Wait till environmental costs get wrapped into China goods and then oil goes up - it will all be screwed. Cheap stuff won't be cheap anymore and the good stuff that used to be built here.....it'll be take awhile for that to ramp back up.

and the comment about good stuff not having to be replaced - is that the schizo part of the economy? People are yelled at for not saving, but we need to buy buy buy to keep the economy going - which means buying poor quality cheap goods you can throw out and replace.
It looks like a pyramid scheme to me but then I tend to think differently.

jrldh,

You've brought up an excellent point. On my local HGTV channel, the furniture stores that sell whole rooms for $799 advertise like crazy. This fall, they are advertising "No Payments, No Interest Until 2011"! Obviously, they are selling off this paper at huge discount.

Apparently, many people don't pay cash for home furnishings. Financing this stuff compounds the problem. It's not good quality & needs replacing in 5-10 years (at best). The debt, however, may still remain with you. Not good wealth management.

We taught our kids that they shouldn't expect to have their homes fully furnished 3 years after the wedding. Instead, purchase one quality piece every year & pay cash. Now at our son's home, after ten years of marriage, there's a place to sit, eat, & sleep when we go to visit! rofl But, they've not had to replace anything.

/tricia

Forget Big box retailers for anything baths and kitchens..I have reduced costs for my bathroom renovations by 30%, by buying online for fixtures,tubs,toilets, etc...And they are quality names such as Grohe, Kallista, Kohler Portrait series, etc...

Read the furniture forum here and you'll become educated on how to purchase heirloom quality pieces. The idea behind junk vs quality is that you pay more for quality up-front but it lasts forever. You pay less for junk (relatively less) and it falls apart in 10 years.

Personally, I am a furniture snob. I know quality, I buy quality. That is it. I have items reupholstered. I am not out to support a global economy. I buy US made furnishings (believe it or not, there are US made furniture companies).

I think in our current culture "we want it all". Our parents had a fully furnished nice house when we moved out of our childhood home, so why can't we have the same immediately? People don't seem to stop and think that it took their parents 20 -30 years to accumulate all their goods.

Won't EVERYTHING home-related take a hit now? Maybe not "remodeling" as much, but the old days of moving, throwing out the old and buying new -- over for many. Good for our landfills, though!LOL

Two years ago DH and I wanted to buy a gift certificate for a relative who was moving into a new townhome. We stopped at a Crate & Barrel near her home, thinking it would be easy for her to stop in and pick up some accessories. The place was packed with yuppies ooo-ing and aaaah-ing over JUNK. It was beautifully presented junk, but it was all particle-board and staples, but selling for thousands! Who were these buyers? They were 30-somethings wearing the latest styles. I guess they needed to buy similar 'styles' in furniture -- no intent to keep it long. Just like their clothes, it would all be passe in a flash. (This is what has kept our economy strong? -- ICK! I'm starting to feel downright Biblical here.)

It took me a long time to feel that I knew my tastes well enough that I could trust I'd still like a piece of furniture in 5 years.

W/ the emphasis many real people (i.e., not advertisements) place on redecorating, I know I was conditioned to think of furniture as fashion.

Now that I'm 47, I've been able to know that I will still like my sofa when I'm 65. But it took me a long time to feel that I knew what I wanted, and to trust that the sizes, etc., would still work in some other home.

Here is another angle-----I built several pieces of furniture myself. Oak plywood finished with home made oak trim---computer desk, LOML's sewing desk, chest of drawers, head board for the queen bed. I have about $300 in just materials---nothing really fancy. Many guests like the design and look---asking if I would make a piece for them. When I reply I'd be glad to do that, they ask how much. When I answer it will be about $600----!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY!!!!!!!!!! They almost all say something like---"But, I can but the same thing at __________ for $100!!!!!!!!!!!"

My BIL used to buy the 'Three Rooms of Furniture for just $300' deals------about every 18 months. He thought that was how folks bought furniture. He could never understand why our furniture lasted over 15 years.

"Recently, we were in the market for a functional computer armoir. Couldn't believe what a difficult time we had trying to find something that had quality, was functional, & also looked presentable."

