How Much Is Furniture??

Sometimes you can get deals on entire room sets on rooms to go , like the whole livingroom set for 1500.

If you need entire rooms that might be cheaper than getting them a piece at a time.

It all depends on what you want. We have two nice leather couch sets. We got them at 65% off, and paid something like 2-3k for each set. The one set still looks new and it's 8 years old.

1k for something that isn't real leather is ridiculous. You do need to shop sales, though.

I buy my stuff at Carson Pierre Scott.

I bought my nice couch, 2 chairs, coffee table and side table for $1000 at an estate sale at a really nice house. But if you need things all at once you can't wait for bargains. I didn't have any problems but I have an elderly friend wo did and...

I really wanted to warn you about buying things used these days.

Bedbugs.

Enough said.

I studied interior design for fifteen years, so I know a bit about this.

A thousand bucks for a couch isn't outrageous, actually. But you can buy something a lot cheaper. If you are young, and your tastes aren't really developed, you may find that your taste will change a lot, so you won't want to spend a fortune on furniture anyway, because you won't like it in 5 or 10 years.

So understand that a $399 sofa probably isn't great quality, and might be having problems in a few years, but by then you might be ready for something else anyway.

If you are furnishing a whole house at once, yes, go cheap. IKEA is great, CB2 is fabulous, especially if you like modern. Order a CB2 catalog, vs. looking online. It's nice to mix modern with other elements, so your decor isn't too stark-looking. I'd say $600 is a good price for a sofa.

DON'T get furniture from Target -- it will fall apart in a few months -- but other household items are a good buy there.

Costco quality is almost always great, although their styles can be a little bleh.

I was just in Cost Plus World Markets and they had some REALLY nice looking chairs and sofas. I would definitely check those out if I were you. They may not last forever, but the price range will be right. You could check out Pier 1 but I have liked Cost Plus' furniture better lately. More chic than Pier 1.

For really nice pieces, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board and Pottery Barn are places to go. But spend that money only on really special pieces that you want to keep for a long time.

Macy's always has sales, and might be worth checking out.

A mix of styles and price ranges always looks best.

It really depends so much on what you can afford and how long you plan on keeping the furniture.

Good quality furniture will cost more. It's just that simple. We paid around $2500 for a sofa and loveseat, but they're Bassett and well made. We wanted furniture that would last.

With tables and chairs, same thing. If you're ok with fake wood, you can get deals (esp at places like IKEA or Target). Solid wood, you'll pay more, but it will last longer.

IKEA is great if you're just starting off and need starter furniture. It's not really intended to last a long time; just to meet your "need now" situation at a low price.

We furnished our entire home out of IKEA. I can count on two hands the items which are not from IKEA. We chose IKEA at first because we needed the whole thing immediately and couldn't wait for delivery. We also knew our space was short lived, so we wanted small scaled furniture we could repurpose for a new home. The IKEA stuff looks clean and modern and has held up well. Many pieces come with slipcovers so they wear well, or can be "updated" from time to time.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Decent furniture is very expensive... I don't know if you have Basset around there but it seems to be good quality but not Ethan Allen prices. Maybe you can use it as a benchmark if you can find the price online. I think our cloth couch was almost $2k but we also got a very good fabric. I think $400 will be look horrible quickly. I don't think $1k is too high for a good couch. If you can at all - go to consignment stores. New furniture is so expensive yet you get so little if you want to sell it that my friends and I all say if someone has time - consignment stores are the way to go. Or garage/moving sales. Jennifer convertibles I believe has non pull out sofas and I'd put their quality as decent. So that could be another benchmark. You'll see too that the grade of fabric really impacts price. If you have young kids that will trash it, leather isn't a bad option or just go used so you don't care if they spill on it etc.

People will have varying answers. My sofas are both second hand. One from someone who was moving and selling a barely used sleeper and another friend who was moving and didn't want their 2nd sofa anymore. I like IKEA, but if you do not have the ability to get furniture from there, shop around. See what is in your area. Test sit on things. Find out return policies. IMO, I am not a fan of financing furniture. But I've also not had to furnish a house at once. If you do finance, read the fine print.

FWIW, I like the http://www.ashleyfurniturehomestore.com/catalog/product.a... sofa. Don't know how it will hold up, but it looks nice.

I'm a bad one to ask for price/what's a good price. Usually my husband and I first have to find something we actually like. Then we have to determine if the construction/how it's made it good or shoddy. Then we finally get to the point of whether how much they want for it is worth what they're trying to sell. Buying furniture--at least for us--is a pretty big deal. It is not a fast decision, nor an impulsive one.

It really, really depends on furniture quality and the type/look/feel of the furniture you wish to purchase. If you like the European look, IKEA has lots of build-it-yourself furniture at fairly low prices, which might be somewhere you could start. If you like the exotic or foreign look, Pier One has some great items, as does World Market, for fairly good prices.

Buy the basics and in a few years, when you know exactly what your taste and wants are, you can gradually start replacing pieces with better furniture that more reflects who you are and how you want to decorate.

I personally don't like Ashley's furniture look/style.

