doctor Bob
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My my, that's something to behold.
The State Of Furniture
- Thread starter danst96
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My my, that's something to behold.
That was like the MFI stuff where once assembled and put in place that was it, often several items holding each other up. Try and move it and it had a built in function that would make it return to it's flatpack status once again.
So it is not just a North South divide, it is a London & counties attached to all the rest divide. Perhaps you need an HS2 extension into devon & cornwall because according to bumbling Borris that will help cure this problem up north so it could do the same for you down there.
The one thing it does do is remove all the snobbery about possesions because it means everyone has the same sort of stuff, it is another phase we are in where we can all have the same cloned furniture, drive around in similar looking metal boxes, shop in the same shops wherever you live because all the highstreets are clones of each other and eat the same crap because they are now everywhere, going are the days of individualism.
I think we live in a disposable age. Every new house now has that 'Pacific Rim' look with badly made bleached oak or heavily stained furniture. The old reliables like oak tables and dressers have gone. I wish people would consider commissioning more bespoke furniture. - not everything has to be at David Linley prices . 
Nick S
Member
The only quality solid wood furniture is Ercol the jacobite range (dark stain) is peanuts picked up a tall corner unit at auction for £6 in perfect condition
The natural Elm is a lot more I inherited a corner cupboard and Pandora box I bought my grandparents when I worked there over 40 years ago it still looks like new and is beautifully made
thetyreman
Established Member
if you're a woodworker knocking out a simple bookcase shouldn't be an issue, the problem is people are lazy and hypocritical, they'd rather support an unbelievably greedy corporation who is destroying the planet instead of spending a few hours with some hand tools in a shed, I have made several bookshelves and they are miles better than the crap you can get form ikea, in fact I destroyed my billy bookcase and replaced it with a really nice pine one that was custom made for that space, out of all the projects I've done it might have been the most satisfying to make.
doctor Bob
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Totally agree. Some of the things i have repaired over the last couple of years would make your toes curl. I do find it very poor that big designer brands charge thousands for veneered MDF jewellery boxes, tables, sideboards etc that admittedly do look nice but seem to be made to be seen rather than used
danst96
Established Member
this is the sentence i couldnt think of. it is exactly the sate of furniture now.
Hornbeam
Established Member
There is absolutely nothing wrong with good quality veneered furniture and in many cases the use of veneer over a quality stable stable substrate can be superior to solid wood construction. The problem is that may companies are using cheap very thin veneer over poor quality substrate with poor quality construction
Products like g plan from 60s and 70s seemed to get the balance right for affordable quality. Ercol quite a bit above
Companies like oak furniture land have tried to promote the benefits of solid construction but in my opinion use a quality slow growing hardwood resource to produce crap with relatively short functional life.
The problem is that people treat furniture as disposable and want to change every 5 years so there is little point in large companies designing and producing items that will last 50 years plus
Products like g plan from 60s and 70s seemed to get the balance right for affordable quality. Ercol quite a bit above
Companies like oak furniture land have tried to promote the benefits of solid construction but in my opinion use a quality slow growing hardwood resource to produce crap with relatively short functional life.
The problem is that people treat furniture as disposable and want to change every 5 years so there is little point in large companies designing and producing items that will last 50 years plus
danst96
Established Member
I agree however what I take exception to this is when a piece of furniture is very expensive (i.e. a relatively small sideboard priced around £3-4k). If it's reasonably priced then yes of course
If your looking for some nice slabs, think they have redwood, walnut and oak might be worth looking at BPI auctions, im after a piece of bog oak they have for a project
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Falmouth is one of the largest deepest harbours in the world and it is served by a single track railway line.
TheTiddles
Established Member
On the Island, that’s only just come into fashion, I hear they will have electricity one day soon
I suppose it is a trade off, if you have a nice area then do you want it to become like one of the home counties, just a rat race where more people are only surviving rather than actually living. I escaped that rat race when I heard another six thousand houses were going to be built and glad I did.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
His daughter might have a bit of trouble getting them in her handbag for her next trip to Greece, though.
stuart little
Established Member
Watched a 'Mega Factory' programme once of Ikea's factory in Poland.Ikea getting good rep on a woodworking forum, whod have thought
agree with this though. My parents house is full of it.
Anthraquinone
Established Member
I have just moved my daughter to a new house. The Ikea furniture went down and up again with absolutely no problem as you would expect if done carefully. Ikea make very well designed products and not a scrap of glue anywhere. If the furniture had been traditionally built it would have been a nightmare to move.
The custom made lounge furniture we have has engineered wood pannels and solid wood frames. The panels will not shrink twist or split like solid wood can do in a modern house with central heating. I am all for modern technology if used in the right way. Just because things were made in a "traditional" way does not make then better. A brother in law's longcase clock all bet fell apart in a centrally heated home and that was built by traditional means. Of course you can learn from the past but things improve and move on it is called progress.
The custom made lounge furniture we have has engineered wood pannels and solid wood frames. The panels will not shrink twist or split like solid wood can do in a modern house with central heating. I am all for modern technology if used in the right way. Just because things were made in a "traditional" way does not make then better. A brother in law's longcase clock all bet fell apart in a centrally heated home and that was built by traditional means. Of course you can learn from the past but things improve and move on it is called progress.
Our first trip to Ikea was to the first UK store, in Warrington, not long after it opened. We had shortly come back from a week in Holland where we'd been amazed at the well designed stuff for homes stocked by modest cost chain stores. Ikea proved just as good, design wise. Nowadays we've read that the UK market is more conservative than Europe, so if you're hunting good modern design better look in branches there.
Ikea gets stuff made for it all over the world. One of our first puchases was a pair of standard lamps with hemishpherical shades. They still look great about 25 years later. You'd never guess from normal looking, that the upright is made from round black pcvu downpipe. Not toddlerproof, but then you wouldn't buy a standard lamp for a playroom. We also had one of the tall basic cheap (lack?) narrow tables in the hall for over 20 years. Which? rates their kitchen units too, aganst other maker's melamine and dowel kitchen furniture. It's a bit like a Dacia, and a Rolls with Mulliner Park Ward bespoke coachwork; both can be properly made, fit for pupose (getting from A to B), but made and priced for different markets.
Ikea gets stuff made for it all over the world. One of our first puchases was a pair of standard lamps with hemishpherical shades. They still look great about 25 years later. You'd never guess from normal looking, that the upright is made from round black pcvu downpipe. Not toddlerproof, but then you wouldn't buy a standard lamp for a playroom. We also had one of the tall basic cheap (lack?) narrow tables in the hall for over 20 years. Which? rates their kitchen units too, aganst other maker's melamine and dowel kitchen furniture. It's a bit like a Dacia, and a Rolls with Mulliner Park Ward bespoke coachwork; both can be properly made, fit for pupose (getting from A to B), but made and priced for different markets.
