Where do you lot buy your furniture?

McAzrael

I live in a dolls' house. OK, it's a little bit bigger but not much. When I bought it I bought a load of Ikea furniture, and it's fine and it works, but I promised myself that as time went on and as a money was available I'd replace it bit-by-bit with some better stuff. Since then I've struggled to find good furniture in small sizes.

I've had a couch and a nest of tables from John Lewis, and a console table and TV table from Dwell (who I would use again but last time it took me forever to shake off the pestering texts afterwards). Right now I'm after a desk for my office that's narrow and tall (a bit like my office) and a dining table and chairs. I'm not going to be spending crazy money I haven't got furnishing a poxy little house, but I do want some half decent, good looking stuff to replace my shrine to Swedish functionality and chipboard.

Any recommendations?

PS It's a modern house and I'm a modern guy, and antique/thrift stuff isn't going to cut it. My God, aren't I fussy?

drusilla

I get my other half who is a cabinet maker to make made-to-measure stuff. I show him what I like and he makes it to fit the space. You could get someone to make it for you. It won't be as cheap as the stuff from the 'big' names but it will be what you want and need.

Bexm

IKEA for me! Good selection, looks good and the majority is good enough quality!
I know you said you want something better.. but some IKEA stuff is cool! Save your money and have a nice holiday!

Jebrelli

I can sympathise! Took a while for me to find a bed that had a headboard below 80cm high (to fit under the bedroom window) but also had storage space underneath - oh and that I actually liked

You'll probably find it difficult to get the items you want from home stores that sell a bit of everything. I would recommend looking for the furniture in places that specialise in certain items - ie. I got my bed from Warren Evans - because they will have a wider variety.

Or as drusilla says, get items made-to-measure. In the case of my wardrobe, it was actually cheaper to get one made for me rather than buy a ready-made one.

ukjoel

All off ebay.
Do local search as furniture is too bulky to post it means prices stay lower than for smaller items like clothes and electronics.

Then just search for the brands you want - John Lewis, Heals, Ikea, whatever you fancy.

What you realise quite quickly is that if you want a set you can find it fairly easily.

Also worth looking at boot sales and even the skip.

Wife wanted a Trondheim (or similar) 6 unit stacker for kids toys. £80 in Ikea, £45 on ebay, I spotted one at bbot sale delivered for a tenner, and then while taking some garden waste to the skip spotted another one (without plastic crates) and got it for £3.

sunshinetours

Local joiner/cabinet maker - ask around if anyone in family or retired folk who have a love of all things wood!

Not always as expensive as you think

Also check out ebay for decent second hand furniture - we picked up a hand made small sized desk for my little girl for less than the cheapest of cheap Argos flat pack stuff via this and it has proper joints, full wood drawers and will last many many more years

McAzrael

Thanks for the tip on getting something made. I own a joinery workshop (along with my family) and we have guys who are perfectly capable of making me some furniture (and have made furniture for customers plenty of times in the past) but do you think I can get stuff out of the place? Not a chance. I would, of course, urge anyone else who is reading this to contact their local joinery manufacturer or cabinet maker when they want anything made of wood, but for me and my special case then please keep the retail suggestions coming. It doesn't have to be a chain or an online seller - I'm in Coventry so if you know any good independents around here then do pipe up.

Also, was the Warren Evans stuff any good once you found your ideal bed? I'm mooching around the website and the permanent sale style pricing puts me right off.

aliasojo

:spam:

Press the button everyone.

marmitepotato

You could always try Next, thats where I buy my furniture from.

Good luck

Clive_Woody

We've bought a lot of our furniture from John Lewis, really good quality stuff that will last a long long time. Good customer service too.

DizzyDasher

I just bought a really small sofa from Marks & Spencer. They call it a "Love Seat" but actually it's comfy for two adults who aren't intimately related too ) It's a bit "upright" - not one you'd lounge on (or if you did it's definitely only for one person!), but it's very comfy and good for when you have guests around, without hogging too much space the rest of the time.

Otherwise I was going to suggest Auction houses - but you're right that it's mainly antiques! May be worth a look still though, as the one I use has some mid-Century stuff too which has a slightly more "modern" aesthetic.