How long should furniture last?

[Ares]

Reading the Office Chairs thread, I was considering that I've had the same office chair and desk that my Aunt/Uncle bought me almost 20 years ago.

The chair is ok, but I want to replace it.

The desk, other than damage from moving, is fine.

In contrast, I bought furniture for my home 7 years ago.

The sectional couch downstairs started to wear out within 2-3 years.

I bought a couch for my theater room in the loft at the same time, but didn't start using it until 2-3 years after I bought the house when I built out the theater room.

That couch has lasted me 3-4 years and is now falling apart as well.

How long do you expect furniture to last?

In my head I think, I'd prefer if a couch could last me 10 years minimum.... my Mom and Dad bought furniture for our house that lasted a good 20+ years.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Couches seem to not last very long nowadays especially if they get heavy use everyday. The last time I bought a nice sectional piece for my living room (about 2 years ago) I tried buying a higher quality and it's already showing signs of wear. Like enough where I want to replace it already.

I'm with you, if I drop 2k on a couch, I see not reason why it shouldn't last 10+ years with everyday use. WTF man.

 

[BearFanJohn]

Furniture sure doesn’t seem to last. When we moved 4+ years ago we bought a bunch of stuff from Arhaus in Indy. Most of it, any of it that gets much use, is wearing out. We were told, we thought, it was good stuff but it clearly is not. Maybe it just seems like furniture lasted longer “way back when” but I don’t know. I do know that we will probably buying new couches and chairs in the next couple of years.

 

[HearshotKDS]

Furniture in our house (married with kids), goes through 3 phases:

* 2-3 years of "looks great"
* 3-5 years of "looks used but still works fine"
* "looks like crap, put it in the basement"

Basement furniture gets replaced when it finally falls apart.

We've shopped at a bunch of the "fine furniture" big stores here in Lake county, but honestly I think the cheap sectional couch we bought from Costco has been the most durable. It also helps that none of us are fat, so if you got a bunch of 300 pound hippo asses pounding your sofas, no shit they are wearing out fast.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Furniture sure doesn’t seem to last. When we moved 4+ years ago we bought a bunch of stuff from Arhaus in Indy. Most of it, any of it that gets much use, is wearing out. We were told, we thought, it was good stuff but it clearly is not. Maybe it just seems like furniture lasted longer “way back when” but I don’t know. I do know that we will probably buying new couches and chairs in the next couple of years.

Place I last bought my couch has like a "Good, Better, Best" Category. First couch we bought from them had a "Good" rating. It lasted 5-6 years and is now in our basement. Still functional. The second couch we bought had a "Better" tag on it. I think the ratings are full of shit because it is showing almost more wear then the 'lesser quality' couch.

 

[Aesopian]

It'll last as long as you want it to last a couch is pretty easy to take care of even with heavy use. I notice people don't know how to repair basic things like they use to back in the day.

I reccomend looking at the hood of your furniture and fixing what's wrong instead of putting 2 thousand down on a new couch when fixing your old couch will be fixed for 100 dollars.

 

[Aesopian]

 

[HeHateMe]

I built a farm table for outdoor use and it looks weathered after literally being in the weather for like 2 years i think but will probably last as long as @truthbedamned lasts.

If you buy IKEA outdoor furniture you will get a good year and a halve out if it.

Indoor furniture should last at least long enough to give to your kids imo, but due to planned obsolescence that is no longer the case.

 

[ZOMBIE@CTESPN]

one thing I notice is the older I get more often I pass out on the couch which pretty much turning into my bed lol. That adds lots of wear and tear

im sure some of you that go through bags of Cheetos daily aren’t helping The longevity of your furniture lol

 

[KittiesKorner]

people are really aggro about what kind of people sit on other people's couches!

 

[Aesopian]

people are really aggro about what kind of people sit on other people's couches!

Nobody's fat shaming but yes more weight on a couch will weight the couch down faster.

 

[Ares]

Something tells me you've never taken apart a couch and repaired it.

Knowing how to type "Couch repair" into Youtube is a far cry from actually performing said repair.

FTR I did "repair" this upstairs couch with some wood screws, but the fundamental problem is the construction used this junk wood/particle board that their screws ripped out of over time.

That material, even using larger wood screws, is crumbling.

And it is the spot where the reclining brackets attach the top to the bottom, so it is continually getting wear.

 

[KittiesKorner]

everybody CALM DOWN

 

[Ares]

everybody CALM DOWN

Shut up!

 

[Aesopian]

Something tells me you've never taken apart a couch and repaired it.

Knowing how to type "Couch repair" into Youtube is a far cry from actually performing said repair.

FTR I did "repair" this upstairs couch with some wood screws, but the fundamental problem is the construction used this junk wood/particle board that their screws ripped out of over time.

That material, even using larger wood screws, is crumbling.

And it is the spot where the reclining brackets attach the top to the bottom, so it is continually getting wear.

I'm no expert.

So the screws were stripped? Try using wood putty maybe?

 

[Crystallas]

Most of my furniture is older than me. But IMO, a balanced person should always have a mix of old and new.

Furniture has not significantly changed after the Eames era to improve function, comfort, and quality, or really design for that matter. Memory foam has been available longer than the majority of living persons. So when you have the opportunity to re/upcycle or restore really nice old wood, you truly can have a piece that lasts many generations with little effort.

From an environmentalist standpoint, you're best suited to buy these kinds of things for long term use.
My only gripe, is that I had too many family members that didn't buy with a lifetime in mind, always try to pass down shit designed furniture.
The majority of my old stuff was picked up over time outside family and friends. When they see I *like* old things like this, their impression is any old thing would do. It's like, your 40 year old K-Mart MDF bookshelves with bowed planks that have been in the basement for 30 years are not the same as a solid Shaker-style shelf made in 150+ years ago. I get a call every so often, we have this old presswood entertainment set, do you want it? Uhhhh....

/Long winded blurb.

Now, do you need to buy a new office chair....? Just apply rules of utility IMO. If you use something a lot, and you can upgrade that thing, then you can justify the purchase on some form of sliding scale. Office chairs in this era get used a lot. So really, your goal is to minimize the future waste you are making, then WGAF, it's your furniture and you are the one that has to use it. Other than reckless consumerism that impacts the environment, nobody should give a **** what you do.

 

[Ares]

I'm no expert.

So the screws were stripped? Try using wood putty maybe?

No... the screws were in this crumbling wood/particle board junk.

That material is no longer strong enough for the screw threads to hold... hence they ripped out and detached the recliner bracket from the material.

I used some larger wood screws to try to force the bracket back to the frame, but even those are not solid because what they bit into is not solid enough.

Have you never seen rotting wood and how easily a screw can rip out of it?

This isn't rotting wood, but same symptoms.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Why are rugs so expensive

 

[Burque]

Yes, furniture is trash these days. Paid a couple of grand a few years ago for a nice big sectional. Its already trashed.

Having two dogs doesn't help neither does the fact that I "Mainline tubs of maple syrup" according to @Novak but generally speaking it seems like anything from the major furniture marts around here is basically all the same trash with different fabrics on it. Cheap recliner parts, press metal internals etc. Walking through furniture stores recently because we want to buy some new stuff again I've noticed that it is pretty much all the same. The worst are the bed frames.

I think we are going to try to buy a couple of separate recliners and a sofa with no moving bits this time. I am over the sectionals.

We've also considered buying Amish furniture, it is built to last but you pay out the ass for it. Easily triple the price of the regular stuff here. I think it is cheaper in the midwest though, so have considered trying to buy some to bring back from a trip that direction some time.

 

[Burque]

Why are rugs so expensive

Good hand made Persian rugs last.