Who Makes Quality Furniture?

[nun]

I've always liked Stickley, particularly the original Arts and Crafts stuff. I just bought one of these

https://www.stickley.com/OurProduct...iewBy=collection&q=settle&view=single&finish=

and one of these

https://www.stickley.com/OurProduct...collection&q=morris chair&view=single&finish=

Also check out this guy if you want something special.

https://www.blakhausfurniture.com/copy-of-river-media-cabinet

 

[Rummy]

Pop used to say, "It's all wood, except for the glue that holds the sawdust together."

I retired from a family owned and operated furniture business. There's still top quality furniture available at reasonable pricing, both case goods and upholstery.

Find a good small store in your area that cares about their reputation.

Some of the best values in solid wood case goods are made and finished by small Amish manufacturers. The same is true for small family owned upholstery manufacturers, I don't know of any Amish upholstery however.

Well made upholstery pieces will run about twice the price of generic brands (think Ashley and La Z Boy for instance). Solid wood Amish case goods will cost about 1.75 the generic brands, and last generations.

Please stay away from Chinese etc particle board, "ready to assemble" construction. Also look for "hand tied" coil spring upholstery with hard wood frames.

 

[brett]

Shortly after we were married we decided to buy some furniture. Our first new purchase. Everything else had been second hand or hand me down.

We decided to splurge but to only buy one good item vs. buying a load of junk.
So we bought a solid cherry bedroom set from a department store warehouse outlet. It has been a floor model.

Fast forward 35 years. That set still looks like new and we have zero wish/desire to replace it. We still have and use upholstered chairs from Flexsteel 30 years ago.

It pays to buy quality product/timeless style. My granny used to say ...you buy cheap you buy dear.

 

[pacergal]

Another plug for Amish made furniture. We bought a new bedroom set and TV stand a few years ago. Beautiful wood with insets, amazing craftsmanship. When other furniture needs replacement, will go the same route.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I forgot about my buddy Steve, he owns this store in htown

Amish-Built Furniture in Houston | The Amish Craftsman

 

[Marita40]

The only thing about Amish furniture, from my experience ordering my cherry dining room set, is that you can't be in a hurry! I believe it was a 3 month waiting period (which was fine with me at the time). Also, the communication was sometimes very slow. The "middleman" person was great, but I had a number of questions for the Amish builder and, since he didn't have a phone at home, there were long delays as the middleman attempted to get answers to my questions. All in all, everything worked out well in the end!

 

[zinger1457]

The only thing about Amish furniture, from my experience ordering my cherry dining room set, is that you can't be in a hurry! I believe it was a 3 month waiting period (which was fine with me at the time).

Yes it does take time when you place an order, they only start building the furniture after the order is received. My bedroom set (5 pieces) took about 10 weeks from order to delivery.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

You don't say what kind of furniture you're looking for. Upholstery? Bedroom?

The only things I won't be able to build myself are upholstered things to sit on. A reclining sofa, upholstered dining room chairs, some kind of reclining lounge chair.

 

[JoeWras]

Yes it does take time when you place an order, they only start building the furniture after the order is received. My bedroom set (5 pieces) took about 10 weeks from order to delivery.

That's a kind of cool throwback.

In fairness, our Lane sofa (purchased 17 years ago) took over 5 weeks from order to delivery. They had to manufacture it too, in Mississippi.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Yes it does take time when you place an order, they only start building the furniture after the order is received. My bedroom set (5 pieces) took about 10 weeks from order to delivery.

Even from the furniture chains, custom pieces take forever. Mom got a La-Z-Boy couch, with the 2 ends being electric recliners. Took 12 weeks from order to delivery..

 

[LiveBelowMeans]

I highly recommend Flexsteel. American made, conservative company, no debt, excellent products. You can select fabrics etc. The frame of their sofas and chairs are second to none. Not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. Recently bought a sofa and recliner from them. JMHO

 

[pb4uski]

We bought our dining room set from Lyndon Furniture (Lyndon Furniture Vermont Hardwood Furniture, Custom Hardwood Furniture) a few years ago and have been very happy it. Excellent quality. Some friends also bought their dining room set from them a ew years earlier than we did and are happy as well.

 

[Koolau]

Ronstar does I think. I haven't bought in a while but all of my furniture is Ethan Allen or my husband made. I think someone on this forum bought Amish made furniture maybe try doing a search for "amish" on this site.

We're still using our Ethan Allen furniture almost 50 years later. Don't have a clue what they produce now. YMMV

 

[Bamaman]

The only things I won't be able to build myself are upholstered things to sit on. A reclining sofa, upholstered dining
room chairs, some kind of reclining lounge chair.

My wife and I have both been to upholstery school, and can handle most refurbishment.

We do subcontract out the cushions to ladies that all they do is assemble and sew cushions as they put out such good quality work.

 

[Ronstar]

Ronstar does I think. I haven't bought in a while but all of my furniture is Ethan Allen or my husband made. I think someone on this forum bought Amish made furniture maybe try doing a search for "amish" on this site.

Thanks, but my furniture takes forever to build - no customer would want to wait for it.

I like Ethan Allen for commercial stuff, and I've seen some very solid Amish made furniture. But the best IMO is anything made by Darrell Peart for the arts and crafts look.

 

[Midpack]

Be careful of Google searches on "solid wood furniture." You will get lots of google hits. Few will turn out to be for actual solid wood. The level of discernment needed will vary.

