Quality furniture

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JMikeyH

JMikeyH

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Despite the wider economy conspiring against me, myself and the missus have managed to buy a house (hurray!). With that, we've decided on paying a lot and getting good quality furniture that is going to last - no chipboards, MDF, veneers, or other cheap materials. Solid hardwood furniture. Oak Furniture Land looking very good, wondering what other companies people have used? Got a budget of around £6-8000, with which we'd like to get a full bedroom set, some office furniture and a few pieces for the hallway/dining room like foot rests, side tables etc.

Any suggestions?
 
We have avoided any ikea mdf crap other than in the kids play room and probably 80% of the furniture in my house is 60/70s G plan teak stuff, either inherited from grandparents or used from eBay etc - can find some right bargains for really good quality stuff.
 
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Might be worth a look -https://www.stokers.co.uk/
I have used them before, some stuff is really good but choose carefully !
 
We have a famous company near us with a Mouse carved on it . Will last several generations. I know someone who was an apprentice there 60 years ago and his furniture is even better it has a Wren carved on it . None of it is cheap but you pay for what you get .
 
Don't think you'll do it for 6-8K. A decent three piece suite that has been made in civilised society by a proper craftsmen instead of by a trained ape or someone in a Chinese prison camp, will cost you more than half that budget.
 
Dave Lakes said:
Go to auctions and buy older stuff. We just got an extendable dining room table, Edwardian, solid oak, £80. You couldn’t even buy the casters it sits on for that. Everyone seems to want pristine new, and swap it every few years.
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I've recently had to buy a few pieces after a house move. Looked in Oak Furniture Land etc, and as far as I can see it's all CNC-made, manufactured in China. Quite sturdy. Looks OK. Then you go into a quality used furniture place and look at a period original and there's no comparison. And the price is about the same.
 
Dave Lakes said:
Go to auctions and buy older stuff. We just got an extendable dining room table, Edwardian, solid oak, £80. You couldn’t even buy the casters it sits on for that. Everyone seems to want pristine new, and swap it every few years.
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Absolutely right. I've seen some fabulous furniture at ridiculous prices at auction. The downside is travelling to view and collect.
Some modern oak furniture is made up of jointed bits rather than one piece.
 
Congratulations on the house.

Good advice above to go to local auctions and buy the bits you like the look and feel of, but also go to craft exhibitions and see if any particular makers catch your eye and then commission direct.

We have some of my father's furniture and some made by an old school friend and some by fellow craft guild members...Unsurprisingly as an artist craftsman that I really enjoy living with and using hand made/unique stuff from other artist craftsmen..we just acquired it as we could afford it (or couldn't afford to miss it) over the years.

Alan
 
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I have, from local auctions sourced old Victorian armchairs oak framed so no woodworms then had them reupholstered in my choice of fabrics costing around £250 per item. The beauty is they are so comfortable compared to new ones. My other weakness is Ercol furniture my UK home is with almost all this.
 
Antique furniture, although not fashionable is often extraordinarily good value (as in cheaper than ikea), far better quality than 99.5% of modern furniture, and really is no effort to look after. Obviously it lasts much better than modern furniture, being timber of a quality that is and always will be unobtainable in future. I'd give yourself time and find decent local auctions.
 
In all honesty, I wouldn’t buy new, well, mattress excepted, and maybe toilet paper. Face book, evil bay, gumtree, auction houses. You can pick furniture up for a fraction of the cost. Our best was a granite coffee table that cost £750. We paid £70. Take your time and you can get stuff that matches.
As an example I built a lean to as an office. 2 windows, about meter and and a half each and French doors, cost less than £200. Save your money, concentrate on reducing your mortgage as much as you can in the early years. Look at how much interest you are paying.
but I am A know tightwad. Well done on the house purchase.
 
I bought a three piece suite new (well, two piece) but only because I couldn't find a decent used one and I needed something to sit on. And I have back problems and sitting in the right sort of chair is even more important than the bed I sleep in. I couldn't get what I needed used.

But it would have been much cheaper. New suites are pretty poor until you start spending more than £1200 for a single chair and £2000 for a two piece sofa. You won't even get real leather below that price. It's usually a bonded leather "product".
 
New or used? Furniture is a mature technology; if a piece is built with skilled labour and high-quality materials, it doesn't matter whether it was produced yesterday or fifty years ago, as long as it's in good condition. In fact, I'd say you're more likely to get a higher standard of craftsmanship and woods/textiles/fittings with older pieces than newer ones.

And it's much better to buy used original pieces than new knockoff ones, as the originals will always maintain their value, while the generic stuff is fairly worthless used. Personally, I'd be looking at specialist furniture markets and auctions.
 
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