Is All New Furniture Junk Anymore ?

COO < price for 99% of people.

The problem is that quality stuff now has a luxury price tag. If US made stuff is 2-3x the price you can't expect people to buy it based on quality alone.

My mom did the same thing about 8 years ago, replaced a locally made couch that needed new cushions with a piece of bonded leather Chinese junk that was worn within a year. Some people just don't care and new and shiny is all that is important.
 
The problem is that quality stuff now has a luxury price tag. If US made stuff is 2-3x the price you can't expect people to buy it based on quality alone.

When all of it was made here, people bought it.
 
I have been having good luck with furniture made by local Amish and Mennonite community. I do not buy leather. The workers are interesting how the justify their actions. Steel and parts made on computer controlled machines are OK to buy, they simply do not want to run the machine if it is run by electricity. They will not do business with people they judge as dishonest, and making poor quality stuff is kind of a sin for them, so they do the best within the confines of their religion. Some of them do not finish with modern polyurethane varnish they use old time finish oils. Other stuff is poly, I guess it depends on the sect. My hall tree was oil finished, had for 3 years now and it still stinks when the house is closed up while we are gone. Yet it is a beautiful piece of furniture with excellent workmanship. The prices is reasonable

Their barns and homes are fantastic. Oak pegs and timber frame, cut by hand. The accuracy of their cuts and wood work is fantastic. You would be lucky to find a joint that has enough slack to fit a credit card into. They calculate all angles on a framing square. Go find an "English" framing crew and see if anyone knows what all the scales are on a framing square. They even use modern medicines, and surgery, but you will not find a Amish doctor or surgeon that I know of.

Interesting how they get around the no electricity no modern stuff of their religion.. They have a old time diesel with spring starter (look up start well industries) This runs an air compressor. The compressed air motors run their saws, drills, routers. They have a lot of pattern tracing air powered tools. Some shops also use the overhead shaft flat belt machines of the 1800 but pneumatics is taking over.

Quite a collection of antique and modern all mixed together. They are very different, all non members are "English" They will interact with you, help you without hesitation is a calamity befalls you. You may even consider them a friend. But there is a line that they never cross. And since animals have no soul, some of their animal practices are horrible in my eyes.
 
Originally Posted by odotb
The problem is that quality stuff now has a luxury price tag. If US made stuff is 2-3x the price you can't expect people to buy it based on quality alone.

When all of it was made here, people bought it.
If those people had the chance to buy the same product built somewhere else for a third the price they would have. They just didn't have the options back then. No one has ever really cared about COO, even when they were working in the factories producing those products. They only started to care when their jobs were offshored.
 
Better to get some old stuff and bring it to an good upholstery shop. A pain, but it will be cheaper likely than New good USA stuff and you can pick your fabric. I hate the overstuffed cushions and oversized , bulky furniture everywhere now, Not comfortable. Cushions should be 4 - 5 " thick not 8-10"!
 
On the other hand, try to sell older furniture, even if in top notch shape. It doesn't have much (if any) value. Consumers want brand new stuff most all of the time.
 
Originally Posted by SeaJay
On the other hand, try to sell older furniture, even if in top notch shape. It doesn't have much (if any) value. Consumers want brand new stuff most all of the time.


I take the hassle of anti-bed-bug precautions in mind when I buy stuffed furniture.

This generally involves storing it in my subzero garage all winter, an inconvenience as I like my car not snow-covered.

I wonder if I can get one of those giant trash bags, stuff the furniture in there, and set off some bug-bombs.
 
Even high quality brands like Henredon, Ethan Allen, Pennsylvania House, and Stickley commonly use veneers of expensive wood laid over a cheaper substrate of "solid hardwoods." Almost no one makes furniture of solid walnut, ash, maple, or even oak any longer.
 
One of the main things to consider whey buying upholstered furniture is the seating foundation.

Leggett & Platt is a major supplier to the furniture industry. Basically, they have it covered on what seating is on the inside when you buy upholstered furniture. They don't show the cheapest of the cheap which is just webbing strung and attached to the seat.

https://lpfurniturecomponents.com/seating-systems/seating-foundations
 
Our bedrooms set, dining set, and table/mirror in entry way are all Amish made and 100% maple. It was expensive but I don't plan on replacing any of it in my lifetime so I think in the end will be a better value.
 
Even most Drexel furniture is made in Asia. I had a favorite maker in New England named Nichols and Stone that went out of business years ago due to Asian competition. It really sucks for two states I've lived in, VA and NC, where furniture making was so strong. Thomasville Furniture had five plants in NC that once operated either two or three shifts a day. Now I think they operate a single plant.

Some USA made furniture still comes from NY, MI, VA, NC and TN but it sure is a shrinking industry.
 
I needed a specific sofa size for an area in our living room and I found a Serta Sofa in a Box on Amazon and it's quite durable and solid once assembled. (No tools required).

The other sofa we have on the other side is an Ektorp (I think, and it's no longer made) from Ikea and it's almost 6 years old. We have replaced all the covers on it (which are machine washable) and it's still solid. It too came as an assemble yourself sofa.

Maybe this is the way to go?
 
I'm fortunate as far as home furnishings go, to live in High Point, N.C. We're still called the "Furniture Capital of the world", but we have lost a lot of furniture manufacturing over the past 30 years. The worlds largest home furnishings market is located here and we have two International Home Furnishing markets here every October and April, each lasts one week and our population swells from 100,000 people to 250,000 people for those two weeks. The worlds largest furniture retail store is located here and has millions of square feet of retail show room space, it's called "Furniture Land South". My wife and I have bought many pieces for a fraction of their retail price from show room exhibitors after these markets. The companies sell them to clear their spaces for the next market. We have Henredon, Thomasville, Drexel/Heritage, Hickory Chair, Link Taylor, etc furniture in our home along with accessories such as rugs, lamps, lighting simply because we happen to live in the Mecca of furniture manufacturing. Many of thes showrooms are open to the public and sell their showroom samples at reduced prices to keep from having to pay shipping back to their plants. Lord knows we couldn't have afforded those brands by having to pay retail, especially in our early years of raising a family and paying the mortgage.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
This generally involves storing it in my subzero garage all winter, an inconvenience as I like my car not snow-covered.

I wonder if I can get one of those giant trash bags, stuff the furniture in there, and set off some bug-bombs.

I've done both for one item I bought. It had wormwoods.

Now is a nice time to give it that treatment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

StevieC
  • Locked
Hyundai Equus - New for 2011 - Very nice!
2 3
Replies
45
Views
26K
Propflux01
Back
Top Bottom