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But I also don;t want to go with IKEA or something that will be ready for the dumpster in a year.
Not sure why your opinion of IKEA furniture is that low, I have a bunch of their furniture and I've found it to hold up very well.
we have a couple ikea pieces that are great. once is an 7ft tall 3ft wide entertainment cabinet that I use as storage that is amazing. It has been disassembled, moved, and reassembled twice and is just as good as it was the day we first assembled it. It is currently sitting disassembling while we remodel the basement.

The other is a square endtable that also has been disassembled 2 times to move and still going strong


I usually find that the quality of the Ikea stuff is commensurate with the price. They have cheap stuff that's cheap, and more substantial pieces that are pricier. All things considered, I find their painted finishes to hold up pretty well all things considered. My boss also did his retirement house kitchen using sinks and fixtures from Ikea, and those suckers were stout. No way that sink was going in without two people lifting.

 
This has put me in a position to not freak out when the capri-sun juice "bag" accidentally gets squeezed all over the recliner or couch.


I've also had good luck with the cans of Scotchguard. Our dining room chairs have upholstered seats, and they've been covered with spaghetti sauce more times that I can count. With the Scotchguard, they still look new.

Just make sure to apply the scotchguard in a very well ventilated area (outside)!

 
It's not that I think Ikea is sub-standard, but I have a hard time buying into the upholstered stuff that would require my assembly. As for their storage and shelving, I wouldn't hesitate to own that.

 
It's not that I think Ikea is sub-standard, but I have a hard time buying into the upholstered stuff that would require my assembly. As for their storage and shelving, I wouldn't hesitate to own that.
Well your initial comment seemed to indicate you felt that IKEA furniture was of shoddy craftsmanship, which I feel is just not the case. I can totally understand if you don't like IKEA furniture because of the styling, it's not for everyone, but I won't dog the quality.

And to be fair, most of the upholstered furniture does not require self assembly.

I don't have any living room furniture from IKEA, mostly because I don't like the styling, but I do have bedroom and kitchen furniture from there.

 
We own quite a bit of Ikea items. Couch, Lounge chair, coffee table, 3 full ht. bookshelves (corner setup) in the living room, then in the bedroom; two end tables, 6' dresser, and platform bed. Bought it three years ago, and it all fit in the back of the Ram. I'd say the worst part of it was upholstering the furniture. The upside to the style couch/chair we bought, is that if you ever want to replace or change upholstery, it's possible DIY albeit a PITA. The other wooden stuff has lasted fine, but we haven't moved it. Coffee table is a little dinged from nephews using it as a work bench. But it was only $150. I'm a big fan of their stuff, and the assembly part is something I don't mind.

 
when we built our house in 2009-2010, I bought our kitchen cabinets RTA(ready to assemble)...they are maple w plywood boxes, very similar to a set a lowes, which were almost 15K, but we only had $3,500 in these...of course we had to spend a couple weekends in the garage putting them together, but I also had screwed and glued cabinets...I also bought my own granite countertops in slabs and had them installed, which for the same exact granite was about 8-10K at lowes, I bought for $1,250 w backsplashes and had installed for $1,200...we get more coments on how awesome are kitchen is and the wife and I just sit back and smile! ;)

 
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Imma little late here, but +1 on the Ashley furniture. we bought a "sectional" couch a year ago. It was a mid range modular couch. You got to pick the sections, fabric, cushions, legs, arms, etc. It was neat and we got a micro fiber which has a natural water repellant ability which is great with small kids.

 
Considering buying a bedroom set. A lot of people that I know who have purchased one recently, including JR, went to Art Van.

 
Ugh, don't get me started on Art Van. Frickin ripoff artists. Unfortunately there isn't much choice around here.

 
We have bought a few things from American signature furniture that we have been happy with.. I imagine its about the same as Ashly...

 
We have a coffee table we bought with the house. Its the newest peice of furniture and its from 1994 at the latest. Couple of end tables from the 70s. Everything else is pre 1950.

We've been looking for a new sofa for ages, but holy crow stuff is oversized these days. Gigantasaurus armrests 2+ feet wide.

 
No Ashley nearby. Wife is now leaning toward Lazyboy. Seems overpriced compared to the competition
they are little pricey but definitely more comfortable. Wait until they are running a sale...memorial day is just around the corner it will bring the prices down.

 
Went looking again yesterday. Like the England furniture, but it's too big to fit the space. Will wait to see what the holiday sales bring.

 
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