How to Avoid Fast Furniture
You have heard of fast fashion. Did you know there’s fast furniture? The Wall Street Journal published an article about fast furniture, stating that the average life of a sofa is only seven years.
In this article, specific brands that we’re familiar with are referenced, like West Elm and Joybird. The article showed examples of retailers that sell couches that are falling apart after 3 years.
When you’re looking at these brands, one thing to know is not all furniture from one store comes from the same manufacturer. There are better quality pieces of furniture at Ikea and there are lower quality pieces of furniture at Ikea. That’s true with every retailer.
6 Tips to Avoid Fast Furniture
How do you avoid fast furniture? I’ve got six tips that will hopefully save you money and fill up your space with pieces that you’ll keep for much longer than the average.
1. Be Intentional
The first tip is to be more intentional before you get out your credit card. Don’t just buy things on a whim unless you’re at a flea market and it’s something that you’ll not be able to find again.
Take time to plan out your room, plan your floor plan, come up with an intentional color palette, and put together a mood board so you know what you’re buying. You can make your purchases intentional and less likely to be something that’s just a quick bargain.
2. Repurpose Older Furniture
Consider keeping pieces that might be a little bit worn out and repurposing them. You can reupholster, repaint, or restain the furniture. You can have someone else do this for you.
Sometimes that’s less expensive than buying a new piece. If it’s a quality piece of furniture, it can be worth it to redo it. I’ve been known to break out a spray paint can to repurpose a lamp, and as soon as I painted it, it was as good as new.
3. Buy Second Hand
Buy things secondhand. You are going to be amazed if you haven’t spent time on Facebook Marketplace or some of your local garage sales at the great finds. I could fill up an entire house with things that I find on Facebook Marketplace.
If you’re looking for something specific, like a bed or a set of chairs, go on there once a week for a few weeks. See if you find something on there that’s even better quality than what you could afford to buy. You’re going to be shocked.
Check out the local Facebook Groups in your area. In my city, there are at least four online garage sales that you apply to join. They have completely different inventory than Facebook Marketplace, so they’re definitely worth checking out. Plus, I didn’t even mention garage sales and flea markets. These are things worth visiting, and it’s worth taking your time to shop around.
4. Buy Versatile Pieces
Don’t buy anything that goes in your house that you can’t see using in more than one place. I’m going to exclude your sofa and your bed. Most things that you buy—accent chairs, case goods like a desk or a bookshelf—think about how that might fit into more than one spot in your space. If you can use it in more than one place, you’re more likely to hold on to it.
5. Some Things are Worth Paying for
Accept that some pieces are going to cost a little bit more, but it’s worth it because they last. You can reupholster it or get a new slipcover made for it. This is something that it’s sometimes worth paying a little extra for since it can last a long time.
In fact, I did a post about how to determine what’s in your sofa. See this Sofa Buying Guide for more information.
6. Research the Construction
Investigate the quality of the pieces that you buy. Sometimes you have to be a good investigator because they don’t make it easy. Look through all of the detailed information on the manufacturer’s website. You can figure out what the piece is made of and sometimes it’s worth investigating how the piece is constructed.
I’d love to hear in the comments what’s a piece of furniture that you bought in the last five years that hasn’t stood the test of time? What was it and where did you get it? This kind of information can help all of us to make better, long-lasting furniture-buying decisions.
