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Post by ScrapbookMyLife on Nov 27, 2024 22:12:03 GMT
I am a "fast furniture " user.
I purchase first and foremost, based on my budget. My budget doesn't permit extravagant purchases.
Also a priority is matching (I am very matchy-match) and I have to love the item.
I don't worry about what other people think. As long as *I* love it, that is all that matters.
If someone is going to judge me, because of my inexpensive furniture....they are NOT they kind of person, that I want to associate with.
I am very proud of my little home and it's contents (it took me years-decades....to get it how I wanted and filled with things *I* love). It might not be much to someone else, but it is everything to me.
If someone else doesn't like it, then they can excuse themselves from my life.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Nov 27, 2024 22:14:08 GMT
I haven't had any issue with tables, consoles and other "hard" furniture lasting at many price points. I pay more for mattresses and couches as they do take abuse. But I'm not sure what your kids are doing to a bookcase or console table. I think one of the oldest pieces in our house is a console table I bought from Ballard Designs 20+ years ago. It still looks new. Our bedroom set was our first "big" purchase as a married couple, and I regret it a bit as it's still in excellent shape but after almost 30 years I'm kind of over it, but it's hard to justify ditching it.
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Post by bc2ca on Nov 27, 2024 22:59:21 GMT
Honestly, I'm a bit confused as to what is fast furniture?
I've bought plenty of inexpensive IKEA and pine furniture over the years. Some is still here like the 30+ year old table that moved from the dining room to kids' desk/catch all in the bonus room. Some pieces we donated as the kids outgrew and/or our style/taste/budget let us invest in something nicer but the pieces still had lots of life.
The only stuff that we've had look like crap after 5 years is anything with bonded leather.
When looking to fill the gaps in a couple places I was a regular at estate/consignment stores and found some of my favorite pieces.
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Post by lisae on Nov 27, 2024 23:42:56 GMT
I live in a key furniture manufacturing area in the US. At least we used to be. Many companies have closed but there are still upholstery companies in the area. There aren't many making case goods - end tables, dining tables, bedroom furniture, etc. I think most people blame NAFTA for moving these jobs overseas but I suspect environmental restrictions have played a part as well.
When I built my house, I splurged on a Hickory Chair loveseat and sofa that have a lot of finished wood on them. I've replaced the cushions but they are still good 30 years later. The rest of my furniture was family hand me downs and antiques I purchased. Nothing was terribly expensive but most of the old case goods I bought are still good.
A few years ago I redecorated and needed a night stand. I scoured online sites and couldn't find anything I liked. I checked on of the local companies still making case goods, Hickory Chair. They are high end, I knew. Still, I called to get a price on the pretty night stand I liked and found it would cost $2,600 for a night stand! I went back to Wayfair and found a Kelly Clarkson night stand for 1/10th the price. It's a very nice piece.
This fall, I had two pieces of a Century Furniture bedroom suite repainted. I've had that furniture all my life. They did a beautiful job for less than I would have paid for fast furniture for even one of those pieces and I'm pleased with my refreshed furniture.
There are plenty of furniture options if you get creative.
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Post by hopemax on Nov 27, 2024 23:51:55 GMT
When we bought our house 16 years ago, I made a rule that I wanted better quality furniture, no mdf, particle board crap, etc. We bought a few pieces from a local "affordable" furniture store that are now crap, some stuff from Crate & Barrel that has held up better, and a Flexsteel sofa that still looks fabulous. Well, except the 2 cushions DH and I sit on. The inside foam, may need to be replaced, and I'm guessing with some investigation and cost, I could. Over the years what we have added has been nicer IKEA shelving units, that I think will hold up over time.
Most of what we use are actually hand-me downs. When my parents bought their house in 2006, the first thing I did was buy a set of bedroom furniture from WDW's Wilderness Lodge. It was $500 for a bed frame, small dresser, nightstand, huge armoire, lights, mirror, and a table with 2 chairs. Then we paid $1500 to move it, and some other stuff from FL to CO. There are few dings, and places the clear finish coats have worn away, but still solid. My dresser is the same one my grandparents bought my Dad when he was a little boy. It has cowboys on it, but it matches my Wilderness Lodge stuff! We've got stuff that my parents bought when they got married, a $5 kitchen table we bought from a garage sale that is used as DH's desk when he is WFH, and various odds and ends. And our big score, was we found a Thomasville etagere from their Ernest Hemmingway collection from an antique store for $150. I found an old advertisement and it was like $1K new, 20 years ago.
