Buying new furniture

Ads · 10/04/14 - 17:52

Just in the process of buying my first flat, so need to buy some furniture (as currently live in a furnished rental flat).

Are any of the national chains worth avoiding in terms of quality of product and service? I don't want to spend anymore than £1k on a corner sofa and £1k on a nice king size bed and mattress - so I know I won't get a designer product for the money, but would like something well built!

LakieLady · 10/04/14 - 17:55

Everyone I know who's bought a sofa from DFS has been disappointed with it. The cushions seem to lose their shape really quickly, and in several cases there were issues with the stitching coming undone. One friend had the legs fall off hers, and it came crashing to the ground at one end!

callmediva · 10/04/14 - 17:56

when I bought my first house, I went to a great second hand shop and got everything apart from the mattress from there.
Buying second hand means you can get a better product for less. You can always replace things as you go along

Ads · 10/04/14 - 17:59

LakieLady wrote: »

Everyone I know who's bought a sofa from DFS has been disappointed with it. The cushions seem to lose their shape really quickly, and in several cases there were issues with the stitching coming undone. One friend had the legs fall off hers, and it came crashing to the ground at one end!

DFS's no interest credit deals do seem tempting, but I don't want to be lumbered with a crap sofa am still paying for in 3 years time, so thanks for the heads up!

shackfan · 10/04/14 - 18:04

callmediva wrote: »

when I bought my first house, I went to a great second hand shop and got everything apart from the mattress from there.
Buying second hand means you can get a better product for less. You can always replace things as you go along

I'll second that. Shop around and you'll get a £3000 sofa for under £500, a £1000 table and chairs for, say, £250 etc. Makes no sense buying new.

LakieLady · 10/04/14 - 18:07

Ads wrote: »

DFS's no interest credit deals do seem tempting, but I don't want to be lumbered with a crap sofa am still paying for in 3 years time, so thanks for the heads up!

Someone I know used to work for DFS, and he claims that they make more money from their credit deals than they do from selling furniture!

My sister-in-law has a lovely corner sofa that still looks immaculate despite 15 years of use by 3 kids and 2 dogs. It came from M&S.

jarryhack · 10/04/14 - 18:08

Ads wrote: »

DFS's no interest credit deals do seem tempting, but I don't want to be lumbered with a crap sofa am still paying for in 3 years time, so thanks for the heads up!

I've had my DFS sofa for knocking on 10 years now and it's still going strong, I have got throws over it cos I have gone off the colour, but nothing wrong with the build or cushions.

JB3 · 10/04/14 - 18:09

Ads wrote: »

Just in the process of buying my first flat, so need to buy some furniture (as currently live in a furnished rental flat).

Are any of the national chains worth avoiding in terms of quality of product and service? I don't want to spend anymore than £1k on a corner sofa and £1k on a nice king size bed and mattress - so I know I won't get a designer product for the money, but would like something well built!

I bought two sofas from Ikea, they look good and didn't cost heaps and you can change covers, comfy too.

floog · 10/04/14 - 19:34

Avoid Argos furniture - cheap rubbish. I don't like DFS either as all their sofas look like they have been hit with the ugly stick.

Next Home make good quality, nice-looking mid price range furniture

netcurtains · 10/04/14 - 20:23

I got a big comfy corner sofa from The Range, I think it was £900. It still looks like new and it's getting on for 5yrs old.

mrsmoose · 10/04/14 - 21:41

I wouldn't go to a "sofa" shop for a sofa, the staff literally follow you around the shop and stalk you. It's a horrible experience and always puts us off buying from places like DFS, SCS and such like, so i'd go to a shop that's big and sells all sorts like The Range where you can just look at your leisure and not be put under pressure.

Ikea is brilliant too, i've been suprised about how cheap alot of the stuff is, I went expecting it all to be really expensive but there are some fab bargains to be had, plus everything is set out in rooms so you can get some great ideas.

DaisyBumbleroot · 10/04/14 - 21:59

I second ikea, the staff don't stalk you as they are not on commission and you can get 12 month interest free. We actually took delivery of our corner sofa (£750) from there last week, which is the same as the one we inherited with our house (8 years ago).

We also got a bed and mattress from there for £700. Our bed we bought when we moved in was from ebay, £200 and was originally Argos and the slats underneath broke and were propped up with books for about four years

The bed from ikea was £150 Iirc and we bought the good slats and the second best mattress. We've had furniture from ikea before, and sure it's nothing special (you can always spot ikea furniture a mile off, Billy bookcases especially!) and won't last forever but it's functional and when you first move into a new place you can't go wrong. Especially with their kitchen starter kits

. We're still using most of my husbands that he bought 15 years ago.

topcat3 · 11/04/14 - 02:50

I've got a sofa from dfs that is as good as day I bought it 6 years ago for £299. Unfortunately I have spilled things on it and cat has been sick on it but apart from that...

