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Why are most sofas so bad?

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Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#381

Post by decafninja »

imp0cat wrote: post #370
VHRanger wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typical American thinking. Your model 3 can't handle a corner. The reason car enthusiasts like Porsches is that they handle particularly well.

But that's not his point. He's right about the badge.

Nope, he’s not. Or at least not entirely.

Even their models that share platforms with “lesser” brands in the corporate stable go through a lot to differentiate them.

But if you don’t care about cars or enjoy driving, then all of it is a moot point and probably meaningless to you, and you might as well enjoy a Toyota Camry and call it a day.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#382

Post by lotsofpulp »

hammock wrote: post #221
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 reuphol…

>and you will be lucky if it lasts 10 years.

I have at least 20 various pieces of furniture from IKEA that have lasted more than 10 years, some even closing on 20, even after multiple moves to various college dorms. Dresser drawers, dining table, sofa, bed platform, sit stand desk, etc.

I do not think I have ever thrown something out for breaking. Maybe gets scuffed or scratched up or chipped, but you can mostly use one of those latex paint touch up markers and make the damage nearly invisible.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#383

Post by throwaway14356 »

theGnuMe wrote: post #43
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.

It’s even worse with carpet and carpet install. Thieves.

beds are the worse

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#385

Post by alexey-salmin »

linsomniac wrote: post #325
hammock wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 reuphol…

>or worse, soft pine or particleboard or OSB Having done a lot of DIY projects over the last decade, I've really shifted my view of OSB. Originally I would lump it in with particleboard, but I've since drastically changed my view of it. Particleboard is, truly, junk. OSB and plywood are both pretty good products, and for some uses superior to hardwoods (dimensional stability, for example). High quality plywoods are a…

OSB is durable but you still need to be wary of formaldehyde in your home

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#386

Post by [deleted] »

munificent wrote: post #271
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…

IKEA is a fascinating outlier in this discussion. At some point in my twenties, I decided it was time to upgrade from my broke college student IKEA lifestyle which to me meant West Elm. Every thing I got from West Elm was absolute garbage and none of it lasted more than a handful of years. Now I'm in the prime of my career and could move up to something actually nice if I really wanted to, like Design Within Reach (t…

[deleted]

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#387

Post by [deleted] »

arp242 wrote: post #202
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…

> nobody’s going underneath the sofas at Crate and Barrel to see how they’re constructed. I also don't really know what to look for. Most people don't. In the past you could more or less rely on the store being somewhat reliable and somewhat trustworthy. I say "somewhat" because of course you wouldn't fully trust a salesman, but by and large: you could more or less trust that something was "quality" if it was adverti…

[deleted]

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#388

Post by oarsinsync »

bradleyjg wrote: post #259
dylan604 wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me? I haven't bought a couch. I'm on the same couch I grew up on at my parent's house that was bought circa 1978, so essentially, yes. Solid wood frame. Re-stuffed cushions. My couch can be found in those "If you recognize this, you're old" memes. AKA, I'm old Edit: re-reading almost reads if I'm still at my parent's house couch surfing. I'm not a zillenial. I'm in my place with that furniture from back then.

I ask because $300 -> $1000 is roughly 1982 to today.

I bought a leather sofa in 2012 that was priced at £389. Today (2024) it’s priced at £899. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#389

Post by throwaway892238 »

SauciestGNU wrote: post #355
tengbretson wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They pull their kids out of school after grade 8 This is inaccurate. Their schooling is complete after grade 8.

Like hell it is. What they want their kids learning is irrelevant, it's a travesty of "religious freedom" that we don't require this cult to educate their children to the same uniform standard as every other person in our society.

I dropped out of school in 9th grade. I make $200K a year. A friend of mine has a college degree and has been unemployed for a year.

There is no uniform standard of education in the US. Kids in the South are being taught that evolution is on par with intelligent design. Poor black kids in Baltimore have on average a 3rd grade reading level in high school, while rich kids a few counties away are taught when to use a backdoor roth ira. Don't even mention "no child left behind".

Maybe let's calm down a bit with the judgement.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#390

Post by xandrius »

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, most stuff at Ikea is either decent or crap temporary things.

Also the style does get really old pretty fast for me.

I think good second hand furniture is where it's at: you get to not buy yet another new thing and get something solid and good.

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