Anyway, my thoughts are a lot like everyone else's. Old, wood furniture bought used is a really good option. There are a variety of styles, so just like shopping in a regular store, you may have to do some legwork to find a piece that fits your aesthetic. Some IKEA stuff is better than pricier options. All the places like Pottery Barn, I feel are overpriced vs how well it will hold up over time. And it's a shame reputable brands have shifted so much production to China. Like I've read that newer Flexsteel product made in Asia (first China, now Vietnam) is significantly worse than the made in US options. Have to work harder to identify the US manufactures that still exist, and they may not be on display local, and there may be higher delivery costs in addition to higher costs for the piece.
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Post by chaosisapony on Nov 28, 2024 4:55:10 GMT
I'm sure all of my furniture falls in this category. It's just what I can afford. Probably my most expensive item is my dining room table. I paid $450 for it and cracked the glass top in a move a few years later. I still use it, cracked top and all, I just keep a table cloth on it now. My sofa was $299 11 years ago. Does it look great? Nope, but it's still good enough.
I long for quality, stylish furniture it's just not affordable.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,849 
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Nov 28, 2024 9:21:33 GMT
We have bought Chesterfield lounges over the years, have had to replace for reasons other than the furniture wearing out. At our age - both in our 70’s - I hardly think we will be updating our couches.
our dining table was made for DH’S grandmother when she married in the early 1900’s. It is a lovely table with six high backed chairs. We have had the seats re-covered in the past year or so and certainly don’t expect to have to do so again.
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Post by melanell on Nov 28, 2024 11:39:24 GMT
We're on our 4th sofa in 25 years, so I suppose those would be considered fast furniture.
I'd love for a sofa to last longer, but considering how we use them, I doubt a more expensive sofa would have lasted longer. Our first sofa was used, from a family member, and the 3 since then have all been under $1K.
But since we've always had small living rooms, we've never had a loveseat or large overstuffed chair in the room. Just small occasional chair or two, and a sofa. So the sofa gets pretty much ALL of the wear from the entire family. And we've had kids during the lives of all of those sofas.
We also bought upholstered storage ottomans that are definitely fast-furniture type pieces, but since we don't use those as often, they have outlasted the sofa we purchased at the same time. And because the upholstery is simple on those, I do plan to try to reupholster those this winter and keep on using them.
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artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,844
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Post by artbabe on Nov 28, 2024 15:24:50 GMT
My house is mostly done in IKEA furniture. I have 6 Kallax bookshelves and one that I haven't put together yet. I love them. Some are at least 15 years old. Most are about 10 years old. Still going strong. My couches are super cheap (maybe $300) Ikea couches. I have had cats for the last 25 years and they have been destructive. I needed something that I wasn't that attached to- I had a $2000 couch I loved and the cats eventually destroyed it. So I have cheap ones with slip covers I can replace, and I have replaced the covers a couple times. Hmmm, what else do I have that is IKEA? A bunk bed with a trundle, a dresser, a nightstand, 5 coffee tables, 2 chairs, 2 lamps, and a crazy amount of accessories, including a huge stretched canvas of "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" that I absolutely love. So I'm kind of a fast furniture fan. That being said, I have an Arhaus oak bed that I've been sleeping in for the last 35 years and I'm typing this on an antique mid-century modern desk that I paid way too much for. My kitchen table set and a lamp are West Elm- is that fast furniture? At my age (58) I don't think I'll need anything else that lasts 30 years.  Heck, my dad is 85 and he furnished his whole condo with IKEA after mom died. |
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Post by AngieJoy on Nov 29, 2024 6:37:16 GMT
It has its place. The core pieces…sofa, dining table, etc….i prefer good quality (new or vintage). But fast furniture can be a fun way to add small statement pieces to your home. The things that are neat, but will be out of style in the lifespan of the item. Like this little cabinet. It’s a fun pop of color right now, but it’s got a shelf life, for sure. lol  |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Nov 29, 2024 17:43:52 GMT
