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Why are most sofas so bad?

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Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#481

Post by KptMarchewa »

Gigachad wrote: post #465
jtc331 wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please tell me you’re not still talking about IKEA.

I am. So many other companies products seem to have one weak spot that completely ruins an otherwise strong design. Meanwhile ikea stuff seems perfectly designed for the material budget. This chair for example is way stronger than it has any right to be. I’ve seen it used in a ton of cafes so it clearly holds up to heavy usage https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/taernoe-chair-outdoor-foldable-... The look and price feels li…

God no, it's awful. At least 50% too small in all dimensions. It's a chair that deliberately ignores that someone larger than 160cm 50kg girl might sit on it.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#482

Post by lostlogin »

Wohlf wrote: post #343
linsomniac wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

Particleboard is absolutely useless, MDF is mostly useless except using as a guaranteed flat surface on top of something to support it, hardboard is pretty useful in certain applications though. OSB is great and extremely affordable as sheathing, and there's a massive variety of plywood that's great for their respective purposes - from cheap rough sheathing, mid-grade for shop projects and filling large gaps in furni…

> Particleboard is absolutely useless, MDF is mostly useless except using as a guaranteed flat surface on top of something to support it

Unless there is a drop of moisture, then you throw it all away.

It’s so depressingly wasteful.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#483

Post by Spivak »

ipqk wrote: post #298
nostromo wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Room and Board sells great sofas that are made in the US. We've been very happy with ours. It's made from solid wood and stuffed with real feather down. It's several years old now and has shown no signs of aging.

I just wish their designs weren’t so staid.

Wow you weren't kidding, those are absolutely hideous. And I thought IKEA furniture design was as minimal as it got.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#484

Post by lostlogin »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #449
boringuser2 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of meh furniture that uses steel will last, too.

I like steel in furniture, especially for larger items like bookshelves - you get the level of rigidity that you can only get from very expensive and massive chunks of hardwood. Also it’s light, and makes moving much easier

> larger items like bookshelves

I’m a huge fan of Lundia shelving. It seems to be strong enough to hold anything, it’s adjustable, comes in millions of sizes and looks good imho.

https://lundia.com/

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#485

Post by testingParisGPE »

arp242 wrote: post #184
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…

Few years ago I moved to another country and had to get rid of everything I had minus ~25kg. It's bloody hard to get rid of a lot of stuff. I had a great leather sofa, about 15-20 years old (inherited from my grandparents) still in great condition, but I couldn't get rid of it at any price and none of the charity shops took it because it was missing some fire hazard label (sigh...). Same with almost everything: I sol…

What I find helpful with buying IKEA items second hand, I know the exact measurements and can find more infos online. With other furniture items, it much harder. And their names are distinct so I can just search for it.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#486

Post by rlonstein »

btbuildem wrote: post #345
rlonstein wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in grad school I accidentally wandered into the workshop for Montauk ( https://montauksofa.com/collections/sofa/montauk/ ) with my girlfriend. They were very polite and I took their card. A few years later when I had some money, and my girlfriend was my wife, I still had the card and we bought one. More than twenty years since we still have it and it's just starting to get to where some of the cushions nee…

How did you accidentally wander into their workshop? That place was in a random industrial zone off the 20 somewhere near Point St Claire.. Also super spooky, how did you know I was talking about them?

I remember we were staying in a hotel Ibis in a cheap part of the city (I was still in grad school), not sure where now we went a few times. The hotels are now Travelodge, I think. We are avid walkers so we went down Rue Sherbrooke and angled toward the water and just stumbled onto it. It was sunny and the craftsmen had the doors open. So we went in just to see.

How did I know? I didn't. But it related to my own story about buying the one really high-quality piece of furniture I own.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#487

Post by ClumsyPilot »

planede wrote: post #444
Hamuko wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And even the cheapest crap you can get from IKEA doesn't seem that bad to me. I've had one of those 5-euro LACK coffee tables for around six years and it really only has some minor surface damage on the top. Far away from throwing out. Although at the same time, I think I'm on my third MARKUS chair because of the gas spring leaking. Thankfully they do have long warranties, so you can exchange them if it doesn't last…

FYI you don't necessarily have to throw away an otherwise good office chair if the gas spring is leaking. You can replace just the gas spring.

Repair skills in the west have all but disappeared

I was able to fix quite a few items of furniture and electronics recently, but if you add cost of parts and labour of a professional, it’s just cheaper to replace

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#488

Post by Spivak »

HlessClaudesman wrote: post #433
namaria wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Many furniture stores have a section with old timey stuff, I guess targeted at the 60+ market: ruffles and pleats and doily type shit. You can't expect anyone younger than a mummy to be enthused about buying that stuff new, whether or not it is better quality, and it's probably all the same cheap crap under the ruffles.

And in slightly younger but still old the iconic Laz-y-boy look is associated with boomer dads with more money than taste so I'd be shocked to see anyone not of retirement age excited to buy one new either.

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#489

Post by RajT88 »

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…

I hate to tell you, I don't think you can buy a recliner that doesn't look like "old fart stuff". Recliners are kind of "old fart guy chairs".

Re: Why are most sofas so bad?

#490

Post by Spivak »

gruez wrote: post #418
cdchn wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

Sounds like the actual problem is that landlords can engage in "greedy rent seeking behavior" at all. Allowing people to opt out, but only if they can afford a 6 figure downpayment and keep 7 figure amounts of their wealth parked in a single non-productive asset that's highly correlated with their job prospects is an imperfect solution to say the least. Everyone deserve protections from "greedy rent seeking behavior"…

Good lord man what first time homebuyer is putting down $100k down payments? I just bought a nice house in a well established in demand neighborhood and my total cost down was less than $30k. No assistance program, no special deal, definitely not a cheap house oof this market.

Are you trying to buy 2M+ houses?

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