We have seen many nice pieces of furniture offered at auctions. My inlaws used an auctioneer to help them downsize before they moved into assisted living. The auctioneer had an antiques store as well. He said he had buyers in several neighboring states for certain items that couldn't be found locally. We wondered why the auction didn't bring in as much money as my inlaws expected.

When its time for us to sell, we will use eBay or set a reserve price for everything.

I guess I should feel fortunate~I have wonderful furniture consignment stores in both San Diego, and Orange County. Prices are very good for what you get, and the majority of the furniture/accessories come from model homes. The selection is tremendous, but you need to buy when you see it cause things go quickly.

I suggest you look for this type of store in your city before buying new. I also will look in antique stores before new-furniture stores. My 'entertainment center' is a 3-door, antique English armoire and I had shelves installed inside. It cost $950 5 years ago and is a burled Walnut. I couldn't even find anything close to it in a furniture store.

The 'affects' won't 'affect' me, for sure.

I was discussing furniture with a local retailer this weekend who said that he would go out of business if he tried to sell high quality, high end furniture. He said very few people know the difference and most look at the bottom line.

He went on to say that even Chinese furniture is getting more expensive so the new country to import from is VietNam.

When I walk into a furniture store I ask to be shown dovetails, no particle board, seat springs instead of foam (which breaks down in a year), hardwoods and good fit and finish. I also can't stand the sweaty feel of microfiber...it makes you feel like you are wrapped in a plastic bag. Even Ethan Ellan has some imports. I am not sure about Pennsylvania House.

My understanding is Penn House went to manufacturing in China. There are only a couple of furniture makers left here in the U.S. and a few more in Canada.
Of course there may be more that do some things here, then ship overseas and then ship back which happens a lot.

The upholstered pieces we purchased from Domain's were made in Italy.

I think it's sad commentary on our country that quality doesn't matter...only cost. That's not how we've been in the past. We used to have such skilled craftsmen. Here, in New England, you can still buy handmade custom furniture from true craftspeople but it's anything but inexpensive. My DS & DDIL purchased their dining room set from such a craftsman in '06. Gosh, it's beautiful. The table's finish feels like buttah (I'm from New England, remember!). The set took the man over a year to build. They put 50% down before he started & the rest at delivery. They'll never 'need' another set.

It all started back in the '70s when inflation was so horrible. You really had a hard time saving for major purchases because by the time you had saved enough...the price had jumped 15%. So, buying on credit really got a toe in the door, so to speak. When inflation came down many people from my generation didn't return to saving & didn't teach their children (today's 30ish people) to save either.

/tricia

triciae said:
When inflation came down many people from my generation didn't return to saving & didn't teach their children (today's 30ish people) to save either.

Quite a generalization, i know quite a few people who are in 30's who do save, have saved and will continue to save..As a matter of fact, i probably know more senior citizens who are struggling because their only income is social security, then people in their 30's..

Yes, qdognj, I could have phrased my comment better.

There is wide concern though that baby boomers have, as a group, not saved enough for retirement. It is also widely known that credit useage for the baby boomer's kids is higher as a percentage of income than their parents.

Not sure what age group you're referring to as "senior citizens" but the country is experiencing the greatest generational transfer of wealth now & into the next 10 years in the history of our country. That's because my parent's generation were, again as a group, very frugal and saved more than they spent.

It is also true that there are far too many senior citizens in our country living below the poverty level.

/tricia

I'll be contrarian here. I actually don't care much about most furniture. I'm over 50, and find after a while I get bored looking at most of it. Now books I care about a lot - my DH and I spend a couple of thousand every year on books! But our high-density particleboard bookcases, both painted and veneered types, work just fine and can carry the heavy art books I buy without breaking or bending, so that's all I ask of them.

The rest of the house is decent looking, comfortable, and all fits in well together. I don't want to keep a piece of furniture forever. Might keep our handmade rugs forever, but even those occasionally get rotated or farmed out to family.

