I found a local company that made me a 96'' solid wood table from reclaimed wood planks (no veneer). Cost me like $1600, felt like a pretty good deal.
Why new furniture doesn’t last long
11–20 of 194 posts
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#12At ikeas price point you don’t even need to move the fueniture, just give it away and buy the exact same one in the new location.
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#13You can get great furniture today that is made from stain grade hardwood and uses high quality fabrics. But it’s expensive. It always has been. Quality, heirloom furniture was never the domain of regular people. It’s through mass production and engineered materials everyone has couches, tables, chairs, shelves, dressers, etc.
You want nice counter height chairs made of five hardwood and leather and joint work instead of screws? You’re looking at $1000/chair at the bottom and can go way up from there. Most people aren’t spending $4k on chairs for a kitchen island. This is where the cheaper mid market comes in where you get 4 chairs for $1k and they’re fine. Just not jointed or if the better wood or nicer seat, etc.
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#14Regarding Ikea and similar self-assemble furniture - even though the assembly instruction manual does not call for it - use wood glue when assembling. It will make it A LOT stronger and it will even survive moves. One thing that didn’t make sense to me in the article is a claim that particle board or MDF is lighter than solid wood. I don’t think it’s necessarily true - I have wood furniture made of pine and cherry th…
Use wood glue where, though? Its advice that isn't "obvious". I'm not a big furniture person, and I'm inferring you mean to do things like add some additional bind to assembled spots, e.g. when I screw in the backing for the chair I could use wood glue on the seam to give it more strength, but its not always obvious how I'm suppose to apply these Ikea "hacks" as it were.
Most of Ikea pieces I’ve assembled utilize wooden dowels in addition to their special locking bolts. Definitely use glue in all holes that are meant for wooden dowels. If you wish to go an extra mile - use a thin bead of wood glue anywhere two wood surfaces meet, tighten the screws and then wipe off the excess that gets squeezed out of the seam. Wood glue is water soluble so clean up is easy before it dries.
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#15Further, I read somewhere even solid wood available is no longer as good today as 50 years ago.
I have heard the same as commercial lumber today is harvested from fast growth trees.
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#16I 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 have been furnishing with IKEA (and Target and Home Depot and Costco) furniture for 20+ years, and still use dressers and coffee tables and bunk beds from back then, including the use by 2 toddlers. I even moved it across the country.
Maybe the melamine surface chips or scratches, but a little touch up marker makes it pretty unnoticeable, plus I do not care. Plus it was $20 to $200, so I can just replace it if it was damaged.
I would much rather spend the money saved on vacations and whatnot, I get no utility from a heavier table (in casual household use).
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#17TLDR: Plywood (and to some extent plastic) replaced solid wood. Got imported from overseas rather than made domestically. Shifted from an artisanal market to a low-cost mass market.
Honestly, I wish it were plywood, it's actually MDF or other kind of pressboard.
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#18I 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…
[dead]
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#19I just moved cross-country in the US and my mover specifically carved out particle board Ikea furniture as "best effort", i.e. they will do their best to make sure it arrives in one piece, but they are not responsible for damages, and we should manage expectations accordingly.
Re: Why new furniture doesn’t last long
#20Regarding Ikea and similar self-assemble furniture - even though the assembly instruction manual does not call for it - use wood glue when assembling. It will make it A LOT stronger and it will even survive moves. One thing that didn’t make sense to me in the article is a claim that particle board or MDF is lighter than solid wood. I don’t think it’s necessarily true - I have wood furniture made of pine and cherry th…
Isn’t the issue the screws tearing through the soft wood and/or engineered wood?