Tuesday, August 28, 2012

A question of quality

There are some things that I'm trying to understand. Okay, there are many things that I'm trying to understand, but I'm going to try to narrow it down to one thing and probably some side trails for this post. On the one hand, I have heard many people deride poorly built furniture that you often times have to assemble yourself and never lasts more than a couple of years or one apartment move. On the other hand, I recently read that IKEA is the biggest furniture retailer in the world.

Screw driver, nuts, bolts and parts to assemble furniture
Photo by John Lawton


So the question is, why do these two things exist? I have some hypotheses about this and I will go into them in future posts. But first, I want to hear your point of view.

So do you lament not being able to find great quality furniture? Or do you agree with a statement that a former boss of mine once made, "I like to buy new furniture every five years or so."? Where do you fall on this spectrum and why did you make the purchases that you did?

Sofa/Hall Table made by Wayne Marcoux. Photo by Nick Roulleau. Photo taken at the NH Furniture Masters Exhibit 2012


Posted by R designs at 1:23 PM
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 1, 2013 at 6:40 PM

    I tend to do without until I find (or make) a piece that is truly worth keeping. I believe in collecting furniture over a lifetime and keeping them a very long time. I read on a napkin once "buy good things > keep them for a long time> "

    Jordan Jones Design - Custom Made Furniture
    http://jordbj.wordpress.com/

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    1. R designsAugust 20, 2013 at 4:33 PM

      That was pretty much how I was raised. It was a view passed down by many, if not most, who lived through the Great Depression. And yet when a new IKEA store opened to the south of me, people literally camped out in front of the store waiting for it to open.

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