My in-laws did that whole high-end quality thing with their home furnishings. Finally they got visually bored with what they had after 40 yrs and kept trying to give it to us. Ummm, no I don't think so. Traditional's not my style, sorry. Some relatives took it and they're thrilled, it's all good quality stuff, so everybody was happy!

I don't think I agree with the premise. People still need a place to sit, a place to eat. I could see that higher-end stuff, your Thomasville or your Ethan Allen is being replaced with lower-end stuff, Ikea or Wal-Mart, but I can't quite see people just sitting on the floor, watching a television sitting on the floor...

I'd rather have cheap furniture than no furniture at all. Besides, I can always upgrade later.

If the high end furniture stores are running out of steam, could it be because the high end customers have already purchased their furniture and there aren't large numbers of new high end customers being created in today's economy? Housing might be an ingredient, but housing is only part of the economy, not the whole thing. Not by a long shot.

I had an 25 year old Ethan Allen couch in fairly good condition that I couldn't even give away. I had a garage sale recently and no one wanted it for $15. Called our local City Mission and even they refused it because I told them it had one corner that my cats had scratched. (It was being stored in my basement and I didn't know until too late that they were using it for a scratching post!)

Anyway, even our local charity refused it because of cat scratches in one corner! So now even free furniture has to be perfect for the local charities. I had to pay $25 just to have it hauled away by my trash service. The springs and cushions were in great shape. I would have kept it and recovered it myself if we didn't have several inherited couches here already.

mfbenson wrote:
If the high end furniture stores are running out of steam, could it be because the high end customers have already purchased their furniture and there aren't large numbers of new high end customers being created in today's economy? Housing might be an ingredient, but housing is only part of the economy, not the whole thing. Not by a long shot.

I can't agree more..How often do you need to buy a sofa,entertainment center,end tables,window treatments? Not very..We probably have dropped 50k in the last year since buying this home on EA or Domain furniture,window treatments, etc...Won't need to buy again,perhaps ever..So while it does have a correlation to housing, it is also cyclical in nature, as are car purchases, etc

Furniture has always been cyclical with the housing market. When people buy houses, they do have the tendency to buy furniture, whether they can afford to or not.

This time is different though. So much of the industry has gone overseas, and the quality of the imported furniture is not very good. As more and more jobs go overseas, there are fewer new craftsmen making furniture, and the older ones are giving up.

An interesting side note is that most of the big wealthy overseas buyers (sheiks, kings, etc) are not coming into the market as frequently and making the purchases they have in the past. I'm not sure where they are going. Italy, maybe?

When the cycle eventually upticks again, there will be little to choose from in the way of quality pieces. Quality furniture will have to be imported for the most part, and then it really will be expensive. So if you have older pieces, hang on to them.

As a person who lives in "smack dab" in the middle of furniture capital, it's sad to watch the death of the furniture industry. It's another sad commentary on the gotta-have-it-now mentality that we have developed.

Those of you who buy only "quality" furniture need to do more research. Just about every furniture company has gone CHINA. Yes, even Ethan Ellen shops in China-lol

I used to buy only quality furniture. However, after speaking to some experts in the field, I have gone to disposable furniture. Why? because we are lied to about the quality. Today, it's all junk.

I have moved many times. Every time I move, I unload some furniture. This time, I'm buying whatever fits & is comfortable. It's pretty junk. I figure I will have to replace it in 5 years. Yey! I'll get new furniture again ;)
At least I'm aware that it's all junk & am not taken in by some fast talking salesman.

I'm ok with junk furniture that I can replace often, but not too junkie.

What I despise is all those DOLLAR stores, Job Lots & the like. Those stores are disgusting, filthy, & have junk. The sad thing is that they are sprouting up like mushrooms. Those run down the towns. I do not understand the fascination with those stores...

ok, I hate Walmart too, but have no choice (monopoly) but to buy toiletries & such there. We have Target & Walmart. I hate both. Walmart is evil & full of junk, but it's closer to my house.
Gone are the days of quality stores & products made in the US.

It's not all junk. But most of it sure is.

