The Great 'Have you saved money by having furniture custom-made?' Hunt

Debt_Free_Chick · 27 February 2014 at 9:29AM

Not quite custom-made furniture, but I've never bought a brand new sofa, chair or suite. I buy old but really solidly-built furniture from auction, then have a local upholsterer refurbish it.

First suite I bought in 1990 for £75 and paid £600 for the refurb. A lot of money? At that time, I guess so. But ..... I've only just had to have it redone. So for £700 the suite lasted more than 20 years.

DFS etc can't beat that

SarahTG · 27 February 2014 at 10:47AM

Had a quote for a new kitchen from B&Q. Took the design to a local joiner who made a customised solid wood one for 2/3 of the price. Beautiful quality, just what we wanted and cheaper to boot!

mrsk · 27 February 2014 at 11:43AM

This is small but we had a mirror cut by a glass company - exactly the size we wanted and it cost £11 (about 4 years ago). B&Q and Homebase didn't have the size we wanted but what they did have was over £25!

Doc_N · 27 February 2014 at 6:10PM

Other 'advantages' as well, perhaps?:

"What does this thing that people cannot escape consist of these days? And what do people look at when decoding which class someone belongs to? The most useful identifying markers, according to the poll, are occupation, address, accent and income, in that order. The fact that income comes fourth is revealing: though some of the habits and attitudes that class used to define are more widely spread than they were, class still indicates something less blunt than mere wealth. Being the sort of person who “buys his own furniture”, a remark that Alan Clark, a former minister and diarist once reported as directed at Michael Heseltine, a self-made Tory colleague, is still worthy of note in circles where most inherit it."

piecemeal · 28 February 2014 at 10:07PM

18 years ago we had a basic kingsize bedstead made in pine for £100. It has been dismantled and reassembled at least 3 times, been repaired a couple of times and could, if necessary be reduced to double or single size. At the time, an Ikea or Argos bedstead would have cost a bit more but we would probably have replaced it years ago. It's still going strong.

juliettet · 5 March 2014 at 10:37AM

I had fitted wardrobes made for both my bedrooms by a local joiner. Although he bought the doors the insides were fitted to my requirements. This was 2/3rds the price of Ikea.

Helenakath · 5 March 2014 at 10:43AM

My partner and I were going to buy a sofa from Next (one that when we both first sat on it we grinned because it was so utterly comfy)
On the morning that we we going to order it I phoned their customer services to enquire about the strength of the fabric and asked for the results of the Martin Dale Rub Test, which is a unique way that All upholstery fabrics have been measured, by how many 'rubs' they take before wearing thin:
Results of 20,000 aren't great - the sofa fabric is for light domestic use and might wear thin in a few years.
30,000 is normal and acceptable
40,000 is very good for interior upholstery
60,000
80,000
And 10,000 is the top of the scale and the type of fabric durability that office furniture might be made out of. Though it is not at all necessarily corse /firm / scratchy. Check out the fabric company Bute for very durable and wonderful fabrics.

Checking the Martin Dale results on the Next sofa showed me that at 20,000 rubs it wouldn't last me as long as I want (considering it cost £1100!) I phoned my local upholsterer who hand makes frames and covers them in the Style, Filling and Fabric of our choosing.
This is costing us £1400 so although we're initially spending out £300 pounds more the sofa's life is literally double as long as the fabric we chose from Next and our new fabric has results of 40,000 rubs.

It is definitely worth checking the Martins Dale Rub Test results before spending out so much money.

uzzy_3 · 5 March 2014 at 12:40PM

Also look locally for firms selling main brand returns.

In Northampton we have Simply Furniture selling John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Next and other main firm returns at massive discounts.

The thing is with real wood so many people return because they do not like the grain or the fact that chairs may not match exactly to the table - they also have chairs and sofas ... check out local papers in your area you may be surprised at what you find.

MerlinMags · 5 March 2014 at 9:54PM

I'm lucky enough to be able to do basic carpentry (not proper 'joinery') and have made my own kitchen, bookshelves and cabin beds for the kids. I'd never even thought that a local professional could do it cheaper than the high street.

For my own DIY, I find the cost of wood is extortionate these days; pine from Wickes and B&Q has gone up drastically in the last 10 years. The quality can be variable too: sight along every single piece, lest you go home with something like "a donkey's hind leg" as my dad used to say. You often find the price of basic Ikea furniture is less than the equivalent cost of the raw materials from Wickes! Is there a better place to buy timber from without driving 100 miles?

The last time I made some shelves I chose to make them slatted, as it was cheaper to buy lots of thin bits to make each shelf, than a solid piece of timber of the same overall size.

At present I can only afford to upcycle wood, not buy new. I've got pallets from Freecycle and a local industrial estate. They are great for a wendy house in the garden, but would need an elbow-killing going over with the wire brush before bringing indoors. Freecycle also furnished me with the entire contents of someone's garage, so I've got a timber stockpile for the year ahead. I need to make a TV cabinet of just the right size...

Cost = £zero if I've got enough leftover screws....but a lot of my own time.

Debt_Free_Chick · 6 March 2014 at 12:03AM

MerlinMags wrote: »

I'm lucky enough to be able to do basic carpentry (not proper 'joinery') and have made my own kitchen, bookshelves and cabin beds for the kids. I'd never even thought that a local professional could do it cheaper than the high street.

For my own DIY, I find the cost of wood is extortionate these days; pine from Wickes and B&Q has gone up drastically in the last 10 years. The quality can be variable too: sight along every single piece, lest you go home with something like "a donkey's hind leg" as my dad used to say. You often find the price of basic Ikea furniture is less than the equivalent cost of the raw materials from Wickes! Is there a better place to buy timber from without driving 100 miles?

The last time I made some shelves I chose to make them slatted, as it was cheaper to buy lots of thin bits to make each shelf, than a solid piece of timber of the same overall size.

At present I can only afford to upcycle wood, not buy new. I've got pallets from Freecycle and a local industrial estate. They are great for a wendy house in the garden, but would need an elbow-killing going over with the wire brush before bringing indoors. Freecycle also furnished me with the entire contents of someone's garage, so I've got a timber stockpile for the year ahead. I need to make a TV cabinet of just the right size...

Cost = £zero if I've got enough leftover screws....but a lot of my own time.

Are you married? Please, please don't be. And please, please be very interested in a much older woman who shares your values

:rotfl:

The Great 'Have you saved money by having furniture custom-made?' Hunt

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