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

Emily_Joy

 British Heart Foundation and Emmaus charity stores.

michelle09

Another one for Ikea. We had a poor experience with a John Lewis bed (the mattress had blue pen on it and we had to drill new holes in the frame) so I wouldn't go back. Argos is cheap but functional. 

Also local Facebook reuse and recycle groups. 

jonnydeppiwish!

If you’re not worried about having dark wood, look at Ercol second hand. You could furnish a 4 bed house for under 2k and it will last.

Failing that, FB marketplace has some great stuff at good prices - Stressless armchairs for £250ish which normally retail around £1200.

For sofas if you’re buying new, I’d recommend Tetrad. They’re based in Yorkshire and made entirely in the UK. Not cheap but the quality is very good.

Ikea wardrobes are also very good, make sure you do scree them to the wall - we bought 5 18 months ago and I think they cost around £1100 for all of them.

Murphybear

EssexHebridean said:

We’ve had a set of IKEA Billy Bookcases in various configurations for the past 20 years - in fact, several for nearer to 25 now I think of it  and those have been through a house move too - and they look as good now as the day we got them. 

They are famous for them.  Mine are over 25 years old and still going strong.  I put one lot for sale in the local paper and had loads of interest 

Murphybear

[Deleted User] said:

To be honest, you can buy junk as easily as you can quality from any of those retailers on your list. Many of them are winging it, these days, on their reputations from former glory days. The name above the door is no guarantee of quality anymore.

If you want decent quality, though comes at a price, seek out the small businesses and one-man bands selling their wares on Etsy. I have kitchen furniture that will outlast me. Etsy is equally as littered with mass produced junk you’d find elsewhere, you just have to develop your own filter (that exists in your own head) and block it out.

if you want high street decent quality, think more about what you’re buying rather than from where, what it’s made of, etc. so you can spend well. Furniture made from solid oak will be pricey, but it will last. Cheaper alternatives, usually mdf, can feel solid but once they’re damaged, that’s it. You can’t sand down or wax mdf. 

Buying mirrors is best done in person. Buying anything under £100 (if it’s a fair size) comes with the risk of it using cheap glass that looks distorted at a short distance. 

For everyday storage furniture I’ve fallen back in love with IKEA. I have some of their mid range stuff; the stuff made out of wood. With ikea, if it’s priced cheap, it’s made cheap, that how they operate. They do have a super cool system for putting up non-eyelet curtains, as well; anyone who has ever had the trauma of dealing with pencil pleat curtains will understand.

When I bought my first flat I splashed out and bought some G plan black ash living room furniture.  Black ash was trendy then  . It’s been with me through umpteen moves and is still going strong although it looks a bit scruffy as the black ash is wearing off.  My furniture is celebrating its 43rd birthday this year.  I’m a great believer in getting what you pay for with furniture.

Remember MFI?  I was sharing  a flat with my BFF many years ago and she bought an MFI tv stand.  It was cheap rubbish and fell to bits.  We took it to the tip and she bought a decent tv stand which lasted for years.  

Murphybear

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.  

Flugelhorn

jonnydeppiwish! said:

If you’re not worried about having dark wood, look at Ercol second hand. You could furnish a 4 bed house for under 2k and it will last.

Failing that, FB marketplace has some great stuff at good prices - Stressless armchairs for £250ish which normally retail around £1200.

For sofas if you’re buying new, I’d recommend Tetrad. They’re based in Yorkshire and made entirely in the UK. Not cheap but the quality is very good.

Ikea wardrobes are also very good, make sure you do scree them to the wall - we bought 5 18 months ago and I think they cost around £1100 for all of them.

agree re Ercol and stressless  - TBH can't find much decent Ercol around at good prices, still quite expensive,

Also an IKEA fan if you can't get the second hand stuff - furnished most of a one bed flat in an afternoon trip there, table, bed, desk, chairs, CoD, bookcase, (big car)

benson1980

I’d recommend Ikea as well. We have had problems with one of their day beds (now discontinued) but other than that we have bought loads of stuff from them to furnish all of our houses over the years and it’s lasted really well. They do some really decent mid range furniture as well if you want something a bit nicer. The design and fixings are excellent, and their customer services if you have a problem have again always been good. Even things like their clothes hangers are excellent value for money and good quality compared with anything you can get on Amazon.

Their delivery charges can be a bit off putting but overall for the price it is still good value IMO even if you have to pay £40 to get it delivered.

I’d also echo comments about wayfair. I’ve used them a couple of times and the items have been terrible quality .

lookstraightahead

most most of my furniture is secondhand, although I rate M&S but it's expensive.
so much poor quality around now.

JReacher1

benson1980 said:

I’d recommend Ikea as well. We have had problems with one of their day beds (now discontinued) but other than that we have bought loads of stuff from them to furnish all of our houses over the years and it’s lasted really well. They do some really decent mid range furniture as well if you want something a bit nicer. The design and fixings are excellent, and their customer services if you have a problem have again always been good. Even things like their clothes hangers are excellent value for money and good quality compared with anything you can get on Amazon.

Their delivery charges can be a bit off putting but overall for the price it is still good value IMO even if you have to pay £40 to get it delivered.

I’d also echo comments about wayfair. I’ve used them a couple of times and the items have been terrible quality .

I got a really good dining room table from wayfair. Was very well made