IKEA MALM Double Bed Frame Review: £139 Bundle, 135cm Mattress, Squeak Reports
The MALM is one of the most-bought bed frames in Britain, and the frame price is not the price of a bed. The slats are a separate product, there is a steel midbeam you have to add, the UK double takes a 135 × 190 cm mattress rather than the European 140 × 200, and the most common complaint about it is noise. Here is what owners report and what the bill really comes to.
Where the reviews line up
No UK consumer title has published a test of the MALM double that we could read, so the evidence comes from owners: the IKEA UK rating block on the bed-and-slats bundle (4/5 from 1,395 reviews), the Australian review site ProductReview.com.au (2.6/5 from 44 reviews) and a 2026 Mumsnet thread on noisy beds. The gap between those scores is the story.
Three things come up everywhere. It looks clean and costs little — the plain high headboard and low footboard are what people buy it for, and it is cheap on offer. Squeaks and creaks are the recurring fault: five of the reviews IKEA's own page showed us mention them, squeaking is the most common complaint on ProductReview, and a Mumsnet regular calls MALMs "notoriously squeaky" without being asked. And the slats are where it goes wrong: owners blame the basic LURÖY slats for noise and slipping, and the usual fixes are felt pads, retightening and padding the joints.
The buying decision is about the bundle, not the frame. On 4 October 2026 IKEA UK sold the white MALM high Standard Double with LURÖY slats and the SKORVA midbeam for £139, down from £179 — the £179 is exactly the frame (£124), LURÖY (£35) and SKORVA (£20) bought separately. Choose the sprung LÖNSET slats instead and the same bed is £229 before delivery or assembly. And it takes a UK Standard Double 135 × 190 cm mattress; a European 140 × 200 will not go in.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- IKEA UK4/5 from 1,395 ratings on the bundle with slats, 4 Oct 2026. Hosted by the seller.
- ProductReview.com.au2.6/5 from 44 owner reviews, 53% negative. Australian buyers, mixed MALM versions.
- MumsnetA 15-reply thread on noisy beds, June 2026. One unprompted MALM mention and the fixes.
Before the review: which size is a "double"?
IKEA UK sells the MALM in UK sizes only: Standard Double takes a 135 × 190 cm mattress and the frame measures 150 cm wide by 199 cm long. The 140 × 200 cm "double" you see on IKEA's continental and Middle East sites is the European size, 5 cm wider and 10 cm longer, and it does not fit the UK frame. If your current mattress or your fitted sheets are 140 × 200, you need a different frame, not this one. IKEA UK's own size guide says it stocks only standard UK mattress sizes. The MALM also comes in Standard King (150 × 200) and 180 × 200 cm.
The current UK version is the MALM bed frame, high, white, Standard Double, article 802.611.02. Recent IKEA reviewers say the headboard now arrives in two pieces where it used to be one, and mention a new locking-wheel fixing; older videos and reviews may show the earlier build.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Model checked | MALM bed frame, high, white, Standard Double · 802.611.02 | IKEA UK product page, 4 Oct 2026 |
| Mattress size | 135 × 190 cm (UK Standard Double) | IKEA UK; not 140 × 200 |
| Outside size | 199 cm long × 150 cm wide | IKEA UK |
| Headboard / footboard | 100 cm / 38 cm high | IKEA UK |
| Free height under bed | 21 cm | IKEA UK — room for MALM storage boxes |
| Materials | Particleboard and fibreboard, acrylic paint; galvanised steel midbeam | IKEA UK bundle page |
| Packages (frame only) | 2 — 19.95 kg and 16.35 kg | IKEA UK; slats and midbeam are extra parcels |
| Slatted base | Not included with the frame. SKORVA midbeam also required | IKEA UK frame page |
| Frame only | £124 | IKEA UK, 4 Oct 2026 |
| Frame + LURÖY + SKORVA | £139, was £179 (offer from 21 Sep, while supply lasts) | IKEA UK bundle page, 4 Oct 2026 |
| LURÖY / LÖNSET / SKORVA | £35 / £85 / £20 (Standard Double) | IKEA UK bed slats page, 4 Oct 2026 |
| Maximum load | Not published | Not on the UK pages we read |
| Guarantee | No product guarantee listed — 365-day returns only | IKEA UK guarantee page; see below |
What the price really adds up to
- Bundle on offer: £139 for frame, LURÖY slats and SKORVA midbeam (IKEA UK, 4 Oct 2026). Its regular price, £179, is the three parts bought separately.
- With the better slats: £124 frame + £85 LÖNSET + £20 SKORVA = £229. LÖNSET has five comfort zones and comes as two separate slat bases for a double; it rates 4.1/5 from 1,491 reviews against LURÖY's 3.6/5 from 3,166.
- Delivery: IKEA UK charges £25 standard, £30 express and £35 for a four-hour slot on heavier orders up to 150 kg, plus £5 at weekends. We could not confirm at checkout which band a frame-and-slats order falls into.
- Assembly: IKEA's TaskRabbit service "starts at £33". An older IKEA assembly menu (2017) priced a standard bed frame at £44; treat that as history, not a quote.
- So a delivered, built MALM on the offer is roughly £197 or more before you buy a mattress, and around £287 or more with LÖNSET slats.
IKEA UK
This is the rating block on the page that sells the bed, so read it as owner feedback rather than a test. It is large, and it is attached to the bundle most people actually buy. The frame-only listing for the same bed tells a less flattering story on a tiny sample: 3.1/5 from 10 reviews, with two of the ten mentioning movement or creaking and one complaining of "so many different parts. Some don't even fit right." Sample size matters here — the 1,395 figure is the one to weigh.