I love Don's Oak--Amish-style pieces, but can't afford the prices (thousands of dollars). Same for Century House (lovely Scandinavian/European furniture, but very high-end), Woodworks Furniture & Design (again, lovely furniture, expensive), or Thomasville Home Furnishings (I always think of the people who buy here as very wealthy people, with the furniture being family hand-me-downs). Slumberland is a tad expensive as well, but when things go on sale, they are within our availability range. And I love their Lazy-Boy recliners and their sofas.

We personally love Steinhafels (Madison, WI stores). We seem to always, always find something there that we personally like and that's within our price budget. When we first moved to Madison, Kohl's used to sell furniture; we found a lot of our starter pieces there. Alas, they don't carry furniture any more. Once in a while we find something at Shopko that isn't too bad. Even Blain's Farm & Fleet sometimes carries some furniture that we think isn't too bad (but a lot of it is pretty cheap).

Remember, too, that what you pay is what you get. Meaning, if you pay too cheap, you will get cheap.

S.:

The Sectional Sleeper (5 piece) that I am considering purchasing is $3,400 from Broyhill, so $6k is WAY expensive unless you are talking Italian Leather and made to your specifications. It is five pieces, high back, material not leather.

Ashley Furniture? Sorry - but anyone I have known to buy from them - didn't last long. So yeah...too good to be true.

Our Italian Leather furniture for our formal living room (that took us 8 years to find) was $3,400 delivered. Sofa (two reclining ends, love seat (both recline) and recliner. The company was going out of business and selling everything - the original price on it was $7,500. I told them how much I was willing to pay and made the deal.

Dining room table? We bought at The Room Store (I think they are out of business now) is solid wood with 6 chairs and was $750.

I would check freecycle.org - they had BRAND NEW furniture there from people who had bought a show house and the developer went out of business and never came to get the stuff.

Craigslist.org - another place to find great deals.

I don't know much about furniture stores in Missouri - so I don't know if you have a IKEA near you - or what other types of stores...Macy's has furniture. JCPenny has furniture in SOME stores...

What did you do with all the furniture from your old house? Won't it work in the new one?

GOOD LUCK!! HAVE FUN!!

Look at Costco online for ideas of decent quality furniture at good prices. Sure you can get a $400 couch but it will be sunken in and look awful in a year or two. Furniture has gotten very expensive in the last couple of years and the quality has dropped. The cushions are often not detachable - or if they are they only have nice fabric on one side so you can't turn them over to increase the time they look nice (we used to have a "company" side of cushions and a "family" side). But consdier why you have to furnish an entire house at one time - is this a second home used only occasionally for vacation? If son you won't need the better quality.

But $750+ is normal for a cloth couch - even a little on the inexpensive side these days.

It is less costly to buy a whole houseful of furtniture at one time since the sales manager will want to give you a decent discount. Whereever you go ask to speak with the sales manager first and advise them that you need to buy a house ful of furniture quickly and you hope you can count on him to give you good prices, service and free delivery. When they make their initial quote ask if they can do better. Ask at least twice per quoted price. Are you sure that's your best number? Then when you have all the peices together and he's ready to give you the grand total ask for a volume discount. "since Im furnished an entire house can you give me 5% off the total?" The fact that you're paying cash is a big incentive for them to give you a deal.

Depends on the quality you are looking for. Sure, you can buy a $350 couch, but it won't last long. If you like to change it up every few years, then that's not an issue. I've had a couple Crate and Barrel couches and with proper care, they last a long time (they are made by Lee Industries, a well known, quality furniture maker). You'll pay about $2k for Crate and Barrel microsuede couch. More for leather. I'm a huge fan of craigslist for furniture. You can often find practically new couches of people that have to move suddenly for work, etc. for a steal. A kitchen table I would definitely purchase on CL; the selection is huge.

Oh and some people who list on CL aren't very realistic in setting their prices. Used furniture typically sells for 1/2 or less of original purchase price, depending on condition. And I ALWAYS bargain the price down. It's pretty much expected.

I suppose it depends upon what level of luxury you're looking for.

I see you live in Missouri. Check out Sutherland's. They have some nice stuff for reasonable prices.

We've been looking around too, and plan on furnishing our (currently empty) formal living room first. We moved from a 1200sf home to a 3400sf home...so we have a lot of empty rooms. I got an advertisement in the mail from Pier One and was shocked to see how reasonable their couches were! And beautiful! We went and sat on them, and they were SO comfy! And unlike most comfy stuff, these actually look formal...not like something that belongs in the Man-Cave. For $499! So check them out.

We've decided to just do one room at a time. It's very tempting to try to furnish everything, but that would tax our savings and we don't want to do that.

Good luck to you!
♥
C. Lee

Agree with AV, really watch the fine print and find out what the return policy is--when the furniture is being delivered (in case something is wrong or it does not fit) and after. What is their policy for defects? You don't want to buy furniture and then 8 months later that couch you just loved in the beginning is sagging and they will only replace a board or cushion and not the whole thing. You could end up with material not matching.

Ashley has great furniture, from our experience, and they stand behind it.

I think $6-700 is pretty dead on for what to expect for a sofa at a place like Ashley.

