buying furniture......

Factual Questions
1

So the little lady decided that what she really wants for Christmas is a new bedroom set. How do you buy good quality furniture. We went looking yesterday and the cheap stuff looked like it would fall apart in 10 minutes, but the expensive stuff looked like it would fall apart in 30 minutes. Also one of the ‘quality’ stores was pushing the brands Lane and Broyhill. Are these good? How much should I expect to pay? How do I tell good quality from bad quality?

After going shopping I get the impression that furniture stores are about the same as used car dealorships.
Crazy Eddie the furniture salesman says “we got deals, deals, deals! I’ll get you payments real low. I’m crazy, crazy, crazy…”

2

As someone who bought a whole lot of new furniture recently, I think I’m quasi-qualified to answer this. If you want my opinion on quality, I’d avoid things made of plywood/ particle board with a cheap veneer (insides of drawers usually reveal when this is the case plus the furniture is often lighter-weight relatively speaking). With wood, assuming it’s not completely painted, make sure it doesn’t have knots in it which weakens the wood. And it goes without saying that the build-it-yourself type furniture is usually crap

With the bed, if going wood, see the above comments. Also, make sure the cross beams are thick and/or wide to support weight over time. If metal, the feel of the metal tells you everything you need to know. The more solid the metal feels, the better. It will, of course, be hollow, but the thicker the metal, the heavier the bed, and the less likely it will bend over the years. Welded wrought-iron (sp?) is very good and long lasting.

I’ve heard of Lane and Broyhill so I am inclined to think they are probably good brands, but confess I don’t own their stuff. We got Lexington which was on the pricey side. The place to find great bargains on high quality merchandise is to go to consignment stores in the middle class-to-richer areas of towns. You’ll often find whole bedroom sets for pennies on the dollar. As an example, we went to a new furniture store to look at nicer dining room tables (to seat 6) and found one we liked that was $3,000. Two weeks later, we found the exact same table in a consignment store with not a single scratch on it for $300.

There seems to be a stigma with buying ‘used’ furniture unless the word ‘antique’ is associated with it, but lots of people get divorced, move, die, etc. and their nice stuff often ends up at these stores, so I say take advantage of that and save some money. Check your phone book because these stores often locate near one another so you can check them all out at once and compare/ contrast.

If you do insist on buying new, at least wait for the obligate holiday sale they all run at/ near New Years.

3

For reasons I cannot discern, everyone I know finds furniture wholesalers in North and South Carolina. Search the Internet for “Furniture Wholesalers”, etc- and see how many hits take you to those two states. Top names, detailed info, good prices. My best friend has gotten entire rooms full of new furniture at a significant discount.

Why the Carolinas??I can’t even hazard a guess.

Cartooniverse

4

Having owned my own cabinet/furniture design and build store, as well as ten years exp. designing and installing furniture, casework, and cabinetry, I’ll try to write a shorter sentence.

Uhhh, I mean I’ll try to give some pointers.:wink:

I agree with a lot of what yarster says with one exception. Plywood and MDF (medium density fibreboard) can be VERY good quality products. I’m not talking about the low density chipboard you find in shelveing from the Great Ace, OfficeMax etc. but it can be good and you will pay for it.
For veneers, MDF is the way to go because it’s the most stable substrate for the veneer there is. It wont warp, crack, check etc.

I actually am not in favour of a lot of solid wood because of environmental concerns esp. if it is an exotic wood.
One of my clients showed me their dining set and ent. center they had made with almost all solids in Bubinga, Sapele, and Purpleheart. The veneers that could have been realized from the same bd. ft. could have easily made 25-30 such sets.:frowning:
The most popular species today are (in rough order)
maple, cherry, oak , and mahogany with hickory and other lesser species thrown in to the mix. Maple, oak and to a lesser extent cherry, are readily available and solids availability isn’t too much of a problem.

I love second hand stores too, great deals abound. The best thing is that you can find Scandinavian and modern stuff from the 50’s-70’s that can be updated soooo easily.

As much as it galls me in my craftsman’s heart, you can get good stuff at IKEA! Just don’t go for the bottom of the line stuff- the mid level stuff is very well designed and sturdy.

