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why is furniture so fucking ugly?

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so i'm shopping for things to furnish a new apartment, in a part of the american hinterlands where there isn't a crate & barrel or an ikea in sight, and i'm discovering a sad truth: furniture is really, really fucking ugly. save for some very high-end, designer modern furniture or reproductions of antiques that are far, far out of my price range.

the cheapo shit in those "fine furnishings" places you see ads for on tv is just that..cheapo shit. it looks ugly and is made poorly. then there's the particle board crap you can buy at target, etc. and in general the stuff you find at thrift stores is just the beat-up used version of the same particle board crap. of course it's mighty inexpensive but i've spent a decade moving around buying one shit piece of furniture after another and i'm tired of it.

i don't have the $$ to furnish a whole house with decent stuff, but it pains me to spend $800 on a couch only to have it clash with a bunch of shit furniture around it.

i can see why ikea appeals to people, in this context.

my best bet is just to watch the classifieds & craigslist to see if someone is selling something decent. in the mean time i have nowhere to sit in my new apartment, my stereo and tv are on my floor, etc.

why is it so hard to find decent furniture?

fuck!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:42 (nineteen years ago)

buy retro furniture

(although it'll probably cost as much as new non-ugly furniture)

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:46 (nineteen years ago)

where????

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:46 (nineteen years ago)

i've found that discount furniture places--which oft overlap with fine furnishings places (but not always)--can be a good source. i have a nice sofa/loveseat combo from this one i picked up for $500 total.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

secondhand stores! xpost

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

where do you live am?

― gear (gear), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

buying ugly used furniture from craigslist and making "art" out of it: CLASSIC

― rudy huxtable can't fail (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 3 August 2006 23:49 (nineteen years ago)

this is complicated by the fact that i'm really sick and have no energy to shop around which stresses me out under the best of conditions

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:04 (nineteen years ago)

I am happy to live near one of the two U.S. upholstered furniture capitals. Good selection of really, really nice stuff, and it tends to be fairly cheap because low/no shipping costs.

― Whitman Mayonnaise (Rock Hardy), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:09 (nineteen years ago)

discount furniture places sell UGLY stuff, is the problem

i like really discreet, modest, well-built stuff

i live in madison wi

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:10 (nineteen years ago)

http://madison.craigslist.org/fur/189548105.html

― gear (gear), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:13 (nineteen years ago)

that's horribly ugly!!!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:13 (nineteen years ago)

i don't know how much you want furniture which resembles a mid-'80s trapper keeper though.

haha xpost

― gear (gear), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:14 (nineteen years ago)

Eww, it looks like a swirling mass of plague!

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:14 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.pier1.com/catalog/productdetail.aspx?oid=74027&returnURL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pier1.com%2fcatalog%2fcollections.aspx%3ffh_location%3d%2f%2fpier1direct%2fen_US%2fcategories%3c%7b110297%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b110330%7d%26fh_refpath%3dfacet_59432939%26fh_start_index%3d0%26fh_view_size%3d8%26fh_view%3dlister&fh_location=//pier1direct/en_US/categories%3C{110297}/categories%3C{110330}&fh_refpath=facet_59432939&fh_start_index=0&fh_view_size=8&fh_view=lister

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:15 (nineteen years ago)

"loveseat--never used"

― gear (gear), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:15 (nineteen years ago)

http://madison.craigslist.org/fur/189637864.html

― gear (gear), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:16 (nineteen years ago)

love seat with cushions no back support facilitates ending up on the floor

― youn (youn), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:17 (nineteen years ago)

i think half the shit on craigslist is stuff that people find on the side of the street and clean up a little and try to sell for what seems to be a cheap price.

― gear (gear), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:18 (nineteen years ago)

j. franzen has written about dumpster diving (so to speak), but i'm afraid of bed bugs.

― youn (youn), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:20 (nineteen years ago)

Has anyone here NOT trashpicked/curbswiped furniture at some point?

