Buying Furniture

[cdcengineer]

Well, it's about time we upgrade the living room upholstered furniture and got a new dining set. Does anyone here have any opinions on upholstered furniture quality? I'm not looking for the top of line, as I'm not sure with a 4 year old that would be a wise investment. But I also don;t want to go with IKEA or something that will be ready for the dumpster in a year.

It's been a while, but names like Broyhill, Lane, England, Lazy Boy all were decent mid level pieces once upon a time.

As for the dining set, the wife wants some Amish stuff which seems nice and prices well against the name brands.

 

[Judowolf PE]

We buy a lot of Ashley brand...it's been pretty good stuff and fairly reasonable in cost

 

[cdcengineer]

Yeah, I did see some Ashley this weekend. Prices were pretty low which made me wonder about quality. Have the pieces you owned survived any length of time with small children abuse (er a use).

 

[snickerd3]

all our fabric covered furniture is lazyboy...it is nice and soft and comfortable, but the frame is wood and we had issues with one piece. The recliner is super nice and a life saver when minisnick was little.

Minisnicks loftish bed is ashley and is nice but definitely meant for a child and not adult.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Mrs Dex and I are huge fans of microfiber fabric for living room furniture with small children. All it takes is a wet cloth to clean it.

 

[snickerd3]

if you go the ashley route buy from an ashley direct store...do not buy ashley through a mom&pop furniture place you will pay almost twice the price.

minisnicks new bedroom ensemble loft bed with two dressers that fit underneath was $700 at the ashley store...it was $1200-1500 at other furniture stores that sold ashley.

 

[FLBuff PE]

Yeah, I did see some Ashley this weekend. Prices were pretty low which made me wonder about quality...

I believe that with hookers you get what you pay for...

 

[cement]

Careful of splinters!

 

[Judowolf PE]

we have an 11 yr old boy and a 2 yr old girl...has held up pretty well. Much better than our leather set from Furniture ROW, I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire...

 

[Supe]

My furniture row TV stand is falling apart after 2 years. Whatever plastic veneer they used on it has blistered/popped/cracked everywhere. I'm going to end up having to strip it down and doing the distressed look to make it salvageable. Never again.

Thomasville makes some nice stuff, but pricey. My office furniture set is from Haverty's which is just on the cusp of being a higher end store. The piece is nicer than most, but I'm very picky and had them take 3/4 pieces delivered back and replace them due to defects.

 

[Krakosky]

I have Ashley brand furniture and I haven't been disappointed with it. Microfiber couches and wood tables.

 

[DavidPE]

I have a set of Ashley end/coffee tables that are about 12 years old, and they're still in excellent shape. I've been very happy with them. However, I looked at an Ashley writing desk and file cabinet just this week, and I wasn't impressed at all.

We bought two sofas 14 months ago by a company named England. We were a bit skeptical of them based on their price, but they seem to be well built and there's no sign of wear yet despite the best efforts of our animals and our 2 and 3 year olds. Lifetime warranty on the frames, and 10-years on the cushions (whatever that's worth).

 

[cdcengineer]

Sounds like Ashley is the way to go.

Thx

 

[Judowolf PE]

Ashley has an outlet called the Ashley Home Store, they are 25-30% cheaper than the mom n pop shops, unless you know someone who sells it. I was surprised how cheap you can get it if you know someone...I have a local guy who started having more and more Ashley stuff in his store, so I asked him...I order whatever I want from him at his cost + a small mark up, ends up around 50% of list price

 

[goodal]

We are still outfitting the new house with furniture, so I've gotten familiar with furniture brands somewhat. IMO, while Ashley is a very popular brand, it is on the lower end of the quality scale.

 

[Judowolf PE]

^badal is right, it is on the lower side of the "quality" scale, if you are talking about quality furniture like broyhill or thomasville, but it is half the price as well

 

[Lumber Jim]

Find a good consignment aution and expect to pay half price on some really nice stuff. Some of it is damaged (so be picky) and some of it is godawful ugly but the items that we have found are nice.

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. (Micro-fiber does clean up really nice...)

 

[roadwreck]

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.

 

[snickerd3]

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

 

[envirotex]

We're about ready to trade in our Rooms to Go couch and loveseat after 11 years of service with two small boys that are now big boys...We've been looking, I think we're going to get two more Rooms to Go sofas. Haven't found anything else that we like that doesn't cost more than my car...