Furniture

There's an ILVA in M/cr, which I got a low tv bench from last year that I'm very happy with - plenty of storage for tat in side cupboards and takes telly, amp, dvd, wii and other bits just fine. They don't seem to do the exact one now, but latest catalogue is at www.ilva.co.uk. Only problem I had with ILVA is that their delivery time was *well* off (took 4 months to arrive!). Paid about £250 for this and whilst for that money it's glorified flatpack it does look good.

Otherwise, I know IKEA gets ragged on but they do some staple items (like bookcases) brilliantly. Dwell also has nice stuff, as does Heals, although the latter often feels blatantly overpriced.

Well worth checking eBay too, my favourite furniture in our house (1960s extending dining table and chairs) was £75 from a bloke 5 miles away! The quality is exponentially better than anything I'd pay for "new" and the design is beautiful.

I wanna invest in some Danish modern type of things and I've seen a few things on ebay but I have no clue as to what constitutes a "good price" for these items

TV units are tricky. this system from ikea is VG and quite high-end looking for them. it's one of their more expensive lines.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/range/10364/11713/

we recently put our lcd on the wall. convenient.

the only furniture that really does anything for me:
modular couches,
large square wood dining tables,
those egg chairs that you sit inside.

oh and punky brewsters bed was pretty cool, iirc.

there's a habitat equivalent to that system i just posted. it's about 2.5 times the price and it comes in white red and black powdered steel. the red one is particularly nice. the range is called influence. i think about furniture all the time, part of the job.

http://www.habitat.co.uk/fcp/categorylist/browse/living-and-storage/shelving-units/

how do you buy a bed? like in a way that the shipping costs are not overwhelming. order online or go to a local place somewhere? i need a mattress too.

what a vague question but i'm lost, i've never bought real furniture before!

its difficult. PP and I have been trying to buy nightstands for a year now. its too hard

i'm not usually picky but ikea beds look really weird to me

We have a full futon mattress & frame from either Futon Company or Futon World, but we both like dead hard beds.

Furniture has no say in life,
It was made to be used by people.
How many times have you felt like a bookcase
Sitting in living room gathering dust

re original thread question

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombot64/3685094459/

don't ask how much. just don't.

note leftover instructions and hardware packet at lower left, lol

http://www.gizmodo.fr/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/504x_inflate.jpg
I want to buy that inflatable sofa so much, but I'm a bit scared my cat would ruin it.

Here's the website where you can buy it :
http://blofield.com/default2.aspx

i had a futon for the past 5 years but i was done with it. i need a hard mattress.

yeah fuck a futon

tombot i cant tell what going in that photo. is it a frame against the wall with shelves sticking out?

i was going to say to the original question tvs go on walls, not furniture.

harbl, first decide what size mattress you want. If you think you will be moving around to different places over the next 5-8 years, you might skip getting a king-size b/c they are hellacious to get into some spaces. Queen-size box springs can also be problematic. You don't have to buy the mattress/box spring at the same place you buy the bedframe. And you can just buy a mattress to start with and sleep with it on the floor or on a basic set of rails (if you get a box spring too) or a basic low platform. Go to some stores determined just to do research and not cave to the high pressure mattress sales guys. Take off your shoes and lie down on all the beds. If you want to get rid of your futon, make sure the place you buy your mattress from will haul off your futon for cheap or free. When you look at bedframes, look for something that is straightforward to take apart and put together if you think you'll be moving around. Platform style frames with central rails are sturdier than frames than those that just support the edges of a box spring, and you can use them with box springs as well as just a mattress.

nah i left the futon for my neighbor when i moved, she wanted it and i didn't want to move it. i'm subletting now so i have a bed to sleep on but i'm moving to a new place aug 15. i don't know if i really want a box spring because they're huge and i don't mind if the bed is low, just a platform would be ok. and i don't need a king size for sure. it's just me. (and the occasional guest, if i'm lucky). springs vs. foam vs. latex though?

springs vs. foam vs. latex though?

this is why you have to go lie on the demos, so much personal preference. I hated the feeling of sleeping on latex, foam wasn't bad, ended up with some zoned spring w/foam top deal (Mr. Jaq is a sleep-thrasher and it limited the transfer of movement to my side of the bed).

ok!