For a BR set think ahead- are you in the size bed you want for the next x years? For that matter, how long do you plan to keep it?
Is your design sense of what you want your living space to be coherently thought out? By this I mean, do you have a well thought out idea of what you are trying to do with your space and the mood/ style you want to present?
I know it took years to figure out what I wanted
( and I still don’t have it- my ex’s house is quite nicely furnished though) [sub]thankyouverymuch[/sub]

Try going to Ethan Allen or some similar place and see if you see a style you like. Ask if they do design consults and how much they are. Bringing in a few pics of your current furniture, accessories, and pics of what you like and sitting down to talk to someone can be very insightful.
All the names I’ve seen above are well respected mfrs. with good support and a wide variety of styles and price points.

If I think of anything else, I’ll just blurt that out as well!

Reading this over, I’m reminded of the old adage, “to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”.
But I basically taught myself design while running businessess, and it does make a difference.

5

Ms. cornflakes used to sell furniture. For better brands, she suggests Thomasville, Lane, Ethan Allen, Henredon and Lexington. Broyhill and Bassett are fine mid-range brands.

Furthermore:
“Call the locally owned furniture store, not the chains. Call them first, talk to the manager and tell the manager that you would like to make an appointment with his(her) top salesperson. When you get there, tell them what you’re looking for and be honest about your price range. The top SP will have all the info about customer service, breakage, delivery times, etc, etc…”

She says that there has always been a lot of cabinetmakers in the Carolinas, hence the large number of furniture manufacturers today.

As the son of a cabinetmaker, I would add that the quality of the piece will show in tighter joints, stronger and perhaps bigger fittings, better woods and such, but the things that make furniture better also make it more expensive. You probably will get what you pay for.

If it helps, Ms.cf sold Thomasville. Their prices were set by the manufacturer; dealers were not allowed to discount. This may help if you run across any pusy salespeople.

6

Expensive does not necisarily mean high quality. I flirted with sales for about a year, and one of our most expensive lines was the (admitidly lovely) Alexander Julian stuff. It was complete crap. I couldn’t stand to sell the stuff. It cam back all the time with problems that fine funiture ought not have. Look for heavy stuff. In general, I would avoid “Flagship” pieces–the most prominiently displayed in any store. Where we worked the stuff that was designed to be eye-catching tended to be the crappiest. I dont know why.

Think about your lifestyle. Don’t buy the dresser with all the attractive narrow drawers if you currently keep your sweaters and jeans in your dresser. They won’t fit, and if your natural tendnecy is not to hang everything up, that is not going to change. If you like to lay in bed and watch TV, don’t buy a sleigh bed.

Don’t set a deadline in yur mind. People buy funiture they don’t like all the time just to make the shopping stop. When you are tired, go home. As a corollary, a good salesperson is more than willing to take your name and call you when a great sale comes along, provided you ask her to. Every sales person I knew had such a list.

Veneers are not “cheap”–they are real wood, and when properly done last lifetimes. “Overlays” or any other word than “veneer” are basically contact paper and all suck.

If you are buying an entertainment center, make sure it has a particleboard slab for the TV. Wood will bend.

Never buy furniture for children, with the exception of two-by-four bunkbeds. Virtually all other children’s furniture is so crappy it makes me shudder. (this is an aside)

Go someplace that gives you a one year warrenty for free. Do not buy the extended warrenty, the wood care kit, or the (shudder) credit protection. Do not be fooled by ‘intrest free’

Some places give you a discount for cash. Might as well ask for it if you are paying that way.

I, myself, would recomend you not buy a bedroom set. It is a horribly boring thing to do, and it locks you into whatever your tastes happen to be this year, and whatever happens to be avalible this year. Instead, put together a bedroom set one piece at a time, finding things that go toghether without matching exactly. Mixing old and new works well here. Then, when it is done, you will have something that is yours. On a side note, if you are not worried about everything matching perfectly, I suggest you look at end tables instead of nightstands. Nightstands are really expensive–often almost as much as the dresser or chest. Endtables are cheap and can be found to match anything. If you don’t need a drawer, they are a great alternitive.

Remember that if you go up a size in mattress you will have to buy new comforter/sheets, and that this can add up. Mentally add it to the price from the begining.

7

Leave it to the banker to inject the financial side into the equation.

