Furniture on budget

[remo72tg]

I'm gonna be closing on a new home in a couple of weeks and need to pickup some living room and dining room furniture. I really don't wanna spend a lot of money on expensive furniture and was wondering if you guys could recommend stores like Ikea or any internet site that sells reasonably priced modern looking furniture.
I'm not far from NYC, if anyone knows any places there. I appreciate any comments.

 

[RedLantern]

Consignment stores.

 

[Joffrey]

Browsing Craigslist should be ontop of your list. Of course, much of it is crap but you may be able to find some good deals. I picked up a pretty pimp faux-suede sectional for ~$200. It has some minor dings but it looks great and works for my budget. If I had a higher budget (say $500) I would have been able to do much better.

 

[Matt]

When I was just starting my professional life, and moving in with my then gf (who was still a student at the time), her and I went crazy at the thrift stores and had a blast sanding, staining and restoring old furniture. We used to get compliments aplenty on the dusty old crap we picked up from the Salvation Army for pennies, sweated over for a few hours, and stuck in the living room. As a nice little bonus, when her and I moved to Asia, we sold it all to an antique dealer at a reasonable-enough profit.

 

[Piobaire]

If you want new, easily co-ordinated, inexpensive, and (usually) decent quality, IMO, Ikea cannot be beat.

I second the others that thrift stores and consignment stores are great. Years ago I too did some furnishing out of them. In fact, I still have one or two of the better items I bought.

 

[remo72tg]

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'm gonna go get my stuff from Ikea, just looking at their latest catalogue they have some nice furniture reasonably priced.

 

[sho'nuff]

i would advise not getting anything investable from IKEA like a bed frame or dining table. they will break on you. my brother in law purchased a bed frame because of the savings but had to replace it because the support wood attachment in the middle snapped in half while he was sleeping on it, so he had to go get another frame this time from Ethan Allen

look into accessory pieces like side tables and stuff that are lower maintenance from IKEA

 

[designprofessor]

CB2

 

[shoreman1782]

If you want more designer-type-approved furniture, the classifieds on apartment therapy generally have some cool stuff.

 

[redgrail]

If things from IKEA break on you, they have pretty much the best return policy in the world... Not really an issue.

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by redgrail

If things from IKEA break on you, they have pretty much the best return policy in the world... Not really an issue.

i would have to disagree.

the several times i had to return something to IKEA it was such a hassle. they will say anything to prevent you from returning it. for instance, i had to return a lamp that i changed my mind on because it did not look good in our room, we argued back and forth because i did not have the cellophane wrapped around the lamp and placed back in the box. i had the box and the styrofoam but since no cellophane the manager had to come out and say i could not return the damn thing. i finally won but what a hassle.

one other time i had one of those chairs that i had to assemble , but you know IKEA poor quality, everything assembled up to the last screw and joint, where it did not line up correctly. this happens alot on their bigger items that you have to assemble. there is always that 50/50 chance that the last piece won't line up, impossible.

or the one time i had a piece that i wanted to exchange becuase the hole where a special screw went in stripped the screw. i took it back to exchange the whole furniture, but they insisted they only exchange the screw. i didnt try it right there , because i had to unpack everything again, so i took it home and tried again and of course it got stripped. so i had to drive all the way back and ask for an exchange, but they gave me a hassle because i was missing a plastic bag or something. what assholes

 

[jefe]

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

i would advise not getting anything investable from IKEA like a bed frame or dining table.

For what it's worth, we have a bed from Ikea in our guest room that was purchased in 2002. It was our primary bed until 2 months ago.

I think it's called the Malm and they still sell it.

 

[otc]

I have a 2nd edition jerker desk with overhead shelf and everything that I have had for years and absolutely love. The key to ikea is knowing which items are good.

Some items have really bad thin veneers that don't work well for the application. They may be OK for drawers or something but on a coffee table that gets a lot of use, a bad veneer will soon be a problem. Feeling the items in store is usually a good indication of how long they will last...if the store model isnt doing so well...neither will the real thing.

Check out http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/ for great work that has been done with ikea stuff. I was inspired by it to go ahead and build a little extra surface space for my kitchen. I wen't to the scratch and dent area and got some parts. For under $1, I got the side of a shelving unit that is about 4-5'x1'x1.5" to use as a surface. Then I found a table with an absolutely destroyed surface for under $30; it had 4 stainless adjustable legs that usually go for 30something a piece. they even gave me the tools to take the legs off and I just left the table surface. Mounted two of the legs to the board and mounted it to the wall on the other side with shelf brackets and now we have a sweet table. I always make sure to stop at scratch and dent now

 

[mrgoodeals]

whats your idea of expensive? you could get a dining table at Ikea for around $100 or you could get one for 20k. If you're willing to spend 600-700 on a dining table, I highly suggest West Elm; it's part of pottery barn and William sonoma. The quality is really good, and the styling is very tasteful. Check them out.

 

[UserNameToronto]

Originally Posted by remo72tg

I'm gonna be closing on a new home in a couple of weeks and need to pickup some living room and dining room furniture. I really don't wanna spend a lot of money on expensive furniture and was wondering if you guys could recommend stores like Ikea or any internet site that sells reasonably priced modern looking furniture.
I'm not far from NYC, if anyone knows any places there. I appreciate any comments.

We have furnished our townhouse (~1300sqft) 100% from Craigslist and thrift stores. Some items we have left as is, most we have re-covered or refinished in some small way. Most items have a mid-century modern feel (1960s) or an industrial or antique look. Total spent so far would be under $1500 and the palce looks smashing.

In particular, I would check out Craigslist/thrift stores in places like Utica and especially Rochester. Places that were prosperous in the 1950s-70s, but do not contain a critical mass of midcentury freaks/hipsters to drive up prices.

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en...-8&sa=N&tab=wi