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Why are most sofas so bad?

dwell.com

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Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#401

Post by cdchn »

gruez wrote: post #392
neilv wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad I'm not the only one. The buying up of precious housing as investments by non-residents should mostly be banned, starting with institutional and overseas investors. AirBnb should also be banned. And the people who profited off that startup, who must've known they were creating illegal hotels and destroying rental markets, should be hit with devastating fines, maybe also imprisoned.

>The buying up of precious housing as investments by non-residents should mostly be banned, starting with institutional and overseas investors. What's the issue with them buying houses as investments, as long as they're being rented out? If that's the case, their net effect on the housing supply is zero. >maybe also imprisoned. I find it extremely disturbing that people are effectively demanding for bill of attainder…

>What's the issue with them buying houses as investments, as long as they're being rented out?

Because it prevents people from owning and now have to be permanent renters because of somebody's greedy rent seeking behavior.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#402

Post by throwaway2037 »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #356
doubled112 wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All my Ikea stuff has been perfectly fine as well. A photo fell off the wall and put a rather large hole in a Lack coffee table one time. We were pretty amazed that the photo frame won. It was a $25 table. I could buy many for the price of something nice. Having small kids around, and seeing how they play, learn to use a fork, etc, I feel like we made the right choice buying cheaper. Plus what kid doesn't want to pla…

I still have the Lack end table I bought for $7 20 years ago.

I have seen people using these on YouTube as a server rack substitute. They are still frighteningly cheap after 20 years.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#403

Post by pbowyer »

OJFord wrote: post #316
ascagnel_ wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IKEA is highly variable. I’m writing this while sitting on a leather loveseat that’s more than a decade old and holding up great. I also have a chest of drawers that, despite my best efforts during construction, immediately began to sag. Their expensive furniture is good mid-range stuff, the cheap stuff is cheap.

Yeah the cheap stuff is on par with up to 10x cheaper stuff on Amazon (you just have to deal with drop shipped branding and dodgy/no instructions), the more expensive stuff has better quality competitors IMO. Such as Dwell.co.uk, coincidentally, completely unrelated afaict to OP. They make veneer-grade non-flat-pack furniture (and upholstered stuff) at a mid-high Ikea price. Made similar I think, or any number (inclu…

Dwell.co.uk is sadly now part of DFS, so whether the quality and range continues...

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#404

Post by beAbU »

drchickensalad wrote: post #209
elteto wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Aggregated reddit searches are amazing. Leads you to the gold mine that is american leather etc, which are often rebranded to more well known brands on a model by model basis. Lots of insiders on reddit with that info too.

Maybey cynicism broke me but I find it impossible to trust recommendations from Reddit. It's too easy for these companies to pay for astroturfing these days.

I've noticed a very prevalent "hail corporate" subculture on reddit that put me off believing anything anyone said.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#405

Post by Doxin »

cdchn wrote: post #398
lotsofpulp wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

IKEA products seem to vary wildly between "partical board disposable" to "made from actual wood and somewhat decent."

IKEA sells many products in a couple tiers. E.g. if you get the cheapest billy bookcase it'll just about barely hold up if it's full of books and you don't nudge it. If you get one of the more expensive models it'll be surprisingly sturdy instead.

Same sort of thing applies to nearly all their products. Yes they sell cheap crap -- that still serves its purpose mind you -- but they also sell slightly more upscale furniture that'll actually survive a couple decades.

And it's not like going for a "normal" furniture store is any guarantee either. My previous couch was from a regular furniture store and it broke right in half at around the 5 year mark. Upon inspection one of the cross members was significantly tapered, still had bark on it and everything. On one end it was a solid 2x4, on the other it was barely a 0.2x0.4.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#406

Post by throwaway2037 »

VHRanger wrote: post #320
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well sure, but in many cases, you can go to a "proper" furniture store, buy a piece that is a couple of times more expensive than the one from ikea, and get the same particle board and same shitty connections... especially with stuff where the wood is hidden (eg. sofas). Also the assembly for ikea stuff is usually perfect.. everything aligns to the last millimeter... which again, I can't say for much more expensive f…

Agreed, there's a big gap between Ikea and the next step up. And most people can't differentiate between quality (nor should we expect them to!). "Proper" furniture stores you find in malls and outlets are generally high margin crap. There's lots of soft scams out there. There's a reason many people go back towards antiques and similar.

I feel like beds are in the same category. There is a sea of choice, but very hard to distinguish which is actually higher quality... or if the price difference has tangible benefits (better sleep, etc.).

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#407

Post by p1nkpineapple »

justinlloyd wrote: post #82

Last time I bought a couch, a new one, it set me back $6,000. It took me the better part of eight months to find it. Solid wood. Proper joinery. Thick padding. Pig skin leather. We kept it for 20 years before giving it to some friends who had it reupholstered where I expect it will last another 20 years. I used to have some expensive, but ultimately crap, book cases. Book cases are not designed by people who own a lo…

Holy moly, 24 bookcases - that's more than my local library. What are your reading habits?

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#409

Post by inglor_cz »

schneems wrote: post #214
inglor_cz wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" after grade 8 " (the OPs concern) is more like 15 y.o., right?

Even at 15 years old you’re still a long way away from having a fully developed pre-frontal cortex. We used to think kids were like little adults, then we learned a bit about how the brain develops and how wildly wrong that mental model was.

When I was 15, my brain was definitely pubescent and far from fully developed.

But I was able to make some money by fixing computers or translating stuff from English to Czech anyway. There was no exploitation in those labor relations just because I was young.

I am not manually skilled, but I can definitely see someone at 15 making a nice chair or a table instead.

I don't think that 15 y.o.s should be treated as fully adult, some limitations on their work are perfectly OK (no ardous work, no work underground etc.). But barring them from working altogether will probably slow their development down. Not everything can be learnt from books or models, some real-world practice, including the most basic elements of interaction with customers/employers, is necessary.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#410

Post by namaria »

m463 wrote: post #332
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'…

I think the problem I've noticed is - the furniture that is built to last very frequently fails the partner test - "that looks like old fart stuff". Same sort of issue with cool remote controls. For example, la-z-boy has pretty good controls - remotes have better designs, have lots of adjustments, and motors seem to move faster. And they too fail the partner test - "that looks like old fart stuff" I kind of like some…

Partner sounds like a fashion victim. If social media consumption is making one's taste fond of low quality flashy crap I'd say grow some critical thinking skills.
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