Rule Number 1:
When leaving a deposit or paying for furniture which will be delivered always use a credit card! This will give you chargeback rights if the company does not live up to it’s promises. Furniture sales are one of the leading causes of complaints to the Better Business Bureau nationwide.

This link gives more furniture buying tips from a consumer protection angle:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/clarkhoward/cliffnotes/tips/infrequent_purchases.html

8

The only thing I can add to this is since you are buying bedroom furniture which is usually wood or case goods as they are called you might consider checking out a few unfinished furniture stores. They seem pricey since they are unfinished but in many cases they are solidly built and you often have the option of chosing from several different woods, pine and oak being most popular. Many of these stores will then apply a finish for you.

I personally do not care much for veneers. But then my experience with them has been older pieces that are almost always damaged. Second hand stores and antiques dealers are also a great option. For one thing who says everything must match?! I agree with Manda Jo on this one. In my home we have two wrought iron beds, mine and my son’s. His is an old hospital or institutional style twin bed. It will last until the next millenium. (He used to jump on it all the time.) I picked it up at a flea market for 20 bucks. Mine is an old iron with a decorative panel. I picked it up from a junk dealer for 50 bucks. I the iron beds because they are especially sturdy. Other than that I do have to agree Ethan Allen makes some pretty good stuff or at least they used too. I have an old chest of drawers in my room that is heavy, solid and with solid brass hardware. But I do have to warn you, if you aren’t a junk shopper then you can really get gouged by dealers. If you know anyone that is thrifty or collects antiques see if they can put you onto some reputable dealers or maybe give you some pointers on barganing.

Yes, unless you are absolutely set on having everything match to a tee then I’d shop around. But then my tastes lean toward the funky, antique or eclectic.

Needs2know

9

As MikeG suggested, go to a couple of top of the line furniture stores in your area, and have them educate you as to what makes their better furniture worth it. Pretty soon you’ll be pulling out drawers and inspecting joints like an expert. The only danger is, once you learn what really good furniture is, you won’t be satisfied with anything that is actually within your price range! (Spoken by a man with two rooms of new Stickley, and a greatly depleted bank account.)

We have Thomasville in our bedroom and our dining room cabinets. Both have held up well. When we bought a new DR table recently, we were told more than once that Thomasville has many different levels of quality. So while their top of the line stuff may be very good, the lower stuff might be quite mediocre.

Either buy all you need now, or choose a conservative easy-to-match style, or you will end up with an eclectic groupng by default. Don’t know how old you are or how much furniture you have bought, but furniture definitely does go out of style. I would recommend buying a few good pieces, and adding on as you can afford it. Your grandchildren will be fighting over who gets to inherit your quality furniture.

Re kids’ furniture, my objection is that by the time the kid actually needs it, the stuff will be too small. Little kid desks are too small for middle schoolers, kid dressrs won’t hold enough clothes, etc. (Damn, that’s a 3d room of Stickley. The missus though the eldest should have it in her bedroom when we junked her little girl stuff.)

10

Also, if you find what you want, shop around to find out when sales occur. At one place we often shop at west of Chi different manufacturers go on sale at different times of the year, and once a year they sell all of their floor models at huge discounts. So if you are sold on that Lane set, you may want to wait until April or whenever they have a sale on Lane.

Final thing, some stores also have manufacturers reps come in and give seminars where they can tell you how well their furniture is constructed.

11

Here’s some basic vocab on furniture construction from the Stickley site.

12

MikeG already brushed on it, but I must add that for price to value ratio, I find Scandinavian teak furniture is hard to beat. It’s not dirt cheap, but it is also not top of the line expensive. I’d say it is priced a little below the moderate level. The styles tend to stay the same through the years, so you can spread out your purchases over time and add to your collection one piece at a time, thereby not breaking the bank. You have to enjoy the simple, clean lines of Danish modern, though. I like the simplicity, because it mixes and matches well with so many other styles, and find I can dress things up with accessories or change the room decor without having to change the basic furniture. Teak also ages nicely, turning from a kind of “pecan” color when it is new to a rich deep golden brown. We have pieces we bought 15 years ago when we first married, and they look brand-new; teak is hard and doesn’t scratch easily.

P.S.: Find an independently run, well-stocked shop, preferably one that has been there a few years. Better service, less likely to be fly-by-night.