What's kinda funny, is that I remember during the last cycle in furniture, people bemoaned the quality of furniture available. Now THAT is considered the good stuff.

Which begs the questions: how cheap is too cheap? How long before we are living on cardboard instead of particle board?

Dabunch, if you think it is "all junk" you are sadly mistaken. You should probably do some research and investigate all phases of the furniture market. You may be able to save some money in the long run by not repurchasing every five years. Look for manufacturers in NY, KY, MI, NC as well as many other many smaller manufacturers throughout the United States.

Our upholstered pieces were made in Italy & they are not junk. Down the road, we may have to re-upholster but we won't need to replace. So, I disagree that, "Today, it's all junk."

Our case pieces are 1750-1860 American antiques. They are also not junk & won't need to be replaced. We stick with classical/traditional furnishings to avoid the 'dated' syndrome & just refresh periodically with new throw pillows, afghans, or accessories.

What we have done twice though is auction everything in our home. That's one of the primary ways we've been able to upgrade our antiques. Our last upgrade auction was in 1996 (first in 1988). The only pieces we kept were our bed (wedding present) and the family heirlooms. We took the auction proceeds & reinvested buying fewer but higher quality pieces. Now, we have investment grade furniture/art that goes on the balance sheet. It's taken 25 years to reach this point though. But, hey, I've got to have someplace to put my socks, right? It might as well be someplace that's earning me money.

/tricia

I'll also chime in...All furniture is NOT junk..Certainly there are many stores that sell slightly above the junk line,and definitely most furniture today can't holkd a candle to furniture made many years ago..However, the difference between PH and EA as compared to Ikea and the sort is significant..I still have furniture in GREAT condition i bought in the 80's from Henredon, and like others, have several pieces made in the 20's and 30's that has stood the test of time.. Call me a snob, but i would NEVER buy furniture from the likes of Ikea, Rooms to grow, Raymour and Flanigan,et al..I used to joke about Levitz wood( i believe they are now defunct), and how it wouldn't burn if it caught fire ;0

Look at this way - you can spend a lot on furnishings, or spend a little. But if, for instance, you had a major fire, it all turns to ash regardless of how much, or how little, you paid for it.

Love it for what it is, not what it's worth.

lol, jkim51...

And that, my friend, is why we have scheduled replacement value insurance! We have to reappraise every five years. It's not so bad really. The appraisal only costs a few hundred dollars & the extra premiums are peanuts if we were to lose a major piece. We also carry breakage because yours truly can be a bull in a china store at times!

No furniture works if you don't love it.

/tricia

It was probably twenty years ago that I joined the "just replace it" world. Our patio umbrella needed recovering. HAH! It would cost double the cost of a new one to have it recovered. Replaced it.

Ten years ago I wanted to have a wing chair reupholstered. The business I (and my mother) had used had changed hands -- literally, all workers were now Latino in this German-American business. I went ahead, but the result was not only expensive, but poor. I could have bought a new chair from Century for about the same money -- which is what I did the next time a chair 'died'.

It is silly to reupholster anything made after 1950; frame quality declined rapidly from that point on. Nearly all the high end furniture stores in Chicago have disappeared. If you want good stuff today, I see no choice other than buying antiques or having something custom built.

When we built our present house I gave away all but our BR suite, a desk and two chairs. I bought hardgoods from Baker, some new-on-sale and some from Baker remainders stores. Upholstered pieces came from Century -- down/spring cushions; have held up well and are very comfy. OTOH the Penn. Hse. kitchen table and chairs have not held up so well. Sigh! We do love the low-end-but-hand-knotted "orientals".

Now I have a Kindel chaise in our BR that needs reupholstering -- maybe, if I can find a referral.

chisue It is silly to reupholster anything made after 1950

Well, apparently I am "silly". I recently had a piece reupholstered. The original upholsterer was a man at Kittinger furniture. The reuphosterer tried every thing he could to talk me into not reupholstering my piece because this man who worked at Kittingers was considered an artist. Now, the average schmo might not be able to tell where the rolled material matches up perfectly to the pattern on the chair creating a flawless look, but those that know upholstered furniture certainly could. Twenty-five years later the material was still tight with no sags in the cushion or batting. The piece still looked original. Since the material matched nothing in my house he caved and did redo the chair (probably weeping the entire time). This was a circa 1980 piece. After that piece, he just gave up and redid the rest of my chairs.