In the reviews the bundle page showed us, five mention noise: a squeak "annoying in the night", creaking "after about 4 months", and slats that "haven't held up very well, making the bed squeak". On the white-stained-oak version a buyer says it "creaks and makes twanging noises every time I move" despite careful assembly, while another's previous MALM lasted ten years. A single-bed owner fixed squeaking LURÖY slats with felt pads. On assembly, several call it easy; a couple in their sixties needed family help with the new locking fixings, and two reviewers say the two-piece headboard makes the bed feel less solid than the old one-piece design.
Watch: Is This Popular IKEA Bed Frame Right For You?
A buyer-focused look at whether the MALM suits you — the closest match to the questions IKEA's own reviewers raise.
Watch on YouTube ↗ProductReview.com.au
An independent consumer review site, not tied to the seller, which is why its score sits so far below IKEA's. Two caveats before you lean on it: these are Australian buyers on Australian sizes, and the listing covers MALM bed frames across several years and versions, so some complaints may describe a design IKEA has since changed. Forty-four reviews is also a small sample beside 1,395, and unhappy owners are more motivated to post.
Even so, the themes match the UK reviews closely. Squeaking is the most common complaint — one reviewer says it "has been squeaking since first week of sleeping", another that it "made a lot of creaking noise". Slat problems come next: slats that "do NOT stay put", or that go crooked so the mattress slants. One reviewer reports assembly taking about ten hours; others mention mismatched screws and headboards working loose, and one criticises the hollow honeycomb board. The minority who are happy praise the simple design and the price when bought on sale.
Watch: Review of IKEA Malm high bed and IKEA Morgedal firm queen mattress - costs, tips, pros and cons
An owner's pros-and-cons review. Note it covers the queen size sold outside the UK, not the UK Standard Double.
Watch on YouTube ↗Mumsnet
A small sample, and not a MALM thread at all — which is what makes it useful. Asked about noisy beds in general, one regular went straight to "Is it an Ikea MALM? They are notoriously squeaky!" The original poster's current bed turned out not to be IKEA, so this is reputation rather than a report, and we count it as one mention, nothing more.
The practical value is the fixes, which line up with what IKEA's own reviewers did: take the bed apart and put a thin layer of plastic, paper or craft foam between every wood and metal joint; make sure every screw is tight; and, from another reply, lubricate the joints. IKEA's own care note for the frame says to retighten the fittings when necessary. Felt pads on the slat ends, as one IKEA reviewer used, are the cheapest place to start.
Watch: Ikea Malm Bed Frame High Assembly Tips
Assembly tips for the high frame — square, tight joints at build time are the first defence against the squeaks owners describe.
Watch on YouTube ↗Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Clean, plain design that owners keep choosing, with a tall 100 cm headboard.
- Cheap on offer: £139 with slats and midbeam on 4 October 2026.
- 21 cm under the frame for storage boxes.
- 4/5 from 1,395 IKEA UK ratings — a big sample.
- Some owners report ten years from one frame.
- 365-day returns, even once assembled (refund to an IKEA refund card).
What people complain about
- Squeaks and creaks — the most common complaint in every source we read.
- Basic LURÖY slats blamed for noise and slipping; LÖNSET adds £50.
- Slats and the SKORVA midbeam are separate products from the frame.
- Headboard now in two pieces; some say it feels less solid.
- No product guarantee listed for the frame or slats in the UK.
- Takes a 135 × 190 cm mattress only — not 140 × 200.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you want a plain, good-looking double frame for a UK Standard Double mattress, you are buying on the bundle offer rather than the frame on its own, and you are happy to spend twenty minutes with felt pads and an Allen key if it starts to talk back. Stretching to LÖNSET slats is the upgrade owners point to most.
Look elsewhere if you already own a 140 × 200 cm mattress, you want a frame that comes with a long written guarantee, or a bed that never creaks matters more to you than the price — owners' experience says the MALM may need maintenance to stay quiet.
What we could not check
- The videos. We confirmed all three by their exact titles and watch addresses appearing in two differently-worded searches, not by opening them, and the search listings did not name the channels. The second video covers a queen-size MALM sold outside the UK.
- A 10-year guarantee. IKEA UK's guarantee page lists 10-year bedroom guarantees only for mattresses carrying its guarantee logo and for PAX/KOMPLEMENT wardrobes. We found no guarantee for the MALM frame or for LURÖY and LÖNSET slats; the product pages offer the 365-day return instead. Check with IKEA before relying on any longer cover.
- Maximum load. Not published on the UK pages we read.
- Assembly time. IKEA publishes none. The only figure we found is one ProductReview owner's "about ten hours", which is an outlier, not a norm.
- Squeak counts across all 1,395 IKEA reviews. Our count of five is from the reviews the page displayed to us, not the full set. ProductReview does not give a number for its squeak complaints.
- Your delivery charge. IKEA prices delivery by order weight and box weight; we could not confirm at checkout whether this order falls into the £25 band.
- Current assembly price for a bed. IKEA says assembly starts at £33; the bed-specific £44 figure is from a 2017 menu.
- Editorial testing. We found no UK consumer-title test of the MALM double we could read. A US mattress-review site's MALM review would not load.
- How long the £139 offer runs. IKEA says only "while supply lasts" from 21 September.
Sources last checked 4 October 2026. IKEA prices and offers change often — check the page in front of you before ordering.