Our family room reclining sofas are from Ashley.
Our living room sofas are from Pottery Barn

If I were to get a new kitchen table I'd probably get it from Crate & Barrel or Carson's.

Be very careful with used items since they can have eggs from bedbugs and other critters in them. When we bought our house 16 years ago we only had furniture from an apartment, and most of that had made it from our parent's houses through college and beyond. So we moved in our old stuff, and little by little bought new stuff. For the dining room we bought a cheap office table at Staples and put a nice table cloth on it. We bought new couches about a year later. Then came new kitchen chairs. We found a lot of good stuff at a local warehouse. We looked a lot at the big furniture stores, but only bought beds at one. Right now looking for a high bar table with 4 stools to put in the living room for us to snack at when we all watch a movie and get take out. Will read the responses with interest.

It really depends on what you like. We've gotten some of our furniture from Jeromes. Our couch and loveseat came from them as did our bed. We get a lot of our furniture from Ikea because they have fantastic modular systems that work well for us. They are also great when you have small spaces like we do. But I wouldn't recommend them for thingsl like couches. They do deliver. We've gotten some things for the kids from Lakeshore since it's made to withstand classroom full of kids. We bought our coffee table from a speciality store.

We just bought our dream house and furnished it all (living room, playroom, son's bedroom, master bedroom, and office) for just under $5,000. We bought everything at Costco, and there is not one piece of furniture that don't love. Their furniture is very high quality, and we have been extremely impressed so far.

First of all, don't fall into the trap that you feel you have to furnish everything all at once.

Second, you are on the right track with NO financing AT ALL.

When we built, I knew our house would not be furnished 100% from the get go. I will not purchase cheap furniture and then have to repurchase again in 5 yrs or so... Might as well buy quality first and be done with it!

I do not know your area so I can't endorse anyone. I know there are some companies that are all over the country and I am not one to shop at any of those.

My opinion of Ashley Furniture is pretty low, as well as Rooms to Go, Ikea, etc. They prey on people to buy into the finance program and by the time you are done paying for the furniture, if at all, you need to purchase more because the original pieces are falling apart.

We found a great leather living room set, all leather (by Natuzzi) when we built 13 yrs ago. Couch, loveseat, chair, 2 ottomans all for $3000ish. They are all in good working order today.

We bought a higher end custom leather set, couch, loveseat from Leather Sofa Company about 5 yrs ago for the formal area. You basically choose grade of leather, firmness of cushions, style, etc and then make it for you. Those 2 pieces were $5000 ish and still look brand new (of course pets are not allowed in that area of the house.

We bought our breakfast table from Amish Furniture Company, again, custom made to our specs. My breakfast table is HUGE as well as dining table.. sits 8 comfortably and is custom made by the Amish in Ohio. They were very expensive and the breakfast table is used daily. Still looks brand new.

Bottom line, I think you get my drift. We bought select pieces we loved as we found them and furnished our house that way. I like solid quality and I am not afraid to pay for something that will outlast me.

On average, I think $1000 for a good quality couch is about average.

Find a divorce sale, etc in craigslist or estate sale and you can sometimes pick up some great quality pieces.

Good luck with your furnishings!

I didn't take time to read all the posts but we just bought furniture from Ashley's awhile back and got a love seat couch end tables and coffee table for right about 1600 with taxes and delivery we really like them a lot. Watch for sales- we too hated that they never list priced on their sites. oh and feel free to barter furniture prices are like car prices they aren't set in stone which is one reason they don't post prices online

I know that you don't have Rooms to Go where you are but the prices are online so you could use it as a comparision: www.roomstogo.com

Also, JCPenney has furniture and I got a great sleeper sofa from there that has lasted almost 10 years and through two children and a cat:)

We usually do RC Willey. Their salespeople are like vultures, but they do have a good selection. Since we have had to furnish a new house over the last few years, I can tell you about what we have paid through them: Our wooden table and chairs was around $700 (seats 6), tall wooden barstool/chairs were around 100.00 each. Bedroom set (king bed, memory foam mattress, dresser and 2 nightstands) about $1500. Large leather sectional $1200. I have seen some very nice living room sets (sofa and love seat) for $800 in some of the local furniture stores here. Ikea is hit and miss but very affordable. I think their furniture looks better in the catalog- most of it is particle board type materials although things like lamps, barstools and mirrors are really inexpensive, in the 25-75.00 range.

I have been looking at furniture too and love the Ashley Basil living room set. It is neutral enough for me, I can turn the pillows to the plain side, and I love green this color. I am a total sage green person. The couch is $599, the love seat is $549, the large chair is $449, and the ottoman is $249.

I almost bought it last month when the store sale was buy one item and get another from the same set for half price. I would have loved to have them but waited. Now I have to hope they still have them when then have another sale like that.

So about $1100 is as much as I'd spend on a good name living room set. I also might buy the couch and love seat then use my existing recliner or other type chair that I have. I can tie it all together with pillows and curtains.

Do you have to do the whole house all at once? Love Ashley furniture. I would take it slow and research various places. Do not rush I to things because you may regret it. Think it through. Took me forever to furnish whole house.