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:24 (nineteen years ago)

i'd dumpster dive except i'm too sick to get around and i don't have a truck or van i can load a sofa onto

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:28 (nineteen years ago)

so basically i want someone to donate some nice-looking furniture to me ASAP

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:28 (nineteen years ago)

Check and see if you have a local Freecycle group (http://www.freecycle.org)

― Jessie the Monster (scarymonsterrr), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:34 (nineteen years ago)

OMG I HAD THAT COUCH AND LOVESEAT

well it was a little darker and I don't remember that gold line down the arm thingy but that's damn near it(someone made 'art' out of it mebbe? indeed).
it was a gift from friends of my wife's family when we had nothing else but a child-size bed to sit on. the loveseat is used. YOU KNOW HOW WE DO IT

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:35 (nineteen years ago)

love seat with cushions no back support facilitates ending up on the floor

i just got rid of a sofabed whose cushions had gotten really limp and it did bad things to my posture...

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:37 (nineteen years ago)

ALL of my furniture (save for 2 bookshelves) has been given to me, curb-swiped or inherited. and i have some decent stuff! i feel like the day i buy a brand new couch is the day i become an adult for reals.

― rrrobyn sharkattack battleforcenet (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:39 (nineteen years ago)

can you order furniture online?

― rrrobyn sharkattack battleforcenet (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:39 (nineteen years ago)

that isn't crazy expensive?

― rrrobyn sharkattack battleforcenet (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 August 2006 00:40 (nineteen years ago)

maybe if you dont have the money to spend on nice furniture it means you're not actually ready to grow up and get nice furniture yet?

― particle board ahoy (dubplatestyle), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

There are some places on the west side (like on Odana Rd) that are always "going out of business". I got a nice table at one of 'em.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:24 (nineteen years ago)

cinder blocks and 1x6 planks are all anyone really needs.

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:25 (nineteen years ago)

Crate & Barrel ships, their rates sounded reasonable (but I live 30 miles from a retail store, so maybe that's why), $69 per order regardless of weight.

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:25 (nineteen years ago)

gear's first link is mind-bending!

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:26 (nineteen years ago)

austin sooo otm. i'm never, ever buying furniture. i have a futon, a bookcase, and a table i got for $30 at salvation army (and some nonmatching chairs)! nobody walks into my house and laughs at me and if they do they can leave. i'm poor and i don't give a shit. furniture IS ugly

― nazi bikini (harbl), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:28 (nineteen years ago)

If you're adventurous, order kit furniture off the Internets and stain it yourself. Most of it's ugly old people stuff, but Arts & Crafts/Amish pieces can look reasonably modern when you don't outfit the entire house/apartment with them.

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:29 (nineteen years ago)

(the table is the only nice thing I have though...I don't even have a proper bed, just my fouton from college)

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:31 (nineteen years ago)

i love how the mirrored coffee table is thrown in for free with the couch+loveseat.
because how could anyone sit on a couch like that and NOT participate in something illicit? i am certain that not only have i smoked pot on that couch but i've passed out on it too. i know because I remember the feel of the velvety polyester. gross.
xpost

― rrrobyn sharkattack battleforcenet (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:33 (nineteen years ago)

Madison, WI, has an Ethan Allen store. That would be a great place to go if you're into traditional furniture made of sturdy, durable wood. I've just located an intriguing-looking store called Indocara, which bills itself as a "modern Asian furniture" store, and I'm seeing some very pretty pieces of furniture on their website. I'm liking what I'm seeing on Coleman Furniture's website; that's another one with a branch in Madison. I've actually dealt with the Furniture Row shopping center people before and have been very pleased with their merchandise; I see that Madison has two of the Furniture Row stores, Oak Express and Bedroom Expressions, so you could go with that. That's four options right there. And I too hate cheap, shoddy furniture made with the flimsiest of materials. I've had plenty of moments where I've gone furniture shopping and have been taken aback by how shitty the selection is. But I don't think you'll find any of that kind of furniture with those four businesses mentioned earlier.

― Phoenix Dancing (krushsister), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:34 (nineteen years ago)

as long as we're on the topic, is this bed from CB2 too austere/modernist?

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:34 (nineteen years ago)

krushsister, you are winning this thread.

that bed is a bit too hospital, i think.