Ikea has these lift up storage bed bases in the US now (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10098893) - I think jesse from the Chicago threads posted about it a few years back. I'm thinking about getting 2 of the 1/2 king ones, but twin mattresses are too short for them? I don't want a king mattress b/c it's been tough getting the queen one into some of the places we've lived.

i just spent 1.5 hours assembling a desk chair.
i can not get the back secured because the screws won't match up. this is worse than ikea!
a;weldkjggggggggggggggg

Furniture is the greatest!

grrrrrrr.

re bed discussion upthread, pretty sure this was the one i bought, and i've been happy with it for the past year.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10152213

i got this queen size pillow top in june and it is seriously the best bed i have ever had in my life. i love that thing.

this chair, though. really making me angry.

pp's parents just bought us this. hope it fits in the smallish space we have for a dining table.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/4389/picture2fl.png

that's beautiful! too bad the room doesn't come with it.

are you getting the bench, too? or chairs all around?

bench on one side. definitely need the room.

that's very nice indeed.

i need an armchair and a rug

please share recommendations.

not too expensive.

thanks.

ok i'm thinking "brown leather armchair"

if anyone knows of anything like this brown leather chair that ISN'T $1000, let me know

http://coolmaterial.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/leman-stainless-steel-lounge-chair.jpg

god i want it to so bad. pls don't let me spend $1000 on a chair

That's like a cross between by John Lewis Zest chair and my Wassily chair. The former was £350, the latter £150.

anyone want to buy a big desk?

kind of lovin the Wassily chair, mouthy. u think 1 three-seater couch and that chair + other, living room chairs would be enough to furnish an nyc living room with? or do i need an official armchair in addition to the couch?

omg why is it 2k

One always needs an armchair.

Well, if you're mad, you can pay $2k for a Wassily chair (or to be authentic really emphasise the V in Wassily) but you can pick up repros for a couple of hundred quid and some of them are pretty good.

For the real, real thing watch these videos, which pass for porn in my house, attractive woman shows you around original chairs...(in an attemot to get you to spend squillions on them).
http://www.findmetheoriginal.com/video
The Mies Van Der Rohe is my favourite as I like the way she kneels before the chair. and caresses it's beautiful steel legs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMLOKc-p1M4

i know, i fucking love that chair

I feel you, the couch I want is like $4000. I mean I'm sure I can find something else, but I like it a lot.

Actually, you furniture/design geeks: I might be asking for suggestions in the nearish future -- I don't get around the high-design world much but I could be looking for a couple of niiice pieces this year.

Beds of interest:

The Blu Dot Nook

http://img.archiexpo.it/images_ae/photo-g/letto-matrimoniale-moderno-130600.jpg

The Alfredo Haberli Legnoletto modular bed with extended headboard

http://www.bonluxat.com/cmsense/data/uploads/orig/Alfredo_H%C3%A4berli_Legnoletto_Bed_7g9.jpg

There's another bed with a molded headboard/shell that curves into the base as well and sort of cups around the corners, but I can't remember what it's called and it's driving me crazy.

lol i walk by a bunch of fancy design stores all the time and i just *sigh* as i pass by

http://www.chicagohomemag.com/Chicago-Home/Images/Nov-Dec/house_sofa_2.jpg

i really want a couch. don't care about the design of it at all just one that is sort of comfortable/durable and i can sit on.

ok maybe i do care a little about the design because i don't want one like that

How about this valet/wardrobe? Not really big enough for any but the most minimalist wardrobe, but hot damn it's handsome.

http://www.naomidean.co.uk/Images/Compact%20Wardrobe%20Walnut.jpg

Just watched Mon Oncle. Funny but dated send-up of modernism:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3420/3385351765_810ce5852d_o.jpg

http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif

I have a large glass tabletop that I might want to use as an addl kitchen counter/work surface. I need some kind of shelving to put under it, that will support the counter and whatever equipment I put on it. Standard counter height is 36" so any combination of shelving should come out to around that.

Suggestions? Advice?

Thoughts:

http://images.containerstore.com/images/catalog/82763/GalvanizedCubeWineBar_xl.jpg

I like this steel cube system but at 14" high each, the math doesn't work.

Plastic shelving like Ladodo (Container Store) and the Cubitec stuff is close to the right height, but will it hold up under a lot of weight and let me store pots and pans underneath, or will the uprights end up bowed in three months?

Also why is all the plastic stuff HELLA EXPENSIVE, FOR PIECES OF PLASTIC??

?

http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/0094453_PE232324_S4.JPG

ikea meltorp. 90 cm high whatever that is in inches.

