I went furniture shopping for my teen daughter's room. Found a set I like - for the desk and hutch it was $998 + we need the bed, new matteress set, chest, dresser and a vanity. -I have almost decided on this set when I look at it and realize the back is not finished!!!!! I pointed this out to the sales person - they said well you put it up against a wall!! I told him for a thousand dollars I should be able to put it in my front yard and dance around it if I wanted to -- has anyone else noticed the short cuts they are taking in furniture?

That's awful... and it's also bad how all the prices go up right around the time Tax money comes in...

But back to your quality issue... My mom bought a living room chair from a store last year and it broke two weeks later, we returned it. store said they would fix with a solid piece of wood, we went and picked it up for her... when the same thing happened, we peeled the upholstry back a little and NO, they did not fix it the way they said they would... She returned it and demanded a full refund, which she promptly got.
What a headache though hauling it back and forth to the store...

Needless to say, we won't ever try and do business with that furniture store again and it's a national chain.

X
feeling your pain!

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Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

I have antique pieces and the backs are not "finished" on any of them, so this is not a new trend.

I did buy a new rolltop desk about 10 years ago and the back is finished on it. However, it's big and i doubt I would ever place it off the wall where one could see the back.

Quality furniture will be made of real wood, not particle board, and not stained to look like oak or cherry. Quality furniture will have dovetailed drawers and hardward that is durable. You have to spend a little to get a little. Have you considered an unfinished wood store? Look closely, but once you get to the real thing, it's quality, then you stain as you wish. hth

I don't know if you have Amish around you but, we bought both of the boys an armoire and desk/hutch sets about 6 years ago. They are solid wood and IMHO, very good quality. Ours are solid oak.

Last year we replaced my bedroom and both kids rooms..I did pay a arm & leg for all the bedrooms sets...Example : (1)Twin Sleigh Bed and (1)Chest of Drawers was $1,798. I too was disappointed that the quality of the furniture is well made but the back panel is not stain only the edges are stain After looking at a bedroom suite that was around $ 9,000 I notice it's back panel was not stained also. I do think it is sloppy craftmaship,but I couldn't find any panels that were stain on my shoopping trips.

Aanubis--ITA..My dh has worked with wood so he knows what to look for..I was amazed on how many pieces of furniture we found that had particle board with a thin layer of veener on top....That is one reason why I looked for years for a bedrooms set..I wanted good quality furntiure that will last for years .... If I needed to strip it down, later down the road to restain it ..I will be able to....They are really good on covering up these things. I had sales people telling me it was solid wood when it wasn't..So be careful when looking at the back of the furntiure run your hand along the edges it should be very smooth and look close to see if you see and feel a small layer on the very top... if you do more likely it is particle board with veener.

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

Anyone else notice that furniture stores never really have sales anymore, even around Labor Day, etc.? Instead, they just offer the extended financing deals.

We bought a new bedroom set from Haverty's 2-3 years ago and we were told that it was solid wood and that it was made specially for Haverty's somewhere in North Carolina. Needless to say, when it was delivered, I saw a sticker on the inside frame of our sleigh bed that said "Made in China." The salesman really shmoozed us and we believed him. For some reason, we believed him since we had bought other pieces from him throughout the years.

Luckily, we haven't had any major problems with the furniture yet. The only thing is that it is hard to dust. The only thing I have really been able to use is the Guardsman spray that came with it, and that doesn't even work that great - it just kind of pushes the dust around. I have also tried a few different kinds of Pledge, even the one with orange oil, and they all leave the finish looking terrible. As you can see, if you click the link below, the finish is dark so you can see the dust really well. Anyone have any recommendations on something else I could try using on it?

This is my furniture: http://www.havertys.com/catalog/grou...up=HVT122+-+MB

Veneer is, as you know, bad news in this day and age. Years ago, it was thicker and held up. I think people are uneducated in what makes quality in furniture. Yes, too many pieces out there with particle board and a veneer, or worse, paper like wallpaper over it - advertised as oak or cherry or mahogany. Let's not even start about moisture issues and leaning/swaying due to the hardware not having anything to sink into ! There is NO way I would ever trust a salesperson in a furniture store as they are on commission and will pretty much tell the customer anything for a sale.