Do recall frames may need tightening regardless of how well they were constructed.

To say that quality rapidly declined from the point of 1950 is truly a remarkable statement. Junk has been built for thousands of years just as heirloom quality pieces have been built for eons. The true high-end furniture craftsmen knew (know) what they were (are) doing past 1950. The biggest problem today is with wood quality. This is a problem that developed in the last 10 years. Good wood is still available, but it is costly.

For a list of high end furniture makers that still produce quality goods, I encourage the reading to the furniture forum on gardenweb. There seems to be some misinformation in this thread (including PH and EA's current productions as quality).

Furniture, much like clothing, often goes out of style (even when you don't buy "trendy").

When you didn't pay an arm and a leg for it, it makes it easier to "update" and buy something that is more current or that is more to the taste of your current lifestyle/current home.

For example, that wonderful entertainment center....isn't going to be needed for a TV anymore because flat screen TVs can go on a wall.

And golden oak furniture from the 1980s, no matter how "quality", is outdated. Sure, the hardware and knobs are quality polished brass...but there is not much else polished brass,or golden oak, these days in many homes (unless from same period).

I had a great quality sofa that was medium blue. Lasted over 10 years. I got rid of it because of the color mainly. There was nothing else wrong with it. Thank goodness I didn't pay a lot for it when new, else it would have been harder to sell it in the classifieds for $50. (and be sooo happy to see it leave).

Golden oak furniture from the 1980s was trendy and, as such, has become dated. It was awful stuff when built...heavy oak furniture with Queen Anne legs. Pleeeassse!

/t

I used to work in a picture framing shop a few years ago when new home sales were on the up and up. I was constantly amazed at the increasing size of the art going out the door, since people were trying to decorate increasingly larger wall spaces in the new homes. I'm not at all surprised that there would be another side to that coin... now that there is a lapse in desperately trying to furnish all that new construction, the related industries will feel that lapse.

Not ALL furniture is junk, but for all practical purposes, what's being made today isn't the quality of what was made 25-35 years ago. My ex has North Hickory chairs from 30 years ago, and has had them reupholstered twice, and the wood refinished once. The Hooker desk I bought as a birthday gift 25 years ago still looks new. We had a Berne sofa with spring cushions, and got rid of it when moving to CA because I thought it was too long at 92". He also still has the Hooker FR end tables from 30 years ago that I hate, but maybe they're making a return as 'rustic'.LOL

Fact is, furniture being made today just doesn't hold up like the older stuff of years past. That old Meditterrean was sure ugly, but could last forever!

ahh, the good old days..For every quality made piece of furniture from years ago, there was just as much "junk" then as today..People look back with a jaded eye on the past.Are the craftsman of yore around today? absolutely...

Well for one thing most wood is not as good as it used to be.

For those furniture hunting and not able to find just the right thing, check costco.com. They frequently have sales on furniture and we got a great deal on a bedroom set - armoir/wardrobe, dresser, mirror, two night tables, bedframe, head/footboard and chest dresser. Excellent quality, dovetail drawers, tap lights for lighting the floor under the nightstands, interior phone and electric outlets and cable/electric/phone outlet in the wardrobe.

You have to check frequently, but we were really pleased with it. The mirror arrived cracked and they replaced it no questions asked. When the mirror was replaced, the dimwit delivery guy put his work order on my new dresser, wrote on the carbon paper and the writing transferred onto to the top of my dresser. A call to costco and that was replaced too.

Their prices are expensive, but it's good quality and they stand by their delivery and the product. Delivery is included in the price. We got our whole bedroom set for less than $5K delivered.

If you get their coupon books in the mail, you will see what's on sale, but also sign up for their email notifications. They are not intrusive and you will know about sales ahead of time.

I was so pleased because we were still using my set from when I was a teenager.

