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Why new furniture doesn’t last long

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Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#141

Post by hot_gril »

LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #86
sheepybloke wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I've been looking for bookshelves and wanted something that wasn't just Ikea's Billy. The price jump to something from Pottery Barn is 3-4x the Ikea price, but from the quality you see at the showroom, it should be closer to 1.5-2x the price. I also feel a bit jaded from the mid-tier furniture showrooms, which offer Wayfair quality at 2x the price. I just want something that will survive a move while not hav…

Why care about furniture surviving a move, when you can buy and build the same shit at your destination for cheap? And 'gift' the old to your follow renters, or just discard it?

I don't care that much about surviving moves, I care about it being nice quality. And the nice ones will cost enough that I want to keep them.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#142

Post by sershe »

What are you guys doing with your Ikea furniture? I bought a bunch since 2008 and I still have some pieces that were with me thru about 10 moves, including 2 interstate moves and one international move, all involving a stint in a warehouse or Public Storage. The only things that ever broke were under-the-bed drawers that have a design flaw where slamming them causes the front to be levered against the bottom of the bed. From my limited experience with non-Ikea, non-office furniture, it's if anything more likely to be damaged when moving, because it cannot be disassembled and neatly stacked, and so is more liable to be banged against things when loading/unloading, or inside the truck.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#143

Post by zote »

bubblethink wrote: post #138
stetrain wrote: post #4

My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. For the most part if you want a piece of furniture (ie a nightstand), there are two categories. Either you buy the Amazon/Wayfair version made of pressboard for $100-$200, or you can find a solid wood heirloom version for $2,000+. The domestic plywood or cheaper solid wood options are no longer mass pr…

>My biggest issue is that, like so many markets, there is a "missing middle" created by this downward price pressure. I would wager that this is a proxy for the housing market. It's correlated with renting (majority) v/s buying (minority). And renters don't want the middle. That's pretty much how I view everything I buy. It's ephemeral. >I think one reason Ikea is so popular is that they ride the upper end of the che…

>I would wager that this is a proxy for the housing market. It's correlated with renting (majority) v/s buying (minority). And renters don't want the middle. That's pretty much how I view everything I buy. It's ephemeral.

Interesting I've never thought of it that way, anyways here's a great podcast episode from 99 Percent Invisible on the "missing middle" in terms of housing.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-missing-middle/

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#144

Post by neuronerdgirl »

LastTrain wrote: post #77
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's very little in between, even if I'm willing to pay a bit more for something a bit nicer. Same has happened in clothing. To get something other than cheap crap made out of synthetic fibers, you now have to go premium. Are people really less discerning than they used to be? Has the average purchasing power declined? Or is the problem that people don't want to commit to something that lasts for years, because…

People used to spend a lot more, per item, on clothing. The real culprit in this case is that we have become accustomed to things being cheap.

We have also come to accept wildly poor standards for clothing construction because of our disconnect between expense and quality. Can you imagine brushing off those little snags you get in your tshirts after one wash as "just how these things are"if you had paid the real modern (local labor) cost for them? As a sewist I would estimate that the labor and materials cost for one well-made, good material t-shirt would be at least $45 [0] before even accounting for profit margin, yet people grumble at paying $20 for slave labor cotton blended with plastic made at the hands of an overworked, underpaid sweatshop worker. Our ability to source clothing so cheaply coupled with our lack of direct interaction with the making and maintenance of them has lowered our expectations in a race to the bottom.

[0] back of napkin math - i might be able to find a decent knit cotton with some veneer of ethical sourcing at a rock-bottom price of $10-12 per yard (in practice F to doubt). Assuming a pittance for the thread (and ignoring the upstart costs for acquiring a sewing machine), I would peg my skillset at a value of $35-50 per hour given my experience based on the rates of similarly skilled artisans in the US.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#145

Post by neuronerdgirl »

Gigachad wrote: post #113
evan_ wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ikea furniture usually uses these funky cam lock nuts and bolts in particle board pieces, rather than screws: https://www.furnitureparts.com/products/cam-lock-nuts-ikea-p... These turn the force into compression over a larger diameter so it's less likely to cause a problem. I've actually had pretty good experiences with Ikea stuff holding up over time, even across multiple moves.

