Where's good for quality, reliable, house furniture (and where to avoid)?

gwynlas

Check out auction houses many have specialist and general sales sometimes with no reserrve prices. All antiques are at least 2nd hand

EssexHebridean

Murphybear said:

Emily_Joy said:

 British Heart Foundation and Emmaus charity stores.

In the next town to us is a massive charity shop that sells second hand furniture and household items.  The shop is based in a fabulous old Art Deco cinema.  The stuff they have is amazing, really high quality and they don’t charge silly money.  I bought a hexagonal solid cherrywood (I think it was cherry but it’s solid something wood  ) cocktail cabinet for £30.  As well as being useful it’s a work of art.  

I inherited my great Aunt and Uncle’s beautiful dining set  a few years back - drop leaf table and four chairs, bought by them in 1967 from a local to them furniture maker (I have the original sale receipt) - they were pretty expensive by the standard of the day, but look as good now 55 years on as they did then, and I will be appreciating the set for a good many years to come, I hope. “Made to last” furniture can definitely pay off! 

Murphybear

EssexHebridean said:

Murphybear said:

Emily_Joy said:

 British Heart Foundation and Emmaus charity stores.

In the next town to us is a massive charity shop that sells second hand furniture and household items.  The shop is based in a fabulous old Art Deco cinema.  The stuff they have is amazing, really high quality and they don’t charge silly money.  I bought a hexagonal solid cherrywood (I think it was cherry but it’s solid something wood  ) cocktail cabinet for £30.  As well as being useful it’s a work of art.  

I inherited my great Aunt and Uncle’s beautiful dining set  a few years back - drop leaf table and four chairs, bought by them in 1967 from a local to them furniture maker (I have the original sale receipt) - they were pretty expensive by the standard of the day, but look as good now 55 years on as they did then, and I will be appreciating the set for a good many years to come, I hope. “Made to last” furniture can definitely pay off! 

I must confess I love the antique shows that abound on tv.  You can see some lovely furniture literally hundreds of years old

theartfullodger

IKEA.  There's cheap IKEA and more expensive.  I've furnished 3 houses for rental (or heavier than usual usage..) and been pleasantly surprised how well they've survived

Plus we have more expensive stuff in our home, likewise good experience.

maisie_cat

Second hand older stuff is likely to be much better made than newer stuff. Looking around, virtually all our furniture was bought second hand, the remainder I made myself except for two items, both bought 1998. Solid wood is better than any of the wrapped MDF stuff because it can be refinished and damage is easy to fix.

diystarter7

If you live in, near London, you can't beat Heals for VFF excellent quality, class, user friend furniture. Their stuff IMO looks like new 10 years do the raod and contemporary.

We've used them for sofas in the past and have tables from them inc chairs

Thanks

bex2012

Depending on where you are, have a look for outlet stores. Round our way we have a store called Choice which is a Next outlet, plus M&S have outlets too. TK Maxx and Homesense are good for homewares too, I bought some Joules bedding before Christmas for about a third of the usual selling price. However dont discount Ikea, I love their Malm and Pax ranges, and Besta is great for configurability.

deannagone

EndlessStruggle said:

I'm after a new sofa so I'll lurk for suggestions. (I want a big 4 seater extra deep sofa)

Make absolutely sure that the room you are planning to place this in is definitely big enough to take an extra large sofa like this.  When you see them in a large warehouse set up in most showrooms, they don't seem huge.  They often do once in your property.  Measure your room.  Allow for walking distance and other furniture.  I used to use squared paper and furniture shapes and make sure everything fit nicely.  Unless you have a very large room, extra deep sofas really can look massive.  For an average sized room I always restrict myself to no more than a metre deep.  Yes I did make the described mistake once, and one only lol.

I bought a 2 seater and 3 seater Parker Knoll electric reclining sofa (return) on ebay for half price.After years of a high back reclining sofa, I wanted a decent sofa that wouldn't dominate a room so much so bought a set with a moving headrest.  It does look fabulous.  Best buy I ever made, good quality filling, perfect leather and will never need to buy another as long as I treat the leather properly.  I am not sure Sofology and DFS are good (I wasn't prepared to buy from anything but a good quality brand).  Look on Trust Pilot before you buy and avoid some of the reported pitfalls of buying from these kind of places.

I have bought £40 mirrors and not had a problem, but tend to avoid MDF as once the screws work their way out, you can't reliably fix them.  Real wood is better.  Like another poster, I also have Billy bookcases with glass doors that are at least 25 years old but know they don't make them as well now.  

Emily_Joy

Murphybear said:

Emily_Joy said:

 British Heart Foundation and Emmaus charity stores.

In the next town to us is a massive charity shop that sells second hand furniture and household items.  The shop is based in a fabulous old Art Deco cinema.  The stuff they have is amazing, really high quality and they don’t charge silly money.  I bought a hexagonal solid cherrywood (I think it was cherry but it’s solid something wood  ) cocktail cabinet for £30.  As well as being useful it’s a work of art.  

Are you anywhere close to Midlands, by any chance?

bex2012

EndlessStruggle said:

I'm after a new sofa so I'll lurk for suggestions. (I want a big 4 seater extra deep sofa)

Have a look at the Bailey sofa by Alexander and James - the four seater is ginormous, and oh so comfortable. It also has the benefit of removable cushions which the majority of leather sofas dont, which eliminates the ‘bum groove’ problem. Shop around though as prices vary wildly.