Can we talk furniture?

[kurlisola]

How long do you expect furniture to last? Is it reasonable to buy, believing a piece will last a lifetime, when in 5 years you'll tire of it or your tastes will change (think black laquer in the 80's-lol)?

I've put off buying furniture for the kids, but now have to do so. It wasn't because we couldn't afford it; rather, because I didn't want to get taken advantage of & it just seems so confusing. Right now, they do have new mattresses & boxsprings; Alex also has a changing table...but doesn't use it. I hang all of their clothing in the closet & have a 3 tiered linen unit that I keep their undies & socks.

So, I first check out the lower end furniture places: Kmart, Value City, Grands...For the most part, appeared cheap and flimsy. The finishes were laminate or some other material. I could see that they wouldn't hold up for more than a year or two. The surprising part was that the prices seemed as much as the pricing of better quality furniture (sale priced) at other places.

Next, checked out Haynes and Haverty. These are mid range furniture stores. The wood was thicker; drawers sturdier (but still used staples in the drawers). The drawers slid on either a wood piece at the bottom, or had metal things on the side. The finish on these pieces is goodness knows what. Is the wood really wood? They don't really say, or they use terminology that I don't understand. The finishes (particularly the white for my girls) is very hard & I think will hold up for awhile). The salesperson said "These will last a lifetime". What does that mean? Can I reasonable expect them to last til my kids leave the nest? Will my 20 year old daughter still want the bedroom set she had as a 4 year old?

Next I called Thomasville, but didn't make it to the showroom. The pieces were about 3 times as much as the other stores I visited. The wood was oak. I'm guessing dovetails on the drawers. But is it really worth an extra $1200 to get solid wood with a stained finish? How long will this last? Do I need it to last that long? Ethan Allens website was down, so didn't check them out.

Finally, today I swung by Goodwood furniture. It is an unfinished furniture store (but did have some finished pieces). Plus, they have a contractor I can hire to finish any piece if I don't want to do it myself. I don't mind doing it myself, except the aforementioned changing table that I finished myself...looks like crap. Not the rich deep color that I see in their showroom. What did I do wrong? They told me to bring in a drawer & they'll take a look. Is it worth the hassle to stain something yourself? Or paint it? And why in the world would you buy solid oak or aspen & then paint over it? The prices were somewhere between the moderate to high priced finished furniture. Though I did see a dresser, mirror, nightstand & twin headboard on clearance for $425. It was finished in mahogony & looked beautiful. If its still there in the morning, I might get that for Solen instead.

So, now I'm back to square one. I want to get furniture for the kids & I don't know what to do. I have to admit, I liked the clean wood smell of goodwood store. But, even though the pieces were solid oak or pine or aspen, to be honest, they felt a little flimsier than the stuff at Haynes...maybe its all that polyeurethane? lol!

Then, to top it off, I've been looking for some sort of bench for my entryway. Have been checking some out at overstock and also at homedecorators...and their clearance prices beat what I saw at goodwood. And they have good customer reviews. But I'm afraid of buying a piece & finding that its crap. Its so hard online, when you can't feel it or see it, kwim? They did have some stuff at goodwood...but I don't know if I want to go through the hassle of staining it. If I knew it would come out good, I'd do it, but don't want to waste time on something that will come out crappy.

So, what are your thoughts on furniture & longevity?

[MariaT]

We purchased Stanley furniture for our bedroom - the Corinthia. And 7k later we thought it was just beautiful so we purchased the matching pieces for the home office - another 5k for that room.

Then we decided on the dining room and thought we would like a nice set but something durable as we do entertain alot. We spent about 3k between the table, chairs and china cabinet. I'm very pleased with it.

Then we worked on the family room. Here I knew we would get the most use out of but I did not want something cheesy looking either. We decided on leather couches, end tables and an armoire. I forgot all the brands but we shopped around here and I was able to get a couple REALLY good buys. Family room was about 4k - yes even with leather couchs.

Baby furniture right now he's still in a crib. We purchased a very inexpensive crib and matching dresser by Delta. Idea being when he gets a big boy bed that it would be something nice and will last.

So yes, I expect furniture to last a very long time so I am also expecting to spend a decent amount of money.

