Why are most sofas so bad? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#121

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:25 PM UTC

swatcoder wrote: post #78

baby wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason people hate IKEA in the US. Was trying to sell a standing desk I bought there for 750$ and nobody wanted it. Ended up selling it for 150$. I also had a Jarvis and it was gone in an instant, even though the IKEA one was much much better. I Often hear people saying that IKEA furnitures don’t travel well or don’t last long. It’s like we’re not going to the same IKEA.

IKEA is beloved by many in the US and generally one of the most specifically in-demand brands in the market for used contemporary furniture. You might just be in an unusual region or had some other reasons why your listings didn't perform the way you expected. That said, I am one of those people who doesn't get a lot from them so I can speak to some of criticism. Part of it is just the aesthetic, and theirs doesn't m…

I legitimately had no idea IKEA sold anything of real quality. TIL.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#122

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:42 PM UTC

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…

[deleted]

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#123

Post by rsynnott » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:43 PM UTC

baby wrote: post #46

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…

For some reason people hate IKEA in the US. Was trying to sell a standing desk I bought there for 750$ and nobody wanted it. Ended up selling it for 150$. I also had a Jarvis and it was gone in an instant, even though the IKEA one was much much better. I Often hear people saying that IKEA furnitures don’t travel well or don’t last long. It’s like we’re not going to the same IKEA.

Yeah, I dunno, maybe it’s different stuff in the US? I know at least some of the items are different.

With the exception of the aforementioned table (which I think cost about 8 euro at the time, so, really, what did I expect) I’ve found all their stuff to be of very decent quality, certainly better than what you could get from ‘traditional’ furniture stores at the same price.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#124

Post by rsynnott » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:45 PM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #121

swatcoder wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IKEA is beloved by many in the US and generally one of the most specifically in-demand brands in the market for used contemporary furniture. You might just be in an unusual region or had some other reasons why your listings didn't perform the way you expected. That said, I am one of those people who doesn't get a lot from them so I can speak to some of criticism. Part of it is just the aesthetic, and theirs doesn't m…

I legitimately had no idea IKEA sold anything of real quality. TIL.

I mean, it depends what you mean by ‘real quality’; you’re not going to get hand-crafted expertly made stuff that will last for centuries or anything. But for the price, their mid to high end stuff is excellent.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#125

Post by maxglute » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:50 PM UTC

swatcoder wrote: post #78

baby wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason people hate IKEA in the US. Was trying to sell a standing desk I bought there for 750$ and nobody wanted it. Ended up selling it for 150$. I also had a Jarvis and it was gone in an instant, even though the IKEA one was much much better. I Often hear people saying that IKEA furnitures don’t travel well or don’t last long. It’s like we’re not going to the same IKEA.

IKEA is beloved by many in the US and generally one of the most specifically in-demand brands in the market for used contemporary furniture. You might just be in an unusual region or had some other reasons why your listings didn't perform the way you expected. That said, I am one of those people who doesn't get a lot from them so I can speak to some of criticism. Part of it is just the aesthetic, and theirs doesn't m…

If one wants durable from IKEA, shop by material. They have sheet steel and solid wood that will outlast any particle board. The steel is a little thin on the budget line and the wood is not very aesthetic for some tastes, but they usually have options that last or outperforms more expensive particle board furniture that are more complex due to aesthetics. Hell even plastic there is fine, so many cafes with shitty beater IKEA cafe furniture.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#126

Post by rsynnott » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:52 PM UTC

swatcoder wrote: post #78

baby wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason people hate IKEA in the US. Was trying to sell a standing desk I bought there for 750$ and nobody wanted it. Ended up selling it for 150$. I also had a Jarvis and it was gone in an instant, even though the IKEA one was much much better. I Often hear people saying that IKEA furnitures don’t travel well or don’t last long. It’s like we’re not going to the same IKEA.

IKEA is beloved by many in the US and generally one of the most specifically in-demand brands in the market for used contemporary furniture. You might just be in an unusual region or had some other reasons why your listings didn't perform the way you expected. That said, I am one of those people who doesn't get a lot from them so I can speak to some of criticism. Part of it is just the aesthetic, and theirs doesn't m…

Yeah, they’re definitely opinionated about design. Personally, I like it, but if the design doesn’t work for you, Ikea isn’t going to work for you.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#127

Post by shagie » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:52 PM UTC

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/

The LACK RACK https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=eth0.nl

Though I'm also going to point out that a LACK side table ($13 now) for 8 years is a rather good deal.

The internals are revealed on the Ikea page too: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lack-side-table-black-brown-801...

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#128

Post by jonah » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:54 PM UTC

I just spent about $700 having new cushions made for a 50+ year old Danish Teak sofa that I inherited from my grandparents. The original cushions were long gone, but the wooden frame was still in great condition.

I sourced high-quality foam and wool upholstery fabric from Maharam and took those to one of the best upholsterers/furniture restorers in Los Angeles. They did a wonderful job and now I have a super-comfortable couch with many good childhood memories, that should last me another 25 years before I need to replace the cushions again.

Point being, get a classic old piece and restore it. It will last a lifetime.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#129

Post by AtlasBarfed » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:54 PM UTC

atombender wrote: post #113

HdS84 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in Germany quality has gone downhill. I still own some Billies made in 1995 or so by Ikea. Literally massive wood and damn good book shelves. The ones bought by me in 2008 or so very noticeably less well build but still ok. The ones we bought in 2018 or so are shit, especially the shelves are so thin that they begin to sag. In 2008 or so a friend of mine bought a "kallax" (another name then) and it was aweso…

KALLAX used to be EXPEDIT. Both were made from honeycombed cardboard (mostly air, as you say) covered with very thin sheets of painted MDF. Maybe there was a time EXPEDIT was more solid, but I had one in the 1990s, and it was just like this. You can drill the thin wood in IKEA furniture like this, but you have to reinforce it. IKEA has always had a mix of wobbly instacrap and solid stuff. I remember they made a short…

Kallax is cardboard? Those brilliant bastards.

Honestly those cubes at least the 4x4 are perfectly fine. And cardboard is a hell of a lot more sustainable than solid wood and probably particle board

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#130

Post by whateveracct » Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 9:54 PM UTC

I have a leather Benchmade Modern couch that has lasted half a decade no problem now. I think they switched facilities/materials at one point though ..but I got grandfathered into the real wood, better facility when I got my second couch (I called and asked)