My wife and I waited a while to invest in some decent furniture, and I still can't get over how much "good" furniture costs. Just curious how much folks have thrown down for a bedroom set. What we had picked out will end up costing about 8k for all of the pieces we want, and I've asked around at work and people seem to think that, while not cheap, that kind of quote isn't outrageous.

Thoughts?

We're probably going to buy it in waves.

9/28/2014 7:14:12 PM

We put down 9K for our living room and 4K for our sunroom (look in my house building thread for pics). We spent all told about 4K for our bedroom over a number of years

9/28/2014 8:26:41 PM

Quality furniture definitely is not cheap. My advice though? Avoid sets if at all possible. If you really don't care about looks that much and just want something decent without having to put much thought into it, then obviously there is nothing wrong with someone buying a set and skip the next paragraph.

To me, sets just look boring and even cheap. Additionally, when you go all out with a set, you run the risk of stuff either looking 'dated' quicker or you just getting sick of it, and then you are stuck needing/wanting to do an all-or nothing replacement since every piece you have in the space was very hard-matched to each other. If you have the opportunity, I recommend buying quality pieces over time that don't 'match' but simply complement each other. This does a couple things: 1) It spreads the cost out which can help some people and 2) peoples' taste evolve over time. If you buy an entire room at once, it has a very specific look and you may be sick of that look in 6 months.

In terms of quality, there is still tons of good furniture being made in the US. I would definitely recommend splurging for quality, made in the US for as much as possible, especially for frequently used upholstered pieces. Additionally, do not discount the idea of craigslist, consignment, or thrift stores. We have gotten some fantastic finds through these routes. It takes a little bit of looking but it can definitely be worth it. Additionally, don't be afraid of going 'cheaper' for some secondary items that don't receive a lot of abuse like extra dressers etc. For example depending on your style, some places like IKEA have some interesting options for dirt cheap that look much nicer when surrounded by nice furniture.

We have probably spent more time than most on furnishing our house because both my wife and I have really come to love furniture and design, but we balance the splurge and thrift.

Master Bedroom:
-Bed Frame: $200 from IKEA. We got this as a long-term temporary purchase to curb spending instead of the $1500 beds we were looking at, but it has ended up being nice and very sturdy so we've had it for awhile and plan to keep it for the foreseeable future.
-1 solid wood vintage dresser. $140 that was re-painted. It's long and low with 9 drawers.
-2 IKEA dressers ($200 each)
-bookshelf + desk combination on sale from Crate & Barrel- $200
-My nightstand is from CB2 - $150
-Her nightstand is from West Elm - $150
-Misc. solid wood vintage small dresser in the corner from a thrift store ($30)
-Floor mirror from Marshalls $50

So we furnished it over time and only spent about $1300 and furnished it with pieces that we really liked and individually picked out. That might not be your thing though.

We spent much more in the living room, but we still bought it slowly over time and bought pieces we loved. That room ended up being a bit more expensive though as the anchor pieces are a custom sofa made from someone in NC ($1900 I think) and an upholstered chair from Room & Board ($1000). So you can see some rooms we were able to do cheaply and other rooms have been major splurges.

Whatever you do, make sure you love the pieces you buy. Furniture is expensive and you'll end up having it for awhile, so don't settle for something you don't love to save a few bucks. Obviously there is a tipping point, but keep that in mind.

9/29/2014 8:51:42 AM