[hotcouponmama]

We always buy wood because by and large, it doesn't go out of style, wears well over time, and can easily be sanded and touched up if necessary.

For each of the kids bedroom sets, we probably spend in the $700-$1000 range. We just bought a new bedset for us, 6 pieces, and I think we spend $3900. We had our old set for 10+ years, and I expect this set to last us til we die basically.

Mattresses - we had ours for 10 years and just pitched it for a sleep number bed that was expensive, but has a 20 year warrenty and since it's made up of components, you can replace the worn components cheaper than buying a new bed. So for $4300, I expect to get the 20 years out of it. Our last set was $2K.

Couches - I go mid range on price for these because we do tend to change them every 5-7 years. We started on futon couches 13 year ago, then 8 years ago, bought new again, and then 2 years ago, bought another new set.

We tend to be hard on couches (doesn't help that we've always let the kids jump on them).

We've spent in the $1000-1200 for a set.

Dining room table, we just changed that out last year. Bought the same farmstyle table as the one we just got rid of. My kids had teethed on the other table, so it was pretty thrashed. Spend $330 for the table and chairs - expect it to last until the kids a bit older and we can step up to something nicer that they won't color or chew on, or stab their forks into.

We tend to remake our computer desk every time we move using the same based, and then a new top to fit the room we are moving it into. So that tends to run us a few hundred bucks every time we move.

I'm due for new office chairs - we've had these ones for at least 7 years.

The boys mattresses weren't all that expensive. I wanted to wait to get them really nice ones once they were past the jumping stage.

Overall, we really tend to get the maximum life we can out of furniture, but we do spend the money to make sure we get quality pieces that will not only last us, but would have some resale value or life for the next person. Everything we upgraded this last year, with the exception of our mattress set, was either resold or donated or given away.

[mmb1996]

I believe in spending a little more and buying classic pieces. If you can afford it stay away from any furniture made of laminate. One cold glass of water on a hot day and that piece of is ruined forever. I have stained quite of few pieces of furniture and they have turned out great. Lowes and Home Depot have some great books and clinics on this. I have had to stain, sand, stain, sand and add 2-3 top coat finishes with sanding in between to get a piece looking good. Its work but worth it. I still have some pieces from my childhood that are in wonderful shape. I have a 100 year old diningroom table that was my dh grandmothers and its beautiful. Also look in your paper for estate sales if you don't mind having used furniture. My mom loves these and has bought many beautiful pieces that will last forever for the same price as buying a laminate piece.

[BzyBee]

We buy with the intention of keeping for a long time. That being said, we paid $35 for both a dresser (DD uses) and a chest (DS). We bought them 14 yrs ago from friends who were getting rid of them. DH and I used them for a while until we bought our own set of bedroom furniture. We painted the chest for DS, now it needs to be stripped and we will probably stain it for him. They are heavy...the movers cry when we tell them it has to go up the stairs. They are solid, been moved 6 times and they do not rack, not even a loose drawer. I don't know how old they are, but the style is simple enough that updating the finish updates the piece.

When we bought our bedroom furniture we bought something to last as well. It is solid wood, has held up well through moving but I don't know that we will keep it forever. No plans for new just yet, but I can imagine after a number of years we may want something different. When I see my IL's furniture it is terribly out dated and I am sure mine will be one day as well (although not as much as the style of ours is simple). Theirs is still in good shape so they don't get rid of it, but the style is not holding up as well as the furniture....KWIM?

Some other pieces we have bought are also solid wood, a coffee table and sofa table both with storage and rustic style. They were both scratch and dent purchases. Our table and chairs are iron base and wood top. I have refinished the table top once in 8 years.

Our first upholstered furniture was cheapo stuff....lasted a few years and then someone wanted to buy it with our house...we were happy to have it gone, why they would want to finance it over 30 yrs was a mystery to me. Our next furniture was yard sale, good quality, made slipcovers for it. Then a moderately priced (and quality) couch and chair-and-a-half. When we moved here we bought a moderately priced (and quality) leather sectional. Those three pieces will probably last 8-10 yrs and I am comfortable with that for upholstered furniture.

The bench in our entry way was a discount piece as well. It is pine 6+ yrs old and needs a touch up on the finish, new hinges on the bench but otherwise it is in very good shape. I don't think I paid more than $25 for it.