Places like Rooms to Go abound and people "think" they are getting such a good deal and in reality it's crap. You have to balance what you spend for quality. Real wood is the best. I only have the rolltop as new, everything else is antique oak and I learned a lot about it before I bought. People who buy crap should have educated themselves 1st when making such an expensive purchase.

Poster above, I used a spray on orange oil..Pledge I believe it is. It is almost like a gel, very thick. I get a good shine with it and it cuts thru grease.

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Live, Love, Laugh

I have not wax my furntiure yet but it is getting to where I need to wax it..I plan on using a soft furniture paste wax ..I would recommend waxing maybe 1 or twice a year.. My bedroom furntiure is brown cherry and yes it is dust magnet...That's the price we have to pay for having dark furntuire.. dust is more noticable on it My kids bedroon is your normal red cherry wood and shows less dust..

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Aanubis--ITA .. Rooms to Go has poor quality furntuire so did Rhodes.. I did notice Ashley furniture, Harverty & Ethan Allen had the better quality furntuire but a few pieces where not that great..
The thing that amazed me I told them I didn't want to see any sets that contain particale board..The sales people pulled out the drawers showed me the dovetail joints and was telling this is solid and etc I pulled the dresser out along with the guy telling me you won't find good quality like this..this is well made...Rub my hand it was smooth and when I brought my finger nail across the top of the edge that is when I notice it a very tiny layer of veener you could see the stain was alittle different..I literal had to strain to see this one...I could not believe it ..It almost fooled me..

I still need to replace my living room,dining room & pc room ..I will proable end up buying it from Ethan Allens or Harvety..But the pieces I'm looking at are pretty expensive..I don't know if I want to spend that much money on something and have to replace the couch 5 years down the road.

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

I just bought all new living room furniture and I always shop locally and then order directly from North Carolina. Living in Ohio neams no sales tax although there are shipping costs involved. It is truly an incredible savings. When I did all of this in Nov, I thought, I would give the local store a chance. After picking everything out they quoted me $4211 out the door. I called North Carolina and their cost even after the shipping was about $3550. There was still a wait time of 6 weeks because everything had to be made up from the manufacturer. I still would have had to wait from the local store because I always pick out the style from the showroom and then the fabric from the samples. If anyone is interested in pricing from North Carolina, get in touch with me and I will give you the toll free numbers. Over the years, we've ordered mirrors, curios, chests, 2 dining room tables with 12 chairs, sofas, and recliners. They ship everything with inhouse set up. The brands that we got last month were Lazy boy and Flexsteel. One of the great things was, the Flexsteel fabric was only available through Flexsteel Showcase dealers and they were able to get me those fabrics.

twalters1- I would love more information on how to order through North Carolina!!
clanter1@cinci.rr.com

Wow thats a nice bed. I once read to use a hair dryer for hard to dust items. I have never tried this but it may be worth a try.

Twalters!- what is North Carolina? Is it a furniture co?

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TLJ ~ Where opinions are encouraged, not deleted

You laugh at me because I am different,
I laugh at you because you are all the same.

Your mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open.

I order from www.homewayfurniture.com or from www.hickorypark.com You must do your shopping locally and get all of the model #'s and fabric #'s and call them for a quote. They are both very nice to deal with and I have had wonderful experiences with both. email me with any other questions you have twalter1@woh.rr.com

I just wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions on dusting my bedroom furniture.

I have tried the Pledge in the spray bottle with orange oil and it left a terrible finish on my bedroom furniture, but it's great for some other pieces of furniture I have.

I think I'm going to try a soft furniture paste wax as angel38 recommended.

Also, thanks to twalters1 for the information on how to order direct from North Carolina.