I think that's about 40" which could work...but I don't think they sell Meltorp products in the US?? Search item not found on the IKEA US website.

Okay I don't know what kind of idiot I am, but I just found all the Melltorp stuff. Thx!

Also considering standard wire kitchen shelving, but the 36" high uprights are harder to find than the normal industrial 54" ones. Should prob just go to kitchen supply district and buy whatever I find there.

ah i got the spelling wrong.

svalbo sideboard? it's lacquered solid pine.
http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/0102070_PE246471_S4.JPG

Ive been eyeing off one of those or similar for my kitchen because its a narrow galley and I need more shelving.

John Lewis have started stocking chairporn.

http://www.johnlewis.com/Home+and+Garden/Furniture/Designer+Furniture+/SubCategory.aspx

I remember reading an article some years ago interviewing the Eames designers among others who were mighty pissed off at the copies of classic Eames pieces other stores sell, and where the line's drawn on copyright... or whatever it'd be on furniture. It was an interesting point.

Well, I've got a fake Wassily chair. Em insists I can only have a Panton if it's real though. And one day I'll replace the fake Wassily with a real one. One day.

In-laws bought a LeCourbusier chair in some ridiculous 80%-off sale, decided they didn't want it, are giving it to us. More or less like this
http://www.classicdesign.it/images/camp-chair-le-corbusier~1.jpg except with this slightly weird black horsehair sort of material (maybe actual horsehair?) on the seat. I am sort of psyched about it and sort of weirded out by it at the same time -- it will be by far the nicest piece of furniture I have ever owned, including anything in my parents' house.

Anyone have experience with tempered glass just freakishly shattering because it's put down on the wrong surface/the wrong way? We bought this thing off craigslist:

http://s6.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/6F9C1000.jpg

and as I'm moving it, I have to briefly set on of the glasses down on a tile floor. I set it down what I think is gently and the thing just explodes on me. I was sort of shocked -- the woman was still there and I wound up paying her (I did "break" it, I figured) but she knocked a little off the price. But then I wondered whether there maybe had been some flaw in the glass or if it could have already been damaged.

But I mean it is very thin glass and maybe it was just the way I put it down/the surface.

I don't know about types of glass very well, but I think with some kinds, if it has a crack or chip or stress anywhere on the surface, it can weaken the whole thing? What happened to you seems fishy to me, tbh.

Now on to...BOOKSHELVES! I need them. More of them! For not-much money. I'm thinking the IKEA Kilby, which is $25 per unit, then hack it with some kind of fabric covering the back-board.

Also needed: more shelves per unit! Four is not enough! They're adjustable, so I'm thinking have some cheap stock/MDF cut to size, cover with accent fabric so you don't have to refinish them, and use as extra shelving??

Ladies and gentlemen, the boring cheap-as-shit Kilby:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XGRz6uWGK3I/SNEJDkc0KPI/AAAAAAAAEPU/5hYR2UGTeO8/s400-R/2008_0410hack0009.JPG

I don't know about types of glass very well, but I think with some kinds, if it has a crack or chip or stress anywhere on the surface, it can weaken the whole thing? What happened to you seems fishy to me, tbh.

Meh, you're probably right. I'm too nice in these situations. I was like "shit, I broke it, guess I have to pay" -- took off a little $ but probably nowhere near the cost of the glass. I was also kind of shocked because a giant piece of glass had just kind of exploded in my hands, and I was bleeding a bit.

Anyway turns out you can order replacement glass and even with that cost it's still a less than 1/2 price DWR table. Hard not to kick myself, but these craigslist things are weird -- even if I put up a fight I'd have no way of proving anything.

http://www.modernflat.com/shop-modern/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/f2280f0201e8bb3748464e4e4ed64bf9619.jpg http://s6.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/6F9C1000.jpg

Anyone have any thoughts on these chairs with this table? Chairs are black, table is sort of dark coffee colored.

chairs, i think.

http://www.outdoorzgallery.com/bp_arm

http://www.outdoorzgallery.com/storage/bp/bp_lod_v.jpg

Right, then ... I need to buy a sofa bed. Any recommendations?

having a guy deliver a dresser from the salvage store. he works there and is obv just getting cash on the side, not delivering through the store. how much do i pay him? i just want him to put it on my front porch so he only goes up a few steps. he is driving it about 5 miles in his personal vehicle. $30? $40?

i think $50 would be too much

i just went ahead and asked him figuring i don't look that stupid and he said $35-40 fyi

If you want to get a little spendy for a piece of furniture, but not like design within reach/roche bobois/caligaris type spendy, what brands are actually worth it? We want to get a really nice modern sectional and would consider spending 2500-3500 for something really good, but I keep reading bad reviews regarding the quality of a lot of stuff in that range (Article, Interior Define etc.)

