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Why are most sofas so bad?

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Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#91

Post by dangus »

theGnuMe wrote: post #57
dangus wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Regular retailers aren’t immune. Let’s be real too: nobody’s going underneath the sofas at Crate and Barrel to see how they’re constructed. It doesn’t really matter that you can see and touch them. I don’t even think the luxury brands are much better (e.g., RH). They’ll give you some solid woods and finer materials where you can see them. They are better but not by the amount I would like. The cheapness i…

Darn I was hoping pottery barn would be reliable..

I’m not a fan of Pottery Barn, I think Crate and Barrel or CB2 are the essentially the same products with better service.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#92

Post by wsatb »

SeanAnderson wrote: post #24

I've been very happy with my Lovesac sofa, but its pricing is borderline extortionate.

Their cushion quality can be hit or miss, but I'll say they're pretty receptive to exchanges.

Also, never pay full price. They offer 25-35% off many times per year, usually around holidays.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#93

Post by JohnFen »

elteto wrote: post #79
angry_moose wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. Even at the time we knew West Elm wasn't high end, but we were at least expecting decent. We know more now (and could afford better) whenever we have to finally replace this, but $2000 is a not-insignificant investment that shouldn't be a complete piece of crap.

My problem is that I don’t even know where to buy _good_ stuff. I don’t want to pay $5k for a couch, but maybe I will _once_ in N years, for some large N, if I know it’s very well made and I like the design. But I have no idea where to go for this. The overlap between junk and luxury is too large nowadays.

As with so many goods these days, I find that buying stuff made at least a couple of decades ago works best. It's much easier to tell the garbage from the treasure if you aren't buying stuff made recently.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#94

Post by inglor_cz »

SauciestGNU wrote: post #88
bluedino wrote: post #22

In the Midwest, the "better" option is to buy furniture from "The Amish". Parents bought a living room set, it was double what a similar set would be at the local furniture superstore, but the fabric/cushions were a new level of terrible. Basically fell apart in two years. It's a great place to find wooden tables, beds, dressers, but it's all heavy (as you'd expect) and hard to move. If I was buying a sofa today I wo…

Although the furniture quality is excellent, I worry about supporting child labor when doing business with the Amish. They pull their kids out of school after grade 8 to put them to work. I've also heard various things regarding the commonality of abusive practices within their religion. Trade-offs for everything!

"supporting child labor"

From their point of view, the modern society may be needlessly infantilizing people who are halfway to adulthood.

We even treat university students like kids, hence all the obsession with micromanaging their campus experience.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#95

Post by ch4s3 »

elteto wrote: post #80
ch4s3 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oof! For $5k you could get something from Herman Miller, Hay, or Design Within Reach[1]. [1] https://www.dwr.com/living-sofas-sectionals/quilton-chaise-s...

Ironic, that same item you mention has 2 reviews (out of 3) complaining about worn out fabric within months. And almost $5k.

Not really ironic. It's available in 10 different fabric options. If you're surprised that a wool/alpaca blend fabric isn't heard wearing, or that boucle snags easily then you didn't think through the purchase. I have a similar sofa with the Beck fabric and it's great for the way I use it. The flambier boucle fabric looks great, but as a cat owner, I'd never purchase it.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#96

Post by JohnFen »

mrguyorama wrote: post #86
nerdponx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if it wasn't bad enough that most consumer goods have completely bifurcated into "junk" and "luxury", now it's hard to even tell which products fall into which category, because there is so much junk now being sold as luxury.

>junk now being sold as luxury. That's always been the case though. There has always been junk marketing itself as "luxury" to milk the nouveau riche. It's not like real Coach bags utilize some magic leather that doesn't degrade just the same as the $200 leather purse you buy from a local artisan. It's not like the brick that Supreme sold was made of some sort of magical clay. The luxury purse companies don't burn th…

This is why I differentiate between "quality" and "luxury". Luxury goods are very often just expensive junk that people buy in order to signal that they have money.

Quality goods are well-designed, well-made, etc. And you can't be sure about quality based on price.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#97

Post by MikeTheGreat »

This article about about sofas opens with "The most important piece of furniture in your home..."

Did anyone else find this weird / funny?

Like, just off the top of my head I'd put my bed at the top of my list, waaaay ahead of a sofa. Next might be the desk & chair I WFH at, and then it goes on from there.

I get that the article wants to build engagement by "raising the stakes", but c'mon. Sofas are not that important :)

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#98

Post by Ekaros »

amluto wrote: post #44
nerdponx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if it wasn't bad enough that most consumer goods have completely bifurcated into "junk" and "luxury", now it's hard to even tell which products fall into which category, because there is so much junk now being sold as luxury.

I’ve had multiple fancy chairs, purchased from a famous high end brand with a very high end showroom in a very high end design center, fail very quickly. The failure was due to their vendor (fancy, in France) using nice solid finger jointed hardwood, well finished, in a place where that construction was completely inappropriate. High quality Scandinavian-style plywood probably would have lasted decades. Nice material…

Reminds me previous sets of dinner chairs my parents had. Glued together. Slowly dried and then they were less than ideal... Even if the materials are good it means nothing if techniques are wrong.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#99

Post by Ekaros »

vizzier wrote: post #77
rsynnott wrote: post #34

I hear this a lot, but my fairly inexpensive IKEA sofa is about eight years old with no problems at all so far. EDIT: Actually, in general I've found that my IKEA furniture has done pretty well (basically everything in the house is IKEA) with the sole exception of a "Lack" coffee table, whose surface is kinda disintegrating after 8 years (I think it's basically made of cardboard with a veneer...). The name should per…

You're quite correct about the Lack. They're cheap as hell (15 bucks at time of writing?), but as a result quite manipulatable, such as creating 3d printer enclosures [0]. You can see some of their insides as they go through the process. [0] https://blog.prusa3d.com/mmu2s-printer-enclosure_30215/

Now that I look Finnish prices it is surprising. The coffee table is 40/50€, tv stand is 15€. Side table 8€ or 10€ for next size.

Okay those cheap ones make sense, but for coffee table it is robbery...

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#100

Post by earleybird »

elteto wrote: post #79
angry_moose wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. Even at the time we knew West Elm wasn't high end, but we were at least expecting decent. We know more now (and could afford better) whenever we have to finally replace this, but $2000 is a not-insignificant investment that shouldn't be a complete piece of crap.

My problem is that I don’t even know where to buy _good_ stuff. I don’t want to pay $5k for a couch, but maybe I will _once_ in N years, for some large N, if I know it’s very well made and I like the design. But I have no idea where to go for this. The overlap between junk and luxury is too large nowadays.

As sibling comment says: survivorship bias as a heuristic is useful.
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