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Why are most sofas so bad?

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Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#221

Post by hammock »

btbuildem wrote: post #181

Twenty some years ago I used to work at a business that made and delivered sofas. They've got showrooms in key large cities in North America, fancy schmancy top end stuff. The factory was a real place; the frames were made of solid wood and plywood, there was a sewing floor and even one (incredibly kooky) person whose sole job was to stuff the pillows. This guy was in a little room full of feathers all day, and they'…

You can still get made in the USA sofas with real hardwood, not rubber wood, which is fine, or worse, soft pine or particleboard or OSB) North Carolina was and is the center of solid wood furniture), and they still cost several to many thousands of dollars, and they will still last 100+ years with a couple reupholsterings or so, but most furniture comes from Asia now and is sold for 10x less, and is not worth reupholstering, and you will be lucky if it lasts 10 years.

The was a great company an old colleague of mine started called Interior Define that sourced custom furniture from China for a BluDot price but much higher quality, but they did not survive the pandemic and have since been sold in bankruptcy to a company that has reduced the quality to par

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#222

Post by tonyarkles »

tptacek wrote: post #149

This article echoes something I've learned since we moved into a larger house this past summer: don't buy new furniture.† We bought very nice leather couches a few years back (we have dogs, leather is the only option) and paid dearly for them. And they're great. (We looked carefully at the construction details before buying.) This summer, we had some rooms we cared a lot about and others we just needed to fill in som…

> People are simply always getting rid of good stuff

I suppose there’s an interesting survivorship thing going on here. A poorly-built couch probably won’t even last 10 years. And if it does, somehow, you’ll know as soon as you sit on it if it’s about to turn into dust based on the squeaking and general instability. If it still feels solid and you don’t sink into it so deep that you can’t stand up again there’s a decent chance it’ll last another 10 years.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#223

Post by yuuuyuyyy »

Yup. A few years ago I bought a $1500 sofa from I think BluDot? It was trash. It rocked back and forth on a flat, level floor because the legs weren't all the same length. One of the legs was already cracked when it was delivered (independent from the different lengths problem). And the cushions were absurdly hard, but also too soft. I didn't take the cushions apart to see what was going in there but it felt like you were sitting on a wooden board with a way-too-soft spring underneath. They offered a 10-day return policy, and what do you know, when I requested a return on day 2 and then again on day 5 and then again days 6,7,8,9,10,11 ... they just didn't respond, until eventually like a month later I managed to get someone on the phone and they told me the 10day window had already elapsed so no backsies. When I left a bunch of 1star angry reviews calling them a fraud on every website I could think of, someone hired some mover-on-demand service and an old minivan showed up at my house to take it away. The mover didn't know where they were supposed to take it to. I gave them the store address where I bought it. What an absolute trash company.

Years later I spent $3500 on a sofa from Design Within Reach and it's terrific.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#224

Post by tiltowait »

bombcar wrote: post #203
doctorpangloss wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> degrade just the same as the $200 leather purse you buy from a local artisan. Where are there local artisans selling leather purses they made for $200? Are you sure you don't mean $4,000? Surely if you are buying a $200 hand made purse, it was made by hand in a low labor cost country and relabeled.

https://saddlebackleather.com/everyday-purse/ is a bit over $200, and doesn't hide that it's made in Mexico (though they do use machines and tooling to process the leather so perhaps it's not "hand made").

I’ve got one of their backpacks. It’s very nice. Heavy, though, at around five pounds. Sadly it almost never gets any use, because I rarely have need for a backpack. I should have bought some luggage instead.

Like the other poster, I also have a couple of their wallets. They’re simple but obviously high quality. They don’t feel as slick as the Coach wallet I was given as a gift, but I have no doubt they will hold up longer.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#225

Post by Aeolun »

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.

> 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.

I mean, if you are comparing with heirloom class furniture then that’s certainly true. After taking the cabinet or bed apart and sticking it together 4 or 5 times, you certainly start to notice some degradation. But then we’re talking about a factor 100 price difference.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#226

Post by al_borland »

dylan604 wrote: post #211
bombcar wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can drop way more than $1k and be stuck with something that's really kind of crappy. You have to know enough to know who is actually building the good stuff, and who is building good-looking marketing.

I have bought things online and been burned by the not know the who part. I'm now to the point that if it is anything I will be spending a lot of time on , I'm not buying it unless I can see it in person. One vendor's medium firmness might be another's firm. Other furniture is less critical to me, so I haven't put the in-person only rule for that stuff

In-person seems like it should be a hard requirement for anything a person will sit on. There is no way to tell anything just by looking at a picture.

The sofa I got had one in-store that was cut in half at all levels, so the construction and materials could all be seen. Any company doing that is probably going to be pretty solid, and if not, it should be obvious.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#227

Post by rayiner »

Sofas and rugs are inherently labor-intensive things to make well, where quality materials make a huge difference. I grew up with real wool-silk rugs my parents brought over from old country, or my dad bought on work trips to Afghanistan or Pakistan. I never gave them a second thought until I bought my own house and tried to furnish it. What I had thought were just regular rugs would cost $5,000+ in America.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#228

Post by spike021 »

I've had a two-seat sofa from Living Spaces since.... 2017 and it's held up really well. Even the cushions have no wear despite my dog loving "digging" into them (basically scratching for a while digging an imaginary hole). I think this sofa was like $800 plus tax/delivery but I sit on it every day and it's held up really well, especially through one move.

I think there's probably just quality:price tiers and mine happens to be in the economical but decent quality range.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#229

Post by tonyarkles »

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…

Congrats on the new server rack when you decide to take it out of service as an end-table: https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack

Also… I haven’t priced out Lack tables in a while but it looks like they’re still only $20?! I last bought one in probably 2006 and they were $20CAD at the time.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#230

Post by hatthew »

romafirst3 wrote: post #50
wonderwonder wrote: post #39

Made the mistake of buying a couch off Wayfair for a little nook in my office. It lasted a year before I got rid of it. Never again. Couches really are one of those areas where you get what you pay for. With the possible exception of Ikea. Got an Ikea couch for my 10 year old's room and its holding up remarkably well.

Wayfair is absolute trash. Pictures look good but it always disappoints. It’s the one online furniture store I will never buy from again.

Maybe I got lucky, but I am quite happy with the desk I got from wayfair a couple years ago. It may not be fancy, but it's sturdy, durable, customizable, and probably less than half the cost of a high-end solid hardwood desk.
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