+1, that's been my experience too. Lots of hits, few actually solid wood. I was looking for a solid mahogany bedroom set, willing to pay up, but never did find ANY.

In my experience, I've found furniture stores to be extremely overpriced and devoid of style. And, as others have pointed out, the discount chains are exactly that.. hotel or college dorm quality.

+1, the quality and style of furniture in the many furniture chain stores around us is appalling. A new (chain) Bob's Discount furniture opened near us, I walked through just to see what they had, couldn't get out of there fast enough. But that's what you get for the price many people can/want to pay I guess. The local Ethan Allen closed a few years ago, while several more cheap furniture chains have opened. The only "chain" near us with better furniture is Walter E Smithe, but overpriced. It doesn't help that the sales help in chain furniture stores swarm like hungry flies...

We still have the bedroom set I bought in the late 70's before DW. It was nothing special then, from a rent to buy store, and we want to replace the set - but it's far better built than anything at a chain store nowadays. I also have a solid wood desk I bought new late 70's for $250, I'd probably be stunned at the cost to replace it today if I could even find one like it. Fortunately it'll last longer than me.

I guess I need to look further at Amish furniture, there are many where we live. When I've looked before, everything was clearly well built, but all oak (not what we want), very traditional style and large/heavy.

 

[target2019]

This article was an interesting dissection of Basset furniture, from a 2014 perspective:

The Decline of an American Furniture Maker | The New Yorker

When I'm looking for something with more wood than particles, I go to a local furniture store, and browse. Last purchase was a corner cabinet that TV can sit on.

Having built cabinets and stands many years ago, it is hard to accept something that is particles and glue. But we do go for some Ikea every once in a while.

 

[Winemaker]

DW and I bought Ethan Allen dining, bedroom and living room furniture back in 1984. Still in use today. Some pieces bought in 1982 for DD are still in use here and at DD's.

We just purchased a few used pieces, an EA cherry highboy, 2 EA bachelors chests and some EA mirrors at a antique store 200 miles away last week. The chests replaced 2 EA Queen Anne bedside tables, and 2 Henredon mirrors.

 

[Marita40]

My super comfy and extremely durable living room chairs are from King Hickory.

 

[Jerry1]

. . . an Amish builder who I contacted online . . .

Was he using a hand cranked computer?

They tend to use help from others to get things done. When I had furniture made, there was an intermediary. She (the intermediary), had a web site and did the design and the Amish family did the building. I asked how they did all that I saw and she said that she let's them use a building with electricity and some equipment for the rough cuts and they do the rest by hand. Probably one of those things where it varies by group, but the group seemed okay with using other's electricity.

When we picked up the furniture, it was a really enjoyable experience and the furniture has worked out great. Not cheap, but designed specifically for the space/use we had and wasn't out of like with good furniture.

 

[pb4uski]

Cellphones and solar charging are really messing the Amish up in that there is no physical connection to the grid which was historically the reason that phones and electricity were prohibited in the home (but depending upon the sect allowed in phone shanties by the road or even on the outside ofthe barn).

IIRC, I remember that they also use air-powered tools a lot... I suspect that they use horsepower to generate the compressed air (or perhaps even solar today).

 

[zinger1457]

I guess I need to look further at Amish furniture, there are many where we live. When I've looked before, everything was clearly well built, but all oak (not what we want), very traditional style and large/heavy.

What I found from the different Amish places I looked at is that they usually price an item based on being built with oak but then offer about 8 different wood options (maple, cherry, etc.) at a % increase. You then add in 20 or so stain options and it can be confusing. The one's I looked at all provide wood/stain samples to help you decide which is a must IMO because they usually look a lot different in real then they do on your computer screen.

 

[O2Bfree]

We like mission style furniture, and bought a living room set from Randall Allen some 20 years ago. The fabric on the couch and love seat is a bit faded now, especially where the sun has hit it, and I'd like to get a new set, but it seems that RA doesn't make that style anymore. They've gone to leather and fabric couches. So I'm considering getting the pieces recovered. I've taken photos to send to a local outfit for a quote, but need to work up the gumption to spend that kind of money on something cosmetic.

I may decide to replace them and have been looking at Amish-made furniture for that case, so another vote for that.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

+1, the quality and style of furniture in the many furniture chain stores around us is appalling. A new (chain) Bob's Discount furniture opened near us, I walked through just to see what they had, couldn't get out of there fast enough. But that's what you get for the price many people can/want to pay I guess. The local Ethan Allen closed a few years ago, while several more cheap furniture chains have opened. The only "chain" near us with better furniture is Walter E Smithe, but overpriced. It doesn't help that the sales help in chain furniture stores swarm like hungry flies...

Hahahah, that was our experiance, But I got a free cup of coffee before we ran out,

 

[FIREd]

We bought most of our furniture at consignment stores (no brand names, but solid wood furniture from old school cabinet makers). The pieces are 70-100+ years old and will probably outlast us. When we last moved, the foreman remarked on the excellent quality of our furniture. Before going the consignment way, I looked at getting new furniture from chain stores and the price was either too high or the quality too low.

That being said, for some pieces, Pottery Barn and Ikea are worth a look. My PB sofa is 10 years old and going strong (I just purchased a new slipcover from PB and the sofa looks like new). And for more informal pieces, Ikea offers good value (some pieces of furniture don't need to be heirloom quality).