I had one of those plastic locks snap during a move. And found out Ikea will mail or provide one at the store for free. Repaired my item and it's as good as new.

They used to just make them out of zinc so they wouldn't snap at the drop of a hat. Guess that $0.10 savings per unit was worth the shipping though

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#146

Post by chipsa »

donatj wrote: post #5

I had an argument with my therapist about this. My wife just gave birth to my daughter, we moved a bookshelf my grandfather built for me when I was born into her nursery and now my office is a mess, my books and such scattered. The mess is stressing me out. I am looking for a bookshelf to replace it, and told him I haven’t found anything I thought would last the rest of my life for a reasonable price. He insists I do…

I bought quite a few of the Hemnes bookshelves[0] from Ikea. They aren't garbage pressboard, but also not terribly expensive. They actually replaced the garbage pressboard shelves I had that cost like $20 each, because I got tired of fixing up the back. The back panel is fiberboard, but it feels like HDF, not MDF.

0:https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hemnes-bookcase-black-brown-lig...

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#147

Post by watwut »

onecommentman wrote: post #120
Gigachad wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solid wood is an absolute nightmare to move. And I've found that most stuff from IKEA lasts quite a long time.

Solid wood furniture designed to be dismantled and reassembled easily is not a nightmare to move. In fact it is easier than moving cheaper furniture whose integrity is compromised with each dismantle/reassemble cycle, and thus is moved whole. It’s a design problem, not a materials problem. And the well-designed easily-movable solid wood furniture will be fought over by your great-grandkids.

> And the well-designed easily-movable solid wood furniture will be fought over by your great-grandkids.

It won't for the exact dame reason why we do not fight for grandmas furniture - the style just looks old.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#148

Post by donatj »

MerelyMortal wrote: post #10
donatj wrote: post #5

I had an argument with my therapist about this. My wife just gave birth to my daughter, we moved a bookshelf my grandfather built for me when I was born into her nursery and now my office is a mess, my books and such scattered. The mess is stressing me out. I am looking for a bookshelf to replace it, and told him I haven’t found anything I thought would last the rest of my life for a reasonable price. He insists I do…

It sounds like your therapist is letting their personal opinions into your session. I'm not an expert, but that sounds like a professional no-no.

Top level commenter here - for what it’s worth, as a someone who is perpetually indecisive, I enjoy getting my therapists opinions. He used to be a bicycle mechanic and has a very down to earth attitude towards therapy. Honestly one of my major life stressors is just general home maintenance and he’s offered some pretty great advice.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#149

Post by donatj »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #31
MerelyMortal wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like your therapist is letting their personal opinions into your session. I'm not an expert, but that sounds like a professional no-no.

Is it really worth stressing yourself out over buying a hold-over bookshelf until you can find yourself a better one? If you've got money for a therapist for this type of issue - it probably isn't. You can get a custom-made bookshelf from Amish country for the cost of less than 5 therapy sessions.

My health insurance covers my therapy except for a small copay. I would not be going were I paying out of pocket.

Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long

#150

Post by chipsa »

sheepybloke wrote: post #73
lbwtaylor wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And part of the problem is that it is so hard to tell if the middle priced goods are worth it. For example: - is it real wood but cheaply finished so the wood wears quickly and needs refinishing quickly. Seen this problem so often at priced places like crate & barrel. - how do you tell good quality veneer from bad? - showcase pieces of higher quality than what's delivered to your house. Room & board with their real w…

Exactly. I've been looking for bookshelves and wanted something that wasn't just Ikea's Billy. The price jump to something from Pottery Barn is 3-4x the Ikea price, but from the quality you see at the showroom, it should be closer to 1.5-2x the price. I also feel a bit jaded from the mid-tier furniture showrooms, which offer Wayfair quality at 2x the price. I just want something that will survive a move while not hav…

Ikea does have a higher end bookcase than Billy: Hemnes[0]. It's like 2x the price, and I think it's worth about that, given it's made from mostly solid wood (back is still fiberboard).

0:https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hemnes-bookcase-black-brown-lig...

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