Qdognj, the real craftsman ARE still around. I personally know a very good one in Denmark. He may be worth the price of a ticket. ;o)

Mary, Oak is Oak, Cherry is Cherry, Walnut, is Walnut, and so on down the line. I don't know how a tree can go from being 'not as good as it used to be'. Could you mean furniture is not made as well as it used to be? Or maybe you're talking about the wood-like 'substitute, MDF(micro-density fiberboard).

Sparksals, i've looked at furniture at Cosco, and some of it is very beautiful.....on the outside. To really see how a piece of furniture is made, you literally have to turn it upside down, and take out the drawers. It all starts from the inside, out.

So who is still making furniture in the US? I'm now in Kentucky and am hoping there are some craftspeople here. We are typically not ones to throw stuff away (we lived on "college" furniture and hand-me-downs for years!LOL) and like to buy quality pieces and also unique pieces. So far, here in Louisville, we've found that Arhaus and Merridian have some neat stuff (I haven't explored in depth yet but on the outside, it looks good - I'll start checking inside drawers when we look to buy). Haven't bought anything yet though until the house closes and the check is in the bank!

But we have become a disposable society in many ways and this impacts all areas of retail. We're more concerned about how cheap things are rather than quality. I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club just out of principle. I do shop at Target but I know there are issues there as well. If I need bulk, I go to Costco.

I should have qualified my remark about post-1950's furniture not being worth reupholstering/refinishing. MOST of it isn't, whereas MOST of what was made prior to then IS.

Of course, "old" isn't necessarily "good". We've had that discussion about houses, too. (And washing machines!)

I know that Furniture Brands International makes these brands:

Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, HBF, Hickory Chair, Pearson, Laneventure, Creative Interiors, and Founders Furniture.

In April 2007, FBN severed 330 employees & announced the closure of 3 US plants in North Carolina. In September 2007, FBN announced plans to close a 10M s.f. manufacturing facility also in North Carolina. On October 1, 2007, FBN announced that Samson Holdings, a furniture wholesaler with huge facilities in China, approached FBN on a possible buy-out but was turned down.

With most of their earnings going to support ongoing cash flow needs, FBN may very well be a takeover candidate who would relocate virtually all manufacturing to China.

Do we still make anything in this country? Oh, I know...we make MBSs & CDOs! Silly of me, how could I forget?

/tricia

Patty cakes said: Mary, Oak is Oak, Cherry is Cherry, Walnut, is Walnut, and so on down the line. I don't know how a tree can go from being 'not as good as it used to be'. Could you mean furniture is not made as well as it used to be? Or maybe you're talking about the wood-like 'substitute, MDF(micro-density fiberboard).

Patty cakes - there are all sorts of variables that have changed the wood from the forestry industry. Your welcome to your ignorance. I don't feel like being teacher.

patty_cakes: Mary, Oak is Oak, Cherry is Cherry, Walnut, is Walnut, and so on down the line. I don't know how a tree can go from being 'not as good as it used to be'. Could you mean furniture is not made as well as it used to be? Or maybe you're talking about the wood-like 'substitute, MDF(micro-density fiberboard).

Supply & demand may not allow a tree to full maturation before being cut. This doesn't always allow for quality regrowth resulting in inferior wood (smaller diameter, grain and poor color). Some species have become endangered and are no longer available for harvesting, some may have disappeared due to disease. Wood drying times vary - sometimes wood is rushed onto market before it has been dried appropriately. It really depends on the guidelines being used and followed via corporations and/or governments.

I understand what you are all talking about.
Most people probably would like to purchase high quality furniture, but can not afford it. To us most furniture is too expensive for the poor quality. It is amazing the lengths furn. companies go through to hide particle board and MDF. What is even more amazing is how little furn. sales people know about their products. We have been told that some products were all wood and 100% leather, when it was not. The research necessary is exhausting.

We have recently been on a furniture hunt for b.room furniture for our teenage daughter. We prefer to try and purchase furniture that we will use for many years to come or in our preferred way, forever. But, we either felt we could not afford what we really liked and wanted, or it was not great quality for $$$.

