Buying Furniture

[goatfarmer]

Time to buy some new furniture,as in couch,loveseat,etc,for the living room. Any brands you've had luck with,or to stay away from? The set we have now is Schweiger,and it didn't last.
I know FlexSteel,and Broyhill are decent brands,or are they? Opinions,please!

kennyGF

 

[maytagbear]

I have a Broyhill wing chair

from the early 80s. Upholstery has seen better days, but the frame is still sound. Planning on having it and the matching ottoman redone in late 2007.

I have two semi-custom pieces from Norwalk, and they have been excellent.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[oxydolfan1]

Had a fantastic experience last month with a company called "Ashley Furniture".

 

[laundryboy]

I have had amazing luck with Stickley, Audi and Co.. It is all hand made and last forever..I just purchased a dining room table and 6 chairs, 2 end tables and coffee table.. You will fall in love with them..

 

[alr2903]

Lazeee boy

Lazy boy might meet your needs we like their products, any style can be ordered in any/most of their upholstery, holds up well and IIRC any rocker or recliner mechanisms are covered as long as you own it.. sidebar... Bedding, we have had lousey luck with the last 2 Spring air mattress sets we purchased.Signed sleeping in an imprint just my size. alr2903

 

[petek]

Just stay away from anyone pitching furniture on tv wearing a pork-pie hat and having a midnite tent sale in the parking lot all the while screaming no payments and no interest til 2009. LOL

 

[bpetersxx]

Does this include buying a bed

insert double entende here

Yes this is a legitamite question

 

[wiskybill]

I'm with Lawerence on the Broyhill and Norwalk.

The sofa I have now is Broyhill and at 6-7 yrs old it is holding up very well. My bedroom furniture is also Broyhill in light cherry and will have it for a long time to come. All of it came from a JCPenny outlet store. I saved at least 50%.

I had a Norwalk sleeper sofa about 10 years ago that was semi-custom, I picked the style and upholstery and ordered thru a local dealer. It now lives at my daughter's house.

I'm sure there are other good MOL brands out there. Part of the fun is finding them. Good luck!

Bill

 

[quiltnbear]

Just Pay Your Money And Take Your Chances

I have some good name furniture that did not hold up at all, even with little use. BUT about 15 years ago Don and I bought 2 no name get us in the store, wing back chairs from Levitz and these chairs 15 plus years later are just like new and have had heavy use. Scott AKA Quiltnbear

 

[tlee618]

I too have had good luck with Ashley here in Florida. I am very pleased with the quality and hope that it will hold up well. They were very nice to deal with.

 

[gansky1]

I have a couple of Ashley chairs in the kitchen, about 7 years old now and haven't hear so much as a creak from them and they are as solid as the day I brought them home.

I have a Henredon sofa and Bernhardt leather chair in the living room - we use them a lot and they seem to be holding up well. For the cost of the chair & ottoman, I would have expected better springs, but so far I've notice no sagging or problems.

 

[whirlcool]

In 1997 we spent about $1000 bucks each for two Thomasville Traditional Club chairs for our living room. Within a year the suspension failed on one, then the next year the suspension failed on the other one. The store we purchased them from covered them with the warranty. But in 2001 the suspensions failed again. Since they were out of warranty we had to have them fixed by an upholstery shop. The furniture store claimed we were probably "jumping on them" to make the suspension fracture. Now, we are not overweight people so I cannot imagine why they can't build chairs properly. The new frames that were installed by the upholstery company were much more heavy duty and weren't simply just "stapled" in like they were at the Thomasville factory and have not failed yet. It seems the wire suspension Thomasville put in was about as thick as cheap wire clothes hangers.
I will say that the fabric on the chairs has held up really well, but I was amazed how cheap the build quality was of the chairs. I thought Thomasville would be better than that.
We would not buy another Thomasville product. And BTW, you can't go wrong with Henredon. Our sofa is about 25 years old and is only on it's second recovering. That thing is built like a tank. It seems that you buy it once, and it lasts a lifetime.
I'll also attest to Lay-Z-Boy recliners. They really do last and last. We get about 8 years on the fabric on the one we bought in 1982, but it still works as good as the day we bought it!

 

[mixfinder]

Furniture

Flexsteel does not use springs, but contiguous bands of steel. The support tends to hold up well. Pennsyvania House is legend for the quality of the framing. If you buy anything with springs, look for 8 way hand tied springs. The underpinnings will determine how long the furniture supports you. Beyond that, you get JUST WHAT YOU PAY FOR in fabric. Upgrading fabric quality often requires waiting for special order which is fraught with opportunities for frustration. It has been my experience that going to a high end furniture store and shopping from their close outs and clearances is the best of all worlds. you get quality construction, special order fabric and you don't have to wait to see what appears from a special order. I have a Pennsylvania brand sofa, I bought for $1,200.oo marked down from $2,000.oo The Norwalk brand was mentioned in earlier post. Norwalk is bit like the "Checker Cab" of furniture, indestructible and Drexel Heritage is the higher end of their line. We had a Drexel sofa bought in 1987 that one of my children is still using. It looks great to this day.
Good luck,
Kelly

 

[goatfarmer]

Lots of great ideas!
We bought a La-Z-Boy recliner about 2 years ago,still a great piece of furniture. We have a Norwalk store locally,gonna check them out.

 

[petek]

Mom has had a genuine La Z Boy since the early 60's and it was recovered numerous times. Only a year or two ago did the mechanism go wonky and it was repaired for free some 40 years later. I had one up until recently but Ben destroyed the stuffing and rather than recover it, probably at more cost than replacing I ditched it.