― rrrobyn sharkattack battleforcenet (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:38 (nineteen years ago)

dude ethan allen is not for people on a budget (am i wrong?). i would go for second hand stores. not necessarily thrift stores (where you can definitely find things but it won't be not ugly), but like non-fancy antique stores. i say this because i walked by one the other day and saw a decent looking dresser for $85 but didn't get it because i remembered how much i don't care about furniture and had no way of getting it home.

― nazi bikini (harbl), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:38 (nineteen years ago)

i kind of like that bed, but i'm not sure why. it looks like it should cost $100, though. xpost

― nazi bikini (harbl), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:42 (nineteen years ago)

ugly antique furniture (not the fluffy couch kind shown earlier) can always be re-upholstered on the cheap.

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:44 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I like the idea of the bed (minimalist, no head or footboard to get in the way, but a step up from the generic metal tray that came with by mattress set), but the price is kind of crazy and I'm not sure it would look cool a month into owning it.

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:46 (nineteen years ago)

yeah i don't really think it looks cool at all it's just so utilitarian looking

― nazi bikini (harbl), Friday, 4 August 2006 01:48 (nineteen years ago)

you can't sweep anything under it!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 02:13 (nineteen years ago)

(Thanks, rrobyn. I will treasure this thread.)

You could find good ideas for decorating at Ethan Allen, though. And their furniture is decidedly beautiful. And as far as being on a budget goes, I find that Furniture Row has very reasonable prices for furniture. You could purchase a whole master bedroom suite for not too much, and the quality of the furniture is very, very good. Plus they have all kinds of great financing options available. I'm not certain if the same can be said for Coleman or Indocara, but Coleman at least looks promising enough.

If you're really looking for furniture on the cheap, Big Lots has surprised me sometimes. Also, if you're going for office furniture or breakfast nook/coffee table-type stuff, you could always bite the bullet and go for those "some assembly required" pieces of furniture Target sells. As much of a fan I am of Wal-Mart, even I have to admit that their indoor furniture is often wanting.

― Phoenix Dancing (krushsister), Friday, 4 August 2006 03:07 (nineteen years ago)

jess wins

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 03:23 (nineteen years ago)

You mean Jessie, right? I went to that Freecycle website and it looks like an awesome idea. Maybe chances are good that one can find good, high quality, used furniture through that service.

― Phoenix Dancing (krushsister), Friday, 4 August 2006 03:48 (nineteen years ago)

Horrible limbo. I'm sure this is all definable as some early stage of adulthood that we hope will become vestigal in time for us to have children, but it won't.

― Tab Hunter loves to take his shirt off (kenan), Friday, 4 August 2006 04:00 (nineteen years ago)

no i mean

-- particle board ahoy (wt...) (webmail), Today 2:13 AM. (dubplatestyle) (link)

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 4 August 2006 05:47 (nineteen years ago)

Maybe Baudrillard can help answer the question....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844670538/ref=ed_oe_p/104-8187280-3975939?ie=UTF8

THAT VELVET COUCH! If I had one I wouldn't be able to get anything done, I'd just put on some Hawkwind and stare at it.

― Edward III (edward iii), Friday, 4 August 2006 12:15 (nineteen years ago)

Build your own wooden furniture!

http://www.furnitureplans.com/

― C J (C J), Friday, 4 August 2006 12:18 (nineteen years ago)

That couch that gear posted is crazy! It looks like Ben Grimm, or maybe something he would hide in when undercover, in a Get Smart-style.

Man, the Madison Massive seems to be huge these days- isn't it time for your own thread - J'accuse Madison!- Take Back The Lakes- Pt. 5?

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Friday, 4 August 2006 12:36 (nineteen years ago)

There's tons of nice furniture out there but it does cost a lot. I've spent about 3 months looking for a desk to put the PC on, with drawers, that isn't some horrible officey/glass/ modern junk and it is actually impossible. All I want is a good solid, probably dark wood desk, that will fit through my front door. And there aren't any.

