How do I select good quality furniture?

T

Toby

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I'm trying to select some kids bedroom furniture on a tight budget and was hoping someone would advise me on the following as I've been looking at the Argos catalogue for weeks and haven't a clue what to get:


- Do you need to get at least "Solid pine" or would you get reasonable quality with "stained wood", "pine frames" or "white wood finish"


- Is it worth paying extra for "smooth -action metal drawer runners" to avoid squishing fingers or runners fallling off?


- Is it worth paying extra for "metal handles"


Please help!

Thanks
 
Generally you get what you pay for.
Argos is ok but they do cut costs to be able to sell cheaper.

My advice is generally to spend more on less.

Get a decent bed you will spend a bit of time there. In time you can always add to your collection. Man made materials can be quite durable.
Shop around there are plenty of bargains out there.
 
Thanks Furntech, with furniture for kids though I don't want to spend a lot because their requirements now are different to what they'll need/want in 5 years or so e.g. chest of drawers can't be too high, we're not sure of future room sharing etc.

So if something is described as "stained wood" or "white wood finish" does that mean its probably MDF and is that not necessarily a bad thing?

Are the metal drawer runners important?

Previous posts here talked about Argos furniture falling apart before too long, if thats a real concern then maybe we should wait for Jan sales and try to upgrade to M&S or Laura Ashley or something I suppose.
 
Toby, its worth doing research on this. Look around for the type of furniture you really want. Then go online and see if you can source it at a better price. I had my heart set on a particular bed in a shop renowned for their expensive stock. When I looked up the manufacturer and called them to ask for other stores in my area I was surprised to get the exact same bed for 50% less than the original price.
 
Even if you end up buying flat pack, you can't beat seeing and touching the real thing (assembled) in person. Go to a retail outlet (not necessarily Laura Ashley or M&S) and use the furniture ! Maybe go easy on the bed part, but open and shut the drawers, look at how the bottoms of the drawers are constructed (solidly buiilt into the 4 sides, or a wafer-thin based tapped into the 4 sides), see if the drawers run right, etc.

If kids are small, don't spend more than middle of the road on a mattress.

Don't be afraid to go for full-height chest of drawers if your kids are small. You'll be the one pulling out the clothes for them surely for a while yet anyway.
 
Friends of mine swear by buyandsell for furniture, though it takes some leg work I suppose. Kids furniture sounds like the kind of thing people would be likely to sell on when kids grow out of it.
 
Bargaintown is great for furniture. We furnished a house for rent from bargaintown and while some of the furniture looks basic it's fairly solid stuff and quite reasonable.
 
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