Decent home furniture

[PinkRinse]

Finally after being here for a year I'm sick of being on a small uncomfy IKEA sofa bought for a small 2 bed flat, not a decent sized 3 bed house we're in now so I'm planning a living room make over..

Thing is I don't/can't really spend the earth (still got some painting, curtains, poles, carpet to do) so my question is this... Can I actually buy some nice stuff from places like DFS or are they as cr@p as some people say (sorry saggy looking things after a years use)? Are places like Next At Home ok? I've looked at some of their stuff and it looks fairly decent but to me Next = clothes not furniture lol

Experiences/opinions welcome

[clarkmagpie]

Some nice stuff at Barker & Stonehouse.
Bargains in the ex display stuff as well.

[Pete Franklin]

The best stuff that DFS etc do is actually reasonably good but it's not cheap. However if you are on a strict budget buy second hand via gumtree etc it's surprising what some people want rid of and if you aim at higher quality/price used stuff it often possible to get some relative bargains.

[JackReacher]

Like most places, some Ikea stuff is quite good and some less so. The better stuff offers quite good value in my opinion. Worth looking at John Lewis and M&S as well, its not all crazy expensive and some stuff fairly reasonable.

Second hand stuff is all very well if the right stuff comes up near you at the right time, but you might wait around for ages.

[sparkythecat]

There's quality stuff at bargain prices to be had in charity furniture shops.
Our local hospice shop gets some excellent stuff in.

[PostHeads123]

I hate to sound all middleclass lol but John Lewis always good, not massively expensive (but pricer than Argos) but you get ok quality stuff, everything I've bought off them over the years still looks good now, other benefit is for some sofa's etc they have them in stock so not long to wait for them.

[GnuBee]

clarkmagpie said:

Some nice stuff at Barker & Stonehouse.
Bargains in the ex display stuff as well.

Also:

stocktons.co.uk
houseology.com
skandium.com

If antique furniture is more your thing - decorativecollective.com is a great sourcing site or their sisted site, thehoarde.com, for retro/mid-century

Don't dismiss eBay either

[Thorodin]

Some time ago we bought two sofas at a general auction. They were Arts & Crafts period and the leather was poor, worn and ripped. Paid very little, they looked awful. We stripped them ourselves and got a local upholsterer to re-upholster (Plumbs were scary expensive) in a suitable fabric. They look gorgeous (to us anyway) and the total cost was in the Ikea range.

[andy-xr]

I've never seen anything decent in DFS or other shops/stores based on retail parks. It's all st and looks ready for the tip after 18 months.

The best sofa we've ever had came from a charity shop in Bolton, big 6 seater L shaped leather corner unit, no idea who made it but it's never once sagged or bent. I think it was probably expensive when new, and I think it probably had an owner or two before us, but a morning with leather cleaner and the vacuum made it shine up really nicely. Very comfy too.

Avoid cheap Chesterfields is the only other thing I'd say

[Esseesse]

Buy second hand, buy solid (hard) wood. Go to local auctions.

[LordHaveMurci]

I managed to bag a pair of Ligne Roset sofas on eBay, basically brand new complete with Harrods recipt for £4500 (sale price!) for £1100 a few years ago

A mate of mine only ever buys high end furniture on eBay, he owns a van so collecting is no issue to him.

Edited by LordHaveMurci on Tuesday 23 August 21:33

[PinkRinse]

If I was desperate I'd go for charity stuff but you're right the John Lewis stuff is nice & there's a decent near us in Chichester. Thanks guys