I just furnished my new apartment (home away from home) with everything online. I got 4 upholstered dining room chairs, coffee table, TV stand, 2 modern chairs, a bed, lamps…The most expensive item was a real Knoll chair I bought on eBay, other items were all under 500. I, with help of a friend, put all of those pieces together. I found they were all very well made and sturdy. They look beautiful and functional. I have some very expensive pieces at my real apartment, and I have a hard time getting rid of them when my taste has changed, whereas I wouldn’t feel bad at all to swap out some pieces at my new place whenever I find something better. I asked my kids if they want some of our furniture, both of them said they would prefer to get their own, except maybe few pieces with sentimental value.
Conclusion - if I had to do it over, I wouldn’t go with expensive furniture, just few pieces.
I am from NC and the subject is near and dear to my heart as my home state has seen the furniture industry decline over the last years. I personally prefer the very well made and American made items. And I have shopped accordingly. I personally believe you can truly recognize quality.
@VaBluebird—I am with you, but I still wonder why it will take 16 weeks for a sofa to arrive. I realize that COM adds to the delay by shipping fabric down to NC, and I wouldn’t do it any other way, but still…
Has anyone tried a slipcovered sofa? Begin able to take the cover off and wash it is very appealing. Looking online, all the choices from Ikea to much more expensive options look pretty much alike. I don’t think they are sold anywhere in my small city, so it will require a day to go to a bigger city to shop in person.
I think the main problem with slipcovers is that every couch/chair is different, so the slipcover never fits properly. In addition, sitting on the piece shifts the slipcover so that even if it did fit properly, it doesn’t after being sat on!
I’m currently trying to unload my mother’s “good,” expensive, high quality, investment grade furniture and the market sucks. Luckily she got her money’s worth over the years, but these are big traditional pieces and styles have changed. Some of the wood pieces stand the test of time amd a wing chair is a wing chair, but the sofas - intended to stay classic - look dated.
IKEA makes those sofas that come with a slipcover cover. So does Pottery Barn. My SIL has it…and she bought an extra cover when she bought her sofa (because sizes and designs DO change). She likes the look of the sofa, but says it is not the easiest thing to wash. First, it’s a trip to a laundromat to one of those HUGE washers…because the thing doesn’t fit into their super jumbo home one. Then she has to bring it home damp, and line dry it…because it’s not supposed to go on the dryer. She says it is always wrinkled after washing, and this slipcover is the single reason she owns an iron.
She says…she likes the look but will NEVER buy one again.
The Pottery Barn one they have looks almost exactly like the IKEA one. BUT they have friends who bought the IKEA on at almost the same time…and it has self destructed.
Our furniture is mostly inherited and hand-me-downs. The sofa in the living room is about 100 years old. My parents bought it at an estate sale in Greenwich, probably circa 1950, at which point it was already at least 30 yrs old. Then my grandmother and uncle had it for a couple of decades, then we got it. It is a classic, large chesterfield with carved bun feet and rolled arms. Along the way it has been recovered at least 4 times. When we first inherited it, I had it slip-covered, but a while ago I had it reupholstered. It’s probably good for another 100 years, lol.
I like an eclectic mixture of different periods, but mostly antiques.
I don’t care for IKEA either - how good can stuff be that’s assembled with an allen wrench?
The time delay is probably the most frustrating part. 3 months just seems so long to wait. I get when you’re choosing custom fabrics it can take awhile, but it makes you wonder if they just sit on the order until the week before.
It’s really sad how the furniture industry has taken such a hit. I can no longer find many furniture stores around here that aren’t Room Store quality - ie - cheap, uncomfortable pieces that fall apart in no time. We used to have large showrooms of beautiful furniture. I don’t want to buy furniture online, I want to see it and sit on it.
@eyemamom, that’s true! I had several “go to” stores which carried quality furniture. Only ONE of them is still in business. If you want to go retail rather wait four months for custom, your choices have gotten quite a bit more limited.
I think Ikea can be ok for some things as long as you know the quality is not great. It is good for college apartments. The quality of drawers in the dressers is pretty poor. We have had them for our kid’s rooms. They fall apart with any pressure.
We have some Ektorp slipcovered sofas. I would strongly recommend staying away from them. The cushions are pretty poorly constructed.
Their furniture looks okay as it is displayed in their showrooms, but it can’t hold up to everyday use…at least in our household.
We had the DWR sofa made to our specs in the US, so we feel good about that. We had wanted to buy other brands but couldn’t find a company we were comfortable with to guarantee white glove delivery and set up. DWR did offer that, so we “settled” for using them.
We did look at a few Mitchell Gold sofas that were slipcovers over a very plain cotton base. They didn’t look like they’d hold up well over time and they didn’t offer leather. Because of our dust allergies, we do MUCH better with leather than fabrics, as it reduces our exposure to dust and mites.
We bought a classic yet contemporary sofa about 25 years ago for $1000. That was a lot for us at the time, but it lasted for 20 years! Still comfortable, and still stylish. Unfortunately the fabric has finally given out. We were told that the frame is still solid, and better than new frames so we considered reupholstering, but that would cost about $1800 -2000 here, and no guarantees on new look or comfort. Sadly we haven’t found anything we like as well, yet. Is there any after-life for old solid frames, or only as scrap?
Life after for our $1200 1980’s “classic” sofa was a trip to the landfill. Same with our Strearns and Foster sofa bed (which was so comfortable…but the fabric just wore out after 20 years).
At this point in my life, I’m going for what looks nice to me, and is comfortable…and not too pricey.
I like good wood and then change out the upholstered pieces…although the wood style can get old as well the modifications in the upholstered pieces can make it appear nicely eclectic.
If you can embrace a less conventional approach to reupholstery may I suggest prison industries? Many states have programs that teach inmates the trade and offer greatly reduced prices. We had a sectional that was in great condition but needed new fabric. Local upholsterers wanted $2500 plus fabric, NH prison industries charged us $400. I cannot say that it was convenient or timely, but since it was a piece going into the bunk house of our summer house it was an easy choice. BTW The workmanship was superior, and we had the satisfaction of contributing to a worthy cause.
VeryHappy, The Barn in Bridgeport used to have a roster of people who did a fabulous job on fitted slipcovers, and probably upholstery. On the slipcovers, you bought the fabric at The Barn, and the guy came to your house and cut out the slipcovers on your furniture, later returning with the finished product. There is also a place on Rte 7 in Norwalk that apparently had a good selection of quality fabric at a discount and may also be able to refer you to upholsterers.
Thanks, Consolation. I remember The Barn; I haven’t been there in years. (Like, maybe 20 years!) I just looked up their website. They suggest that I email them a photo of the piece I want redone and they’ll quote a price (without the fabric, since I haven’t picked any out yet). I think that’s a great way to start.