So, my general rule is to buy solid wood that will last as long as I want it...preferably for a big discount (I see stuff at consignment or goodwill all the time, floor models/discontinued/overstock may be an option too). I like moderately priced/quality upholstered furniture because I really don't want to reupholster or slipcover to update.

A higher quality piece should last longer, may need refinishing or reupholstering. If you plan to keep for 10+ years keep the style simple enough to last...don't go with anything trendy. By simple, I do not mean plain, but simple as in classic. Let the finish (stain color, hardware, fabric) do the work of updating if you don't want to replace. If you want to change out more often, go with something moderately priced that will last as long as you need it to. When it starts to look like it needs refinishing/updating...time to go shopping again.

[Queen Frostine]

Hi Lisa,
Your on the Pennisula, right?
There is a store over the James River Bridge in Carrolton, really easy to get to - Carrollton Antiques and Reproductions. They sell new solid wood furniture at very good prices. Most of the wood furniture in my house has come from there and it has held up great (with 2 boys). It's the first place I check when I'm looking to buy something.
You might want to check it out!

[esperanza]

We buy most furniture for the long haul, but not our kids stuff.

We were in a similar position last year. The prices were too much for something that we didn't love or the more reasonably priced stuff was junk. So we bought a metal bedframe and attached it to a wood headboard we made. It's a piece of finish grade plywood with large dentil crown moulding on top, painted white. The headboard/frame only cost about $150 . We found a dresser at Goodwill and repainted it white. It was $30 plus paint and the cost of new knobs.

The room looks great and we can replace it as needed without feeling as though we didn't get our money's worth.

But some people buy quality from the beginning. We know people whose children are using their childhood furniture. It was good stuff and you'd never guess that it was 35 years old.

[kurlisola]

Hi Lisa,
Your on the Pennisula, right?
There is a store over the James River Bridge in Carrolton, really easy to get to - Carrollton Antiques and Reproductions. They sell new solid wood furniture at very good prices. Most of the wood furniture in my house has come from there and it has held up great (with 2 boys). It's the first place I check when I'm looking to buy something.
You might want to check it out!

Thanks! I'm just a mile from the bridge. I'll check them out tomorrow or the next day.

[mama22qts]

We buy with the idea in mind that we'll keep it for 10+ years.

Our bed we bought with money left over from our wedding budget. Spent $1200 on it and it's still as beautiful as ever, and I cannot see ever buying another bed.

We have access to a lot of antiques in our family as my grandfather had an antique furniture store. I compare all the newer mid-range stuff to what I've got at home and I have to say most of it is sadly lacking.

DD is sleeping in the bed I had growing up, which was also my dad's and my grandmother's. It's gorgeous, as is the matching chest of drawers and dresser.

Items that we have actually bought include the leather sofa and recliner in our family room, our dining room set (from a furniture consigner who bought it at a tag sale -- solid mahogany and pine. Eclectic mix but it completely works.) We also bought a bedroom suite and three desks from Pottery Barn within the last two years. I love DS's bedroom suite -- it is solid wood, very heavy and good construction. We paid a handsome sum for it but he's 5 and this set will go with him to college. It's not really kid's furniture. I wasn't going to buy something cutesy and have to buy again in 5 years for him.

I will say that we bought this



and I hate it now because the paint chips so easily. I'm disappointed and I wish we'd not done it, but it's here now, so I have to deal with it.


If I was buying anything furniture-wise right now, I'd stick with quality, solid wood pieces, and buy antique if I could.

[scoopdecoop]

We haven't really thought too much about furniture, but we'll pretty much need to buy for the whole house. We went to an auction last week and bought a few pieces, all solid wood classic pieces. Being in NY we've been able to do the auctions for almost everything for this house we're renovating.

I'm not really looking down the line of a few years, I expect some things will be replaced in 5, 10, or 15 years, maybe never. We tend to give a lot away, and people have blessed us with stuff they can't take with them when they move. All in all we don't spend a lot, but have good furniture. My Dad was a cabinet maker and built everything for our house when I grew up, and I honestly have to say I wouldn't buy much at all retail. The only good stuff is really expensive.

We'll be watching for estate sales too, but again in the area where we live, many of the large homes aren't used much so not only is the quality good, it would be almost new.