer prices can change.

Ten kilograms on top, and how to read it

Under Good to know, IKEA Australia prints "Max load on table top: 10 kg." and repeats 10 kg in the measurements table. The 35 cm version carries the same figure, so the limit tracks the construction rather than the size. A table lamp, a stack of magazines and a full mug sit well inside it; a desktop laser printer, a bench-top microwave or someone perching on the edge do not.

Because the top is a hollow honeycomb panel, the limit is best read as a load spread across the 55 cm square, with a heavy point load in the centre the case to avoid. IKEA does not say whether 10 kg is a static rating or includes a margin, and the page cites no test method. Vibration is a separate question the figure does not answer: a 3D printer or a speaker on the top puts the leg joints to work in a way a lamp never does.

What the honeycomb is and what surrounds it

The Australian materials list for the top reads: particleboard, honeycomb structure paper filling (100% recycled), fibreboard, paper foil and plastic edging. The legs are particleboard and fibreboard under paper foil. That differs from the white LACK IKEA sells in the US, article 304.499.08, whose top is finished in acrylic paint with a separate panel layer; the Australian 104.499.09 lists paper foil on both top and legs.

The practical consequences follow from that stack. A screw driven into the underside meets paper within a few millimetres, so reinforcing the table for a heavier job has little to bite into. The plastic edging protects the corners from everyday knocks, but a crushed edge exposes the core and there is no repair path. The page describes the construction as the reason the table is easy to lift and move and the price stays low, which is accurate as far as it goes.

Two sizes, one footprint decision

The full-size table is 55 cm long, 55 cm wide and 45 cm high, a true square. The flat pack measures 76 × 55 × 5 cm and weighs 4.10 kg, so it fits across the back seat of a small hatchback and goes up stairs without help.

The 35 cm cube version, article 105.147.92, has a usual price of A$11.99, stands 35 cm high and, by IKEA's own copy, sits under the larger table as a nesting pair. Together they come to A$31.98 for two surfaces that stack into one footprint, the arrangement the page suggests for a small living room. Neither table has a shelf, a drawer or a cable notch; it is four legs and a slab, and anyone who needs storage should look at the LACK TV bench or a different series.

Three lines of care, one of them a maintenance schedule

The page gives three care lines: wipe clean with a damp cloth, wipe dry with a clean cloth, and check regularly that all assembly fastenings are properly tightened and retighten when necessary. The third matters more than it looks. The four legs screw into the top, and a table dragged across carpet or picked up by one leg works those joints loose over time.

With paper foil as the finish, the damp-cloth rule is a limit as well as a method: no abrasives, no soaking, and a coaster habit for anything that sweats in a humid summer. The listing includes no feet or floor protectors, so on a polished timber floor a set of stick-on pads, bought separately, is worth adding to the cost.

When to skip it

Skip the LACK if the load will approach or pass 10 kg, if the table will carry a machine that moves or vibrates, or if a child will use it as a step; a paper core under foiled particleboard has no reserve beyond the number IKEA printed. Skip it, too, when the corners will take regular hits from a vacuum or a wheelchair, because the plastic edging is the only barrier between the finish and the honeycomb.

IKEA Australia refunds unopened items within 365 days; an assembled LACK falls under the 60-day opened-product rule, with packaging kept and in-store credit based on its assessed condition. The case for buying stays narrow at A$19.99: a square, white, 45 cm high surface in a 4.10 kg box, a A$11.99 nesting partner and nothing to look after but a damp cloth and an occasional turn of the leg fasteners.

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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