Mumof3 · 11/04/14 - 05:52

Don't order your new sofa until you're in the flat, even if you've exchanged contracts on the property purchase. Get a bean bag initially, and map out the footprint of your preferred sofa using newspaper, to see that the sizing is appropriate. Can't tell you the number of times I've seen oversized furniture that doesn't suit the space. Also, with a flat, you'll have lots of other access points to measure to make sure that the sofa fits through doorways etc on delivery.

jazzyjazzy · 11/04/14 - 07:49

jarryhack wrote: »

I've had my DFS sofa for knocking on 10 years now and it's still going strong, I have got throws over it cos I have gone off the colour, but nothing wrong with the build or cushions.

Nothing wrong with mine or MIL' DFS furniture and as for the staff following us around the shop that is rubbish - the guy that we bought ours from was great, never hassled or followed us around the shop and was very helpful.
Would not hesitate to go there again.

Also have a great sofa from J. Lewis although in a different price range.

[Deleted User] · 11/04/14 - 09:12

The range is great, i got lots of my furniture from there, they look nice and they're not too expensive. I got my sofa for about 1K, and my mum looked online for it not knowing where i got it from and found it selling elsewhere for 2.5K

And definitely look around second hand shops. You'll find you could spend the same on a secondhand solid wood table (for example) as you would for a few pieces of new MDF.

phepia · 11/04/14 - 09:27

2nd hand shop fan here- two massive wardrobes for £60.
Also ebay
Car boot also I am a fan of- especially for bowls you eat your cereal from. My family like a certain shape, and none of the reg shops seems to do them.
And personally I would buy new from Ikea, even their cheapest stuff lasts.

[Deleted User] · 11/04/14 - 09:34

Also look at your local facebook swap and sell groups, i got a brand new memory foam king size mattress (still in wrapper) with the price still on (1k) for £100!

shackfan · 12/04/14 - 07:42

phepia wrote: »

2nd hand shop fan here- two massive wardrobes for £60.
Also ebay
Car boot also I am a fan of- especially for bowls you eat your cereal from. My family like a certain shape, and none of the reg shops seems to do them.
And personally I would buy new from Ikea, even their cheapest stuff lasts.

Er, don't they all come in one shape..... Round!!!

phepia · 12/04/14 - 08:22

http://www.marksandspencer.com/brooklyn-pasta-bowl/p/p22272370?extid=ps_ggl_UK_Gen_,Offers+_PLAOffers+-->+Home+&+Furniture+-->+Home+Event+-->+20%+Off+Homeware+-->+20%+Off+Dining_M&S+Brooklyn+Pasta+Bowl+CHARCOAL?s_kwcid=AL!{ef_userid}!{ef_sid}!{creative}!{matchtype}!{placement}!{network}!{adwords_producttargetid}!{keyword}&ef_id=U0jpfQAABAdIU0xr:20140412072133:s

This is the shape we prefer, I not seen many of them for sale. Also without the lip on the outside, so its a proper pasta bowl shape.

Summer Breeze · 12/04/14 - 08:27

You could try looking at the 'clearance' section in stores such as Barker and Stonehouse.
You can get some top quality stuff at knockdown prices.

Pucky · 12/04/14 - 15:23

We bought a sofa from Harveys when we moved into this house nearly 5 years ago and it's still as comfy as ever. It's a recliner and the handle has broken, but when I get round to it it's only going to cost about £50 to repair. Would recommend them to anyone.

[Deleted User] · 12/04/14 - 16:23

You get really good deals for mattresses on ebay. Go to Dreams etc find the brand/type you like eg sleepeezzee and 2000 pockets sprung then go onto ebay and look at prices/delivery. I got one that was £900 on sale (in Dreams) and bought it for £320 with free next day delivery off ebay.

bottleofbest · 12/04/14 - 19:09

Go on FB and use used sites. They are fantastic. We only just discovered them in the last month and have been able to kit our house out with loads of things like dining tables etc really cheap.

Examples. We picked up a little Tikes slide worth £255 for £25 because the seller was moving house and had a smaller garden. A 6 seater dining table worth £400 for £40 and just yesterday we have picked up a two piece genuine leather suit for £100! Ours cost £2k from SCS 3 years ago and the springs went on it and started to fade from all the cleaning.

Just hold out and you will get some amazing bargains, purely because people either upgrade and sell, kids grow out of toys etc or people move etc. There was on lady who had bought a 3 piece suite, had it ordered and it didn't look right in her living room. She is selling it for £250 and it still has it's tags on it! It's sat in storage and she wants rid. She paid £1500 for it!

bottleofbest · 12/04/14 - 19:10

Jems wrote: »

Also look at your local facebook swap and sell groups, i got a brand new memory foam king size mattress (still in wrapper) with the price still on (1k) for £100!

Exactly, these sites are amazing!

Welsh-lad · 13/04/14 - 11:25

For a sofa I would splash out on a Collins and Hayes one - they're about £1500 from furniture village.

Avoid crappy DFS.

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