We finally found a decent wood armoire for DD (the quality is not like the last one we purchased), and we ordered a Charles Rogers iron twin bed which was not cheap. However, one piece of the bed came in with a quality problem, they sent another piece to replace it, the new piece was not the same color, etc. Needless to say we loved the bed, but gave up trying, and had to eat the 250 shipping. We then looked at some of the pottery barn beds, etc., way too much for the quality. We figured DD will only be in a twin bed for a short time, so why spend that much.

Some of you might laugh at our solution, but DH decided that he could make his daughter her next choice (bed linked below), then she could be as trendy as she wanted. I can let you know the result in a couple more weeks. At this point, the bed project looks like it might be successful, maybe even better since he is matching some decorative elements that her armoire has, and adding a lift up under storage. It hasn't been a easy as he thought because of lumber issues, etc., and we still have the staining process to go. So far he only has approx. 250-300 of supplies invested. At this rate if all continues going well, he can make one for our soon to be newlywed son, or maybe ... I can give them my ugly 29yr old furniture. Wish us luck. Below is the bed he is duplicating.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Montego Bed

"I don't know how a tree can go from being 'not as good as it used to be'."

Because the old-growth forests are gone, unless its on land that doesn't allow logging. 100 years ago, wood that had a knot in it was considered inferior and not worthy of anything but being firewood. Now, a knot is a sign of the "natural character" of the wood and is "deliberately there to give the piece some personality". Right...

Recently, we were in the market for a functional computer armoir. Couldn't believe what a difficult time we had trying to find something that had quality, was functional, & also looked presentable. We were in our local Ethan Allen showroom on Saturday afternoon & were the only people in the store except the sales staff! Never did find what we wanted locally so ordered one from the Kathy Ireland Collection on the Internet. Easy-peasy, no shipping (although probably costs were built into the purchase price), no tax, & delivered/set-up were right on time. On a scale of 1-10, quality is about a 4 but it's serviceable & we couldn't find anything better. Why couldn't we? Are there no quality computer armoirs available? Confounding...and the thing cost us $1,995!

Tricia, I sent you an email a few days ago after you posted this asking where you find the best price on her furniture. I have my eye on a dining set but would like to get a better price then what I found.

frances - I also got to the point where I was going to build my own bed. Bought a simple plan online. That was as far as I got:)

One thing though - I'm not sure how most platform beds address this but I think some at least put futon like wood slats in the middle so the mattress can get good ventilation. I think there are some places that make them that you can buy online - maybe your husband can modify the base and the slats somewhat to make that work. Also make sure there are good metal cross supports.

Good luck, hope to hear how it turns out. (there is a wood working forum)

Zoe, to be completely honest, I probably wouldn't have taken your cat-scratching-post couch either, because it costs a fortune to have things reupholstered to look halfway good (and as chisue found, you may not even get halfway good out of it)! I've been watching Craigslist for furniture and thought I had come across a few decent things... until I found out what it would have cost to have them reupholstered, even with cheap fabric. Shocking! Even slipcovers are expensive too now - if you want something that actually fits and stays in place for more than a few minutes without being mostly sweaty, itchy spandex, it can cost as much as a complete reupholstering. (Let's not even talk about how many Craigslisters are completely delusional about what their worn-out, ugly furniture is worth. If you bought a couch from Billy-Joe's Discount Furniture and Bait Shop for $750 and let the kids and the dog jump all over it for 5 years, it sure ain't gonna be worth $250. It's very debatable whether it's worth $50, or really belongs out on the streetcorner for the scavengers.)

BTW, with the upswing in bedbug and other infestations, some charities in my area are refusing upholstered items entirely. I also found out the hard way (and they may have gotten burned by this as well, thus rejecting all pieces with any cat damage at all) that an upholstered chair that had "a few cat scratches" had had a lot more "cat activity" on it than that! It was out of a storage unit in winter so I couldn't smell anything but as soon as I got it inside a nice warm apartment - whoooeeeee. Fragrant.

