To think buying furniture brand new is a waste of money?

[maklenehan]

Sure some items are a lot better new than used, like sofas or mattresses.

But I don’t understand why people spend so much money on brand new furniture, when in 6 months time it’ll be worth about half what paid.

I went to a furniture shop recently and saw some MDF furniture that might last 10 years before looking scruffy/dated for over £1000 for a chest of drawers (West elm). When you can get a solid oak piece that looks timeless for £500. Looks a lot more solid and won’t break easily.

I also get that modern house owners want modern furniture, but there’s loaaads of 1960s furniture available cheap that is solid Teak, and the equivalent modern copies are vastly more expensive and worse quality.

"Second hand" (i.e. bought at auctions) furniture all the way for me, OP. I'd far rather have a nice 18th century mahogany chest of drawers than some MDF thing which costs the same in Argos.

@aiwblam

Well op, I personally don’t understand why anyone would buy furniture anywhere other than IKEA. But each to their own. IKEA also do a good job of “timeless”. The Billy bookcase was first made in the 70s. They still sell them today, I have them in 3 different rooms.

IKEA give exact measurements for their stuff and most of us are very pushed for space so buying something 2nd hand is most likely going to be less space efficient. Unless it’s 2nd hand IKEA of course!

I absolutely love IKEA and have lots of it, but, IME second hand furniture dealers also have rulers and know how to use them. It not being rocket science.

I am happy not to waste my money on overpriced tat that their owner is desperate to get rid of, or overpriced "vintage" where some astute seller
replaces "old" by historical to add a 0 to the price

I love Ikea, but it's not designed to be moved. Take furniture down and build it again, it will never be the same.

I don’t buy ikea because I don’t drive and their delivery cost is a joke!

But I don’t understand why people spend so much money on brand new furniture, when in 6 months time it’ll be worth about half what paid.

I don't care what it's 'worth' in 6 months. If I buy furniture I buy it to use, any value isn't relevant.

I prefer to buy new because the ingrained smell of smoke never leaves. We have had pieces second hand over the years and some have been unusable.

@eightyfourandahalf

I love Ikea, but it's not designed to be moved. Take furniture down and build it again, it will never be the same.

We’ve got IKEA stuff that’s in its third home and it’s totally fine.

We've just bought new sofas after having our others for 10 years. The new ones were ex display and cost half of the retail price. I fully intended to have these for at least 10 years. Most other pieces of furniture in the house are second hand (dining table and chairs, desk, side tables, tv stand, wardrobes and drawers) and these will be replaced by second hand when they eventually fall apart. I must say though, It does feel nice to have something brand new for a change!

Apart from mattresses and electrical goods I buy most things second hand
I love my 60s Ercol and gplan sitting room and dining room furniture
Bedrooms are a mixture of simple IKEA and antique including inherited pieces

My own tastes in furniture are for the sort of thing that costs an arm and a leg from The Cotswold Company.

When we bought our first house I was desperate to have new stuff but DH is very much of the opinion that a quartet of plug-ugly utility dining chairs does exactly the same job as that divine set from John Lewis, so that's the sort of thing I lived with - for more than 30 years!

I retired 4 years ago and in that time have bought and upcycled upward of twenty pieces of furniture - all from the same maker and all bought second hand for anything between a fiver (a dreadfully scratched tv cabinet) to £60 an (immaculately kept sideboard.) I now have a houseful of pieces that I made beautiful. NB none of them smelled of cigarettes!

But you do need patience, time and a steady hand with sander and paintbrush.

As someone up-thread said, if no-one bought new there would be nothing for people like me to buy second hand!

Apart from white goods and tech all the furniture in my home is antique or vintage. I have been buying from auctions for years. I dont care if its "fashionable" or not. I dont follow other people. I know the furniture will outlive me. Some of it belonged to my grandmother and came back with her from her travels.

I bought a 1930's table recently. Mahogany, made in Scotland somehow found it's way to. Dublin. It's beautiful. Can seat 4 6 8 or 10. The British Library sent me info on the makers.
I stripped the old tacky dark finish off, and waxed it. It looks timeless, fits seamlessly with everything. Love it.

I suppose it depends what they are buying.
It has taken me a very long time to furnish my home because I buy solid wood items, items that are very well made but are expensive, all with the sole purpose of not having to replace them.

I hate waste and would hate to have to keep replacing the same furniture because it wasn’t made to last.

I have furniture ranging from Eames to Roche Bobois to IKEA to second hand unknown manufacturers.

They are all excellent quality. Some of the IKEA stuff is 20 years old and rock solid. Some furniture acquires a patina over time which money can’t buy. Eames designed amazingly comfortable chairs. My sofa is going to last decades.

None of it is disposable. The common denominator is quality. Doesn’t matter where it comes from.

@SarahAndQuack wrt delivery. I live rurally. There’s one man with a van that covers this area and it’s £50 to get a sofa delivered (which then didn’t fit through my hall and into my living room and he had to take it back to the house clearance place I bought it from) and you have to wait til he’s available because he works and it’s a side gig.

I agree with the delivery option. We moved here last September and have yet to move our main furniture from the previous house.

Instead of paying a Man with a Van to bring our sofa over piecemeal we bought a new additional one with free delivery. It suits the room and will complement the old one when it arrives in the main removal.

If you use Shipley or a similar service you can get delivery of large items for very little. You literally just paste in the eBay item number and loads of companies quote for the job.

I bought a solid mahogany wardrobe a few weeks ago on eBay. It was in Liverpool (nowhere near me). Delivery through Shipley was £35. The wardrobe was £75. It’s beautiful and a no brainer IMO plus my house doesn’t look the save as everyone else’s.

Shipley don’t deliver here.

When i moved into our renovated house 10 years ago, i bought a solid oak dining table (sits 10) a sideboard and a set of coffee tables. Timeless. Something to last and they are still like new. They will be here for a very long time.

I also have some cheaper stuff like kallax from Ikea which i know in 5 years will be falling apart as they are so cheaply made, but for now they do what i want them to (like keep shoes in the utility room).

Once the kids leave home ill buy a hall way table just to look pretty.

Cheap works for some people

I also have some cheaper stuff like kallax from Ikea which i know in 5 years will be falling apart as they are so cheaply made, but for now they do what i want them to (like keep shoes in the utility room).

You are greatly underestimating Kallax😂

I have a 2 yr old kallax which already has the laminate separating. As i said, its very temporary!

I, personally, would complain to Ikea. It shouldn't last 2 years. I get maximum time of everything. I am stingy bastard and demand a lot of my cheap stuff😂

@Neondisco

Do you not understand or do you want to brag about how much better you are than lots of people?

I but loads second hand btw I just completely understand why people don't.

Give over

I've still got an IKEA unit that my parents bought for my room before I was born

I want an antique chest of drawers for my bedroom but it would be difficult to get it into place - I'd also have to have it transported. Or I could go it IKEA ans buy flat pack which will fit in my car and I can build in my bedroom, which would be so much easier.

I've looked to what the IKEA drawers are selling at second hand, and yea they are half the price but once their built I'll have the issue of transporting them and actually getting them into my bedroom.

Generally I think second hand and antique furniture is nicer, although I do love a bit of IKEA flat pack for kids rooms.