We're on our 4th sofa in 25 years, so I suppose those would be considered fast furniture. I'd love for a sofa to last longer, but considering how we use them, I doubt a more expensive sofa would have lasted longer. Our first sofa was used, from a family member, and the 3 since then have all been under $1K. But since we've always had small living rooms, we've never had a loveseat or large overstuffed chair in the room. Just small occasional chair or two, and a sofa. So the sofa gets pretty much ALL of the wear from the entire family. And we've had kids during the lives of all of those sofas. We also bought upholstered storage ottomans that are definitely fast-furniture type pieces, but since we don't use those as often, they have outlasted the sofa we purchased at the same time. And because the upholstery is simple on those, I do plan to try to reupholster those this winter and keep on using them. There is a place here in the Twin Cities that sells very high end furniture. We were looking at couches a few years ago and we stopped in there to see what they had. Our bedroom set came from there 15 years ago and it’s great quality. All of their stuff has Amish built solid wood frames, U.S. made steel springs, dovetailed drawers, etc. At the time we didn’t have $5-6K to drop on a couch, but I could definitely see the difference. All of them have at least a ten year warranty. It’s expensive, but quality furniture can be found. If you get something with a solid frame, you can have it reupholstered when the cushions start getting beat down and it’s as good as new. That’s what I’ve done with my dad’s chair from the 1950’s. The upholstery guy said I’d be able to keep having that chair redone as many times as I want or need to because the frame is solid. That chair will outlast me. That guy built me an ottoman to match with a solid wood frame and I expect it to last just as long. |
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Post by melanell on Dec 1, 2024 2:04:43 GMT
We're on our 4th sofa in 25 years, so I suppose those would be considered fast furniture. I'd love for a sofa to last longer, but considering how we use them, I doubt a more expensive sofa would have lasted longer. Our first sofa was used, from a family member, and the 3 since then have all been under $1K. But since we've always had small living rooms, we've never had a loveseat or large overstuffed chair in the room. Just small occasional chair or two, and a sofa. So the sofa gets pretty much ALL of the wear from the entire family. And we've had kids during the lives of all of those sofas. We also bought upholstered storage ottomans that are definitely fast-furniture type pieces, but since we don't use those as often, they have outlasted the sofa we purchased at the same time. And because the upholstery is simple on those, I do plan to try to reupholster those this winter and keep on using them. There is a place here in the Twin Cities that sells very high end furniture. We were looking at couches a few years ago and we stopped in there to see what they had. Our bedroom set came from there 15 years ago and it’s great quality. All of their stuff has Amish built solid wood frames, U.S. made steel springs, dovetailed drawers, etc. At the time we didn’t have $5-6K to drop on a couch, but I could definitely see the difference. All of them have at least a ten year warranty. It’s expensive, but quality furniture can be found. If you get something with a solid frame, you can have it reupholstered when the cushions start getting beat down and it’s as good as new. That’s what I’ve done with my dad’s chair from the 1950’s. The upholstery guy said I’d be able to keep having that chair redone as many times as I want or need to because the frame is solid. That chair will outlast me. That guy built me an ottoman to match with a solid wood frame and I expect it to last just as long. The first sofa was just uncomfortable as the day was long. The 2nd one was a mistake on our part. None of the cushions came off of the sofa, so we wouldn't have wanted to reupholster that one, since cleaning it was so difficult. The third one had removable cushions and covers, which was good, but then it actually did fall apart structurally. So the lack of quality was definitely evident there. |
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scrapngranny
Pearl Clutcher
Only slightly senile
Posts: 4,949
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Post by scrapngranny on Dec 1, 2024 3:10:41 GMT
Generally, most everything we buy today is built to throw away. I remember my grandmother taking her toaster to the repair shop.
The same with Ty and radio repair shops. Now if our toaster doesn’t work, we toss it and get a new one.
Netflix has a very interesting documentary on this same subject, called Buy Now. I feel so bad for the future generations that have to deal with the mess we are leaving them.
