Where to buy decent furniture?

[jnmontario]

Ok, I'm now 35 and my wife and I have decided it's high-time to get our first set of furniture for the house (we've been using hand-me-downs for....well, 15 years). What would the best place be to buy furniture in your collective opinion? My wife leans towards Ikea, but all of those years of crappy particle-board junk that falls apart after 5 years has worn my opinion of them down (that said, we've never been able to afford good Ikea - if there is such a thing).

Thanks.

[edit - I clicked on the wrong tab in FF when posting - this should be moved to home&garden forum....sorry]

[Red_Army]

idomo has good quality furniture, but is a bit pricey....leons or the brick has OK quality stuff for reasonable prices

only buy actual furniture for your house, if you want it too look like a dorm-room
originally thats how ikea started.....cheap furniture for geared towards students on a strict budget

[The_Madz]

imo Ikea woudl be better than leons, brick or any other big box store.

if you buy the better ikea stuff it's still a good price and the quality is the same as anything you find at leons or the brick.

If you look at furuniture from leons or the brick you will notice they use particle boards just as much as everyone else.

if you want really high quality stuff you have to look elsewhere but big box stores.

[deltone]

Well, this is my first reply so I hope I'm doing this right but I can tell you that years ago, I bought a lot of my furniture from a store called Consumers Distributing Furniture Division.

I know many in here remember the old Consumers Distributing and while this company was apparently "related" to CD, it is totally different. My first experience there was probably 20 years ago. I found a small ad in the Toronto Sun advertising mattresses so the hubby and I got in the car and went there. When we pulled up to the front of the place I was rather appalled and hesitated about going in as it looked like an old rundown warehouse.

Thankfully my husband said we were going in regardless as we had driven from Pickering to the Dundas/Eglinton area of Toronto and he didn't want to waste a trip. Anyhow, we went in and the store was just a huge space jam packed with furniture. Not the sort of furniture you would associate with the old Consumers Distributing either. All the stuff you would see in any of the finer expensive furniture stores. We bought the mattress and paid far less than anywhere else.

After that we bought several more items including a leather recliner which I got for $500 less than what Eatons was selling it for. Bought a beautiful cherry wood shelving unit for $1200 less than some fancy store at Woodbine and Hwy 7, the name of which escapes me right now.

Also bought a set of coffee table/end tables for several hundred less than other stores.

Now I can't be sure it still works the same way as I've not been there in several years, but I've sent many others there and every one of them felt the same as I did. The bargains there were fabulous.

What you do is you go to a regular furniture store and find the item you like. Get the name of the manufacturer, the item # and the price. Call the store or go in and make sure they do sell that manufacturer and then get your price. I've never had them quote me higher and I'm not talking a couple of bucks difference either.

Back when I used to buy stuff there I dealt with this old fellow Archie but I'm guessing that the poor old guy might not be with them anymore as he was pretty old.

Anyhow, give it a try. You have nothing to lose. They deal with a lot of furniture manufacturers from low end to high end although they don't like to deal with any of the real low end stuff.

They are located at 1200 Castelfield, Toronto, ON and the phone # is 416-787-0668. GOOD LUCK

[Shaynelle]

I agree with Madz - althought Ikea has some 'higher end' (as in higher than the low end crap they sell) stuff thats not worth the $ in my opinion.

My husband and I bought one piece at Restoration Hardware, it was damn expensive but it's well built. For couch and chair we bought an old (as in it was "renovated" in 1972 so it was what 20 yrs old by then??!) set and are getting it reupholstered. The one we purchased is solid as a rock and hand tied- sweet!!

To get a quality new couch now, with proper hard wood construction, etc you're looking at no less than 5K. But it would be worth it because you'd have it for life and can get it refurnished/upholstered as required.

Look for solid wood dining sets etc on used websites and local estate auctions. Even if you get it redone it's worth the $ vs buying cheap crap at any of the big box stores in my opinion.

[CSK'sMom]

I think it really depends on what you think you want to spend. For most people, reupholstering is not something they are ever going to do. It's usually more than buying new and even hard core designers don't recommend it unless it's a spectacular example of design or an antique. WHat pieces are you looking for ?

[kkl1208]

what about office furnitures? Any recommendation?

[Keigotw]

Toronto furniture , if you like contemporary
http://www.furnituretoronto.com/shopping/homepage.aspx

Neoset
http://www.neosetcanada.com/catalogue_livingRoom.htm

[Keigotw]

what about office furnitures? Any recommendation?

http://www.theofficeshop.ca/

Costco

staples

office depot

[ynotme]

but all of those years of crappy particle-board junk that falls apart after 5 years has worn my opinion of them down

Visit Sears Home @ Pinecrest (beside IKEA)..
they have good selection of Shermag..
or Mobilia @ Hunt Club & Merivale (near by Costco)

but do you have baby or plan to have one pretty soon?
If so, I would not recommend to buy good furniture..

[tkl]

We brought our stuff from Mobilia. We thought the quality and design were really nice and it's held up great so far. Our white leather sofa set is 6 years + and it still looks brand new.

http://mobilia.ca/flash/

[jnmontario]

I think it really depends on what you think you want to spend. For most people, reupholstering is not something they are ever going to do. It's usually more than buying new and even hard core designers don't recommend it unless it's a spectacular example of design or an antique. WHat pieces are you looking for ?

2x Sofa, chair (with couch - not a loveseat), dining room table & chairs, hutch. I might have to sell my blood, hair and other body parts/fluids to afford it all, but we've lived off hand-me-downs for so long it's embarrassing.

but do you have baby or plan to have one pretty soon?
If so, I would not recommend to buy good furniture..

a 5 and 3 year old so we're out of the marker-on-stuff years. plus, I'm going to limit them to a 3x3 area near the kitchen to stand in and they'll not be allowed in the rest of the house once we get our stuff. :)

[scotty01]

I strongly suggest Ashley Furniture. Pretty much every piece of furniture in our home is made by Ashley and it's absolutely gorgeous. Everything is solid wood, hand carved and many of our pieces have solid marble tops.

Check out http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/

[WildPegasus]

Try Blueprint Home on Wellington just west of Parkdale. More modern then the chain stores and with pretty good prices.

[jnmontario]

thks for the advice all. we're out to hit a bunch of places this weekend...i'll let you know which ones hold up after 5-10 years. :)

[Euphoriiick]

Ferretti Interiors or Chesterfield Shop - more pricey but you get what you pay for guaranteed

What to look for when buying a Quality Sofa:

1. Lifetime guarantee on frame (made of Hardwood - makes for very heavy sofa). Try lifting sofa to determine weight. Softwood/particle board is cheap and makes for a light and fragile sofa.
2. Frame should be assembled with glue and screwed joints, not nails or staples
3. Sofa Arms should be removable to allow for easier moving
4. All cushions (back and bottom) should be removable to allow for rotation, repair, or replacement through the long life of the sofa
5. Base springs should be 8 way hand tied if possible