― shoes in hand (disco clone), Saturday, 5 August 2006 15:31 (nineteen years ago)

What's your budget, shoes? Can you afford to spend $200-$300?
http://www.worldmarket.com/furniture/home-office-furniture/desks/lev/2/Ne/1100001/sectionId/2868/N/1100047/categoryId/1100047/pCategoryId/1100046/gpCategoryId/1100002/Ns/NEW_ARRIVAL_FLAG|1||CATEGORY_SEQ_2897|0/index.cat

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Saturday, 5 August 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, those are pretty nice! Sadly I'm in t' UK & they don't seem to ship here. Also we could do with bigger drawers to hide stuff in.

― shoes in hand (disco clone), Saturday, 5 August 2006 19:47 (nineteen years ago)

go for gear's 2nd craigslist link--they look super-comfy, aren't totally fugly, and the price is right

hope you feel better soon am.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 5 August 2006 20:05 (nineteen years ago)

Cost Plus World Market stuff (which Paul @ Santa Cruz linked to) is great and really easy to assemble, especially if you have someone to help you.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 5 August 2006 20:24 (nineteen years ago)

http://joe.siegler.net/images/durwood-thumb.jpg

― trees (treesessplode), Saturday, 5 August 2006 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

seriously, 'furniture is ugly'?

― trees (treesessplode), Saturday, 5 August 2006 20:31 (nineteen years ago)

It's true, furniture is ugly and hugely marked up to boot. And sofas are the worst offenders. Yeah, hit freecycle and big lots and the going out of business places and you might get lucky. A lot of your decision hinges on how attached you want to get to it, I went to one showroom and they were trying to sell me on "this couch will last thirty years or more" and I'm like wtf I don't want to look at the same damn couch for the rest of my life.
I got my new couch from here: http://www.homedecorators.com/
it wasn't cheap but it wasn't outrageous, like 8 or 900 for the sofa? Good quality too. I'd post a pic but they don't seem to carry my model anymore!

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 5 August 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

from homedecorators.com:

I'm putting this bad boy in my new bordello.
http://www.homedecorators.com/images/items/large/l2643410110.jpg

― milo z (mlp), Sunday, 6 August 2006 02:01 (nineteen years ago)

Up until a year ago, my wife and I didn't really have any furniture that wasn't handed down to us or found somewhere. When we bought a house, we had several rooms to fill up. Eurway is a store in Texas that has modern furniture for discount prices. They ship throughout the US.

Here are a couple of the pieces we have:

http://store2.eurway.com/catalog_images/display_ZEN-SLP_rustred_sideup2.jpg
Zen Sleeper

http://store2.eurway.com/catalog_images/display_OREGON-3CCx.jpg
Oregon Sofa

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Sunday, 6 August 2006 02:40 (nineteen years ago)

that looks like a smile

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Sunday, 6 August 2006 03:24 (nineteen years ago)

you kids and your modern slang.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 6 August 2006 03:28 (nineteen years ago)

am, you should just hire some local crafstmen to make simple-yet-elegant wooden furniture to your exact specifications.

― the eunuchs, Cassim and Mustafa, who guarded Abdur Ali's harem (orion), Sunday, 6 August 2006 03:34 (nineteen years ago)

wow, i kind of love Eurway! eurostyle furniture in texas! and it's called EURWAY! it's amazing me right now.

― rrrobyn monsters with heat fever+stroke (rrrobyn), Sunday, 6 August 2006 04:04 (nineteen years ago)

Can you believe that we have furniture here that isn't made from armadillo skins, rawhide, and longhorns?

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Sunday, 6 August 2006 04:14 (nineteen years ago)

no no, i mean, i mostly like how Eurway sounds like southern drawl for yer way. i have a thing for texas. and the american south. partly based in stereotypes, partly based in real types, and partly because of things like eurway.

― rrrobyn monsters with heat fever+stroke (rrrobyn), Sunday, 6 August 2006 04:18 (nineteen years ago)

xp Eurway tends to cross the line between the sublime and the ridiculous. Some pieces they sell are very classic, understated Danish modern. Others are full-on yuppie apartment with bad shag carpeting circa 1984 stuff.