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Post by melanell on Dec 1, 2024 13:56:08 GMT
Generally, most everything we buy today is built to throw away. I remember my grandmother taking her toaster to the repair shop. The same with Ty and radio repair shops. Now if our toaster doesn’t work, we toss it and get a new one. Netflix has a very interesting documentary on this same subject, called Buy Now. I feel so bad for the future generations that have to deal with the mess we are leaving them. My husband's pet peeve is how items are being manufactured now that in more and more cases they are actively preventing the owner from being to make their own repairs. Cars and electronics often need codes that consumers are not given. Items are made so that you cannot open them to access the parts inside. And so forth. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 1, 2024 14:50:54 GMT
Generally, most everything we buy today is built to throw away. I remember my grandmother taking her toaster to the repair shop. The same with Ty and radio repair shops. Now if our toaster doesn’t work, we toss it and get a new one. Netflix has a very interesting documentary on this same subject, called Buy Now. I feel so bad for the future generations that have to deal with the mess we are leaving them. My husband's pet peeve is how items are being manufactured now that in more and more cases they are actively preventing the owner from being to make their own repairs. Cars and electronics often need codes that consumers are not given. Items are made so that you cannot open them to access the parts inside. And so forth. This brings to mind a time when DD was in middle school and she had an assignment in one of her STEM classes to bring in something electronic *correction, something mechanical* that she could take apart. It didn’t have to work to begin with, in fact the teacher preferred if it was already broken. So I gave her an alarm clock that wouldn’t stop beeping even after I changed the backup battery, so I replaced it and gave her the broken one to take to school. They had about three days to work on their project to take it apart/open it up, poke around inside to see why the thing didn’t work, and put it back together. Well, it took her the better part of two class periods to get the back of the thing off because it was put together with non standard screws that her teacher didn’t have a screwdriver for.  She knew she could pry it open but that would make it so she couldn’t put it back together again which was also part of the assignment. Needless to say, even her teacher took pity on her because the stupid thing wouldn’t come apart. At the end of the experiment she said, “I should have just brought in a broken ballpoint pen like half the class did.” |
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Post by melanell on Dec 1, 2024 21:14:18 GMT
My husband's pet peeve is how items are being manufactured now that in more and more cases they are actively preventing the owner from being to make their own repairs. Cars and electronics often need codes that consumers are not given. Items are made so that you cannot open them to access the parts inside. And so forth. This brings to mind a time when DD was in middle school and she had an assignment in one of her STEM classes to bring in something electronic that she could take apart. It didn’t have to work to begin with, in fact the teacher preferred if it was already broken. So I gave her an alarm clock that wouldn’t stop beeping even after I changed the backup battery, so I replaced it and gave her the broken one to take to school. They had about three days to work on their project to take it apart/open it up, poke around inside to see why the thing didn’t work, and put it back together. Well, it took her the better part of two class periods to get the back of the thing off because it was put together with non standard screws that her teacher didn’t have a screwdriver for. She knew she could pry it open but that would make it so she couldn’t put it back together again which was also part of the assignment. Needless to say, even her teacher took pity on her because the stupid thing wouldn’t come apart. At the end of the experiment she said, “I should have just brought in a broken ballpoint pen like half the class did.” I'm so glad their teacher realized there was nothing she could do. How frustrating, though! One of my kids makes mixed-media art, especially small 3-D items, and they love to take broken electronics apart to use the pieces as components for future projects, and they've had items they've had to take a sledge-hammer to in order to get them open, which always bums them out, because they can't salvage much of the item's exterior parts when they are forced to do that. |
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,539
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Post by iowgirl on Dec 2, 2024 20:07:56 GMT
Neither am I going to buy one from Walmart. I bought a press back recliner at a furniture store and paid a pretty penny for it. I also bought a Better Homes & Gardens press back recliner, from Walmart, at the same time to fill a space. The BH&G one is hands down more comfortable and better quality made. I was shocked at how nice a chair it was for the money. The expensive one is not at all comfortable and I can hear the wood creaking around it in. The BH&G one is solid and so comfy, and it was $700 less! $700! The BH&G one is now creeping up on $300, but it was closer to $225 when I bought mine. Better Homes & Gardens recliner |
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She knew she could pry it open but that would make it so she couldn’t put it back together again which was also part of the assignment. Needless to say, even her teacher took pity on her because the stupid thing wouldn’t come apart. At the end of the experiment she said, “I should have just brought in a broken ballpoint pen like half the class did.”