Quality Furniture (Howe: buying, live, price)

[LookingtoLeave]

Thank you all for the info. I think now after all the advice I'd rather just spend another 100 or 200 and stay away from Rooms to Go. The bed I have now looks flawless and I bought it 10 years ago so I kinda have similar expectations on the new one. I got it at Oak Express and I think the quality is amazing, or at least was back then. They just don't carry very modern pieces imo.

I recently bought a dining room table set from Gage and the quality is just okay. I can't complain too much b/c the price was very decent. My main issue with them is that the set I bought was a floor model and I was reassured that the warehouse would fix the scratches that were there and they didn't. They delivered it as so I'm less happy with the customer service than the quality. However, if I buy a bed it will be new so I'm sure I won't have the same issue there.

Has anyone shopped Four Hands? I hear the values there are great!

[atxcio]

Several years back, I bought a bed & mattress/box spring at Gage and it lasted less than 4 years... mattress was terrible (can't remember the brand), and the bed was cheap. So I can't really recommend Gage.

Star Furniture, on the other hand... I bought a living room set there in 1995 which is still in use in our den today. It feels and looks the same as when I bought it. The brand was Bauhaus.

Rooms to Go and Ashley are definitely a step down in quality. You might check Lack's, I've bought a couple of things there through the years and although lower-end, the quality has been good.

[thesonofgray]

I bought a contemporary looking couch from Haverty's and am very happy - although it's currently still only about 6 months old so I can't say much about 1+ years wear. Their customer service is great, though, considering they let me "try out" different couch colors in my apartment and then loaned me the same style couch for 2 months since the color I decided on was on backorder.

One thing I read online about furniture shopping was always ask the salesman where the piece was made. If they don't know, then the sale should be a no-go. When I shopped at Rooms-to-Go, the sales lady was able to answer with great confidence that the couch I was looking at was made in the USA, so that's a plus. But I still went with the Haverty's couch even though it was made in China.

Oh well. We'll see if choosing style over country of origin will come back to haunt me (but I've seen nothing to hint at the affirmative).

IMHO, much of the pieces at Crate&Barrel and Pottery Barn are overpriced. I considered Gage, but their couch of similar style/size was $300 more.

You could always go the disposable route and hit up IKEA.

BTW, what is up with the lack of decently priced contemporary furniture??!?! They are usually smaller than traditional pieces and would seem to use up less materials, but they're almost always more expensive than the morbidly obese looking traditional stuff.

[llkltk]

Just to let you know, Haverty's sofas aren't constructed very well. If you unzip the cushions to most of them, it is just stuffing, there is no casing around the foam or stuff they put in there.

Crate and Barrel downstairs is not overpriced, good quality and great deals. And I doubt that RTG furniture is made in the USA.

[thesonofgray]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Just to let you know, Haverty's sofas aren't constructed very well. If you unzip the cushions to most of them, it is just stuffing, there is no casing around the foam or stuff they put in there.

Crate and Barrel downstairs is not overpriced, good quality and great deals. And I doubt that RTG furniture is made in the USA.

For my Haverty's couch - the bottom cushions do have the casing/matting/whatever it's called around the foam. But the back's don't. The back cushion fill is easily and cheaply replaced, though, so I'm not too concerned (I think of it like replacing batteries in your electronics, it's going to need a little rehab eventually no matter what you buy). And for that matter, the bottom cushion foam can be replaced with a little effort as well.

As for the RTG piece I was looking at, I looked up the manufacturer after my visit and they maintained the "Made in USA" claim. I can't remember the name now, but it was one of their pricier pieces, so maybe it varies by collection. She seemed very willing to share that info with me, so I doubt she was lying.

[mark311]

This thread really points out how the quality of furniture can vary even when it's purchased from the same store. Now when I shop for furniture, I find out the actual manufacturer and then go home and look up that specific piece on-line. Sometimes you can find who made it and where it's made. Furniture Market is good about telling you that information when you're going through their catalogs. Another example is the couch that I bought from Gage is actually made in the US by Signature Design. Signature Design is actually owned by Ashley Furniture, but it's sold at Gage.

I don't think it's much different than walking into Walmart to buy a TV. You can buy a Samsung/Sony, or take a step down and buy a Vizio, or take another step down and buy a Sylvania all at the same store.

[capcat]

Originally Posted by mark311

This thread really points out how the quality of furniture can vary even when it's purchased from the same store.

This is true, something for every budget. Too, you could pass up a truly good deal because of where it's sold or, if you put too much faith in any one place, get taken by a bad deal. We had a couple of instances of the exact same pieces being sold at a high-end store and through a designer as we saw at Star, for much, much less. It is buyer beware.

[atlanta hope]

I've bought a few pieces from Four Hands when they've had a warehouse sale. You can find some amazing deals. My dining room table I purchased for $129 and it's solid wood. I also bought a sofa table and 2 side tables for $429 and they are solid wood as well. My stuff is kinda rustic meets mission style but they had a lot of Asian style stuff there too. It's very distinctive and may not be for everyone. I think all their stuff is shipped from Asia -- maybe Indonesia?

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Just to let you know, Haverty's sofas aren't constructed very well. If you unzip the cushions to most of them, it is just stuffing, there is no casing around the foam or stuff they put in there.

Crate and Barrel downstairs is not overpriced, good quality and great deals. And I doubt that RTG furniture is made in the USA.

Yes, but what was the brand? Haverty's is just like any other high end furniture store - they broker name brand furniture, they are not necessarily the manufacturer. That said, I had a relative in the furniture business and a lot of high end name brand furniture makers are starting to construct their furniture very poorly compared to what it used to be. A lot of it is done offshore. My relative was privvy to seeing the construction and repair that had to go into furniture that was not well made and had issues. Most of the stores keep a furniture repair person on staff or on contract and they can usually fix minor problems while the furniture is still relatively new. Makes it much harder to trust what furniture to buy and where to puchase it.

[LookingtoLeave]

My sofa set now is from Haverty's and the quality is decent. Not great, but not bad. My friend has 2 sofas from Star. One has lasted forever and the other lasted 6 months before the cushions went to crap--and they were from the same manufacturer. I guess she just got a bad sofa.

I then went to Crate & Barrell for the first time yesterday to look at beds and fell in love. Thank God I was standing over the bed b/c when I looked at the price I almost fainted!!!! Upwards of $2000 for nothing fancy. Very reminiscent of Pottery Barn. Unfortunately I wasn't very fond of the beds downstairs. There was one upstairs that looked identical to the one at Rooms to go for all of $200 more than the one at Rooms to Go, but that makes me wonder if I'm paying just for the name. I know this sounds like a silly question, but has anyone ever heard of people talking Crate & Barrell down on their prices any like some furniture stores do?