Is it possible to find a lamp like this in the U.S., and if so, where?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/740930311/floor-lamp-stephan-pine-wood-lamp?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

https://i.etsystatic.com/21222439/r/il/db23ee/2027897358/il_794xN.2027897358_iipk.jpg

that is some straight up etsy shit right there

oh ha I failed to look at the URL to see that it actually IS straight up etsy shit right there

so instead of etsy how about any high school shop class ever

i know this is the wrong thing to say but...i could do that

but you DIDN'T maaaan

yeah I mean come to think of it I probably could too, although I'd need some kind of hole saw or something to do the large holes

man alive didn’t you just move to the suburbs? You’re behind schedule on becoming woodworking dad

Good to rearrange your furniture every year or so

Any recommendations for cheap, good-enough quality media/book racks?

I mean the Ikea Kallax is probably one of their all-time great products, along with the Poang chair, and that's cheap. The shelving areas are perfect squares and exactly the right size for records but work fine as book shelves (my kids use them for that).

Thanks! Will give it a look and see if I can fit it in my space. I like the price and look for sure.
I'm looking for something that probably can hold a larger number of smaller items, think Blu-ray/DVD/CD//Manga/comic books.

comic books are surpringly tall - i have standard trade paperbacks that don't fit in my bookcase, it's annoying.

Ikea won't ship - bummer

Anyone have patio furniture they like and that is durable enough not to need to be dragged in in bad weather?

I have just been awarded some discretionary carers personal budget funding for a new settee because my son keeps breaking furniture. He's not breaking it in anger, he's big, autistic and does lots of rocking back and forth and so on. It's really annoying that lots of wooden furniture is so overpriced and poorly built, especially that Ikea shite. I bought a single seater chair from them and it lasted 6 hours. I solved the problem of him breaking countless beds by getting a reinforced steel bed frame, which is actually cheaper than the wooden divan bed bases. It made me realise what a scam the bed manufacturing industry is. Staple together some low quality timber, put a sheet of cardboard on top - then sell that piece of crap for £400.

I went through nearly £600 worth of swivel chairs last year, he broke 4 of them! The final solution that he didn't manage to break was a rather scruffy and scuffed looking but solid and dependable 20 year old one I picked up from a charity shop for £16. I swear to god I'd rather just screw some wooden pallets together and put a cushion on top than waste another penny on substandard furniture.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQFyHJW0RVUtpds1jZ7ap1bJzPWdpYwbILr_OYkf31xFw7ekIwg

I'm just waiting for a grant to be paid into my bank to order this sofa. I didn't want one with cushions on the back because they end up getting permanently squashed and misshaped. The customer services woman didn't give me any sales bs or try to steer me towards a more expensive item and said we buy them from a Chinese company that manufactures them and they have a good rep and don't make any substandard crap. It's got a reassuringly high weight limit rating and doesn't look horrible. Briefly I did entertain the idea of getting 2 cheaper sofas from the £600 grant, but remembered the crap sofa I got from Argos that was literally broken the first day it arrived.

i've had furniture wear out over the last couple of years and yes, the bed frames were splintery wood with a cardboard top (the cardboard went when they got wet from a leak) and the sofa was chipboard, staples and foam (20+ year old foam deteriorated and where the staples were applied too close to the edge of the chipboard the chipboard has just crumbled).

the new bed, i don't trust the slats on it, fear they'd just snap if you're not distributing the weight evenly (i had one break on assembly, badly laminated). the new sofa is a "two seater" but only if the two are slim and/or friendly.

the extremely poor build quality of your average, quite pricey divan bed base in the UK is scandalous.

the good thing with reinforced steel bed bases is they are cheap and fold up if you are moving and have storage space under them. And will last a lifetime unless you are an olympic standard 10 times a day sex god, and then it would still take some *doing* to break the steel trellis that supports the mattress! And the divan fabric always ends up looking really shabby and worn out, even just after a year. And they are a pain in the arse to lug up the stairs.