Furniture that should come with its own Air CD worries me.

― milo z (mlp), Sunday, 6 August 2006 04:18 (nineteen years ago)

Certainly true, buy with caution!

(xpost): I suggest you come down to Texas. I've lived in Austin for the last 6 years and I love it!

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Sunday, 6 August 2006 04:29 (nineteen years ago)

amst if it's any consolation i walked through b-more's yuppie burg yesterday and licked my lips like a salivating orphan child on thanksgiving morn through the window at the $900 chairs. someday...

― PARTYMAN (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 6 August 2006 13:34 (nineteen years ago)

can't you have ikea ship to your house?

― kyle (akmonday), Sunday, 6 August 2006 13:35 (nineteen years ago)

I have two horrible sofa-beds, one a cast-off of my mother's that I've had since my kids were babies, and one that my son found at the dump. Their bones are sticking through the flesh. I drape them with Indian bedspreads, and we all know how THAT works. The first person to sit on it wedges the entire bedspread between the cushions.
I feel like Gracious Living is waiting for me, shimmering on the horizon, while I crawl across this second-hand-sofa desert. I sooth my envy of those with better-appointed homes by adopting a position of anti-materialist scorn. SOUR GRAPES.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 6 August 2006 14:25 (nineteen years ago)

That Zen Sleeper's great - anyone know of anyhting available in the UK like that?

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Sunday, 6 August 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

I've seen similar over here, trying to think where, possibly Muji,

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 August 2006 15:09 (nineteen years ago)

I'd be wary of some of that modernist knock-off stuff, especially if you see the fabric bunching up in the pictures. Sometimes it isn't worth it to be trendy - you're better off getting a big-assed sofa from a yard sale and covering it with something.

― say no to michigan! (section241), Monday, 7 August 2006 01:25 (nineteen years ago)

oh but to one day have a sofa that doesn't have to be covered with anything...

i agree though. it's all about comfort and practicality unless something is really good quality, then it's all about style and sacrifice. the designer argument.

― rrrobyn monsters with heat fever+stroke (rrrobyn), Monday, 7 August 2006 03:53 (nineteen years ago)

Solution: tatami mats.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 August 2006 04:16 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.acmi.net.au/global/images/lib/img_se_equinox.jpg

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 7 August 2006 04:49 (nineteen years ago)

Can you believe that we have furniture here that isn't made from armadillo skins, rawhide, and longhorns?

Longhorn sofa? You'd have to be careful how you sat down. Talk about a raw hide.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 7 August 2006 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

Unbelieveably they had a very similar sofabed on "60 minute makeover" to-day. The Zen 6000 from Bo Concept. In fact I think it the same sofabed. £700.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Monday, 7 August 2006 20:57 (nineteen years ago)

Looking at it again it doesn't look quite the same...
http://www.boconcept.co.uk/Files/Billeder/BC/Product2/PARTNER%20UPHOLSTERY/ZEN/PU-S-F-6000-0869-B.JPG
But I like it anyway.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Monday, 7 August 2006 21:00 (nineteen years ago)

misread as "why is the future so fucking ugly?"

cinder blocks and milk crates will have nothing to do with the answer.

― paradigm, brother? (matattack), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 02:17 (nineteen years ago)

I hate the stand on that sleeper couch. Those shiny metal legs look cheap.

― milo z (mlp), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 02:49 (nineteen years ago)

I am a collector of milk crates. There are several in my car even now.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 03:33 (nineteen years ago)

yessss me too THEFT OF THIS CASE IS A CRIME :)

― nazi bikini (harbl), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 03:49 (nineteen years ago)

Try Target online. Maybe it won't last forever, but some of their stuff is is good looking and inexpensive.

$300

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000BZ1P6C.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS260_.jpg

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 17:14 (nineteen years ago)

And overstock.com

$300

http://images.overstock.com/f/102/3117/8h/www.overstock.com/images/products/L10175367a.jpg

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 17:16 (nineteen years ago)

free shipping at overstock^

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 17:17 (nineteen years ago)


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