As Frances points out, it's all very nice to recite the mantra that "everyone should buy only 'quality' furniture" (huge pet peeve: using the word "quality" when you mean "good quality"!) but let's be realistic. Most people of ordinary means can't come up with what "high quality" furniture costs these days. I went shopping for a sturdy, not fancy but reasonably nice-looking wooden bed frame year before last and got quite discouraged at the outrageous prices - but having something made was even more bruising to the checkbook. (Frances, I'm curious, does that $250-300 worth of supplies include the tools required to make a nice piece of furniture? If so, I'd very much love to know where you're buying your tools!)

dabunch, I go to Dollar Tree every few weeks. It's a great place for consumable stuff like greeting cards, paper towels and baby wipes (for the dog), and they have some great knockoffs of pricier products. I don't see why I should pay $4 for a pint of Plax mouthwash when 1 1/2 pints of an identical product in a less-attractive bottle is $1.

There certainly is a place for the buy a low or med quality XX and plan to replace. But I think what has bother most middle income Americans how far down in quality what used to be good brands have come. However - I dont know that their prices have really gone up that much over the past 20 years either. I think rather than take prices way up the more middle brands have found ways to cut costs, which brings the quality down some or a lot depending on the brand and type of piece.

johnmari - well you can borrow tools if your lucky. Or in some cases like myself I have access to a fairly extensive hobby woodshop. There is also a place in town where you can take wood shop classes (mostly wood turning) and these places sometimes run classes "build a stowaway bench" . Never seen build a bed:) but I haven't checked to see if you can use the equipment - I would their libility would to high.

Roselvr,

Didn't get your email. GW mail, for me, is rather hit or miss. It seems Forum related meaning that I consistently receive emails from one Forum & consistently do NOT receive emails from other Forums. What's up with that?

Anyway, we purchased the Kathy Ireland computer armoir from an office supply store in San Diego. They don't carry dining room sets. However, in my comparison shopping experience...I did notice that JC Penney carries some Kathy Ireland pieces. I phoned my local store & asked if since they already were purchasing some pieces from this line would/could they special order the armoir for me. Answer: Bold & flat..."NO!" Oh well...

/tricia

PS The finish on the armoir is passable on the outside but adjustable shelves on the inside appear to have never felt sandpaper on their surfaces! Here's the one we purchased. The bottom is a separate piece on casters so we can pull it out to form an L-shaped credenze/desk for larger projects when we need more work surface. There's task lighting built into the top which is nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Compter Armoir

Tricia, thanks for the link, will have to keep the site for when we move. We will be needing a nice piece to put in our new office which is in the front of the house & seen when you walk in. We haven't decided if it will be built in or not.

I also saw a bedroom set of hers that I liked, but hate to buy it now. I'm so picky that it can take me a year or so to find something I like. Hubby's the same way.

Don't know what I'll do table wise. I found a glass topped one but hubby dislikes it. He did like the wood one I found but it was pricey. If I'm spending that much it will be a real dining table to put in the new dining room, vs a smaller oval.

Mary, Your right that lumber is not what it used to be. This bed doesn't even have metal on it, the base structure is made out of regular 2x6's, with 1" and 5/4" thick lumber on the sides (better wood) and top for the decorative purposes. This is one sturdy bed, in the end it might be ugly, but it will be solid.

John Mari, We already have most of the tools since DH is a home DIY. Sometimes he reminds me of Tim Taylor, the tool man. He could have used a router table and planer, which would have been a tremendous help. But, he has chosen to take the more difficult path, and refused to purchase them or borrow his father's.

I guess I should comment on the thread topic. hee hee
These threads do tend to drift off as more is added.
I think the housing market will have it's affect on many markets during this decline, just as it has made it's affect on the up tick, and the furniture industry will be a biggie.

Some of you may think I'm hard, but as I read about this decline, my conclusion is, it might just be best if we let this unfold. I am aware of some of the ramifications, and it's unfortunate that no restraint was used before it got to this point. Ah, unbridled capitalism. It's not good for our country to keep functioning at such a leveraged pace.
I hope I didn't stray too much. Have a great day.