Best furniture for the lowest price

[dmpteacher]

I hope to be buying a home very soon, but I'm moving from my mom's house and I have no furniture at all. (Well, one nice chair, 2 barstools and some electronics..lol)
I was wondering the best place to buy furniture for the best price. I'm a teacher, so I don't have a huge budget. I do need the basics though: bedroom furniture, living room furniture, dining room furniture.

Just an FYI, I live in TN but could travel quite easily to major cities like Atlanta or Chicago to look at furniture if the delivery charge isn't too terrible.

Thanks guys!!!

 

[kim532]

We like stuff from Ikea.

I heard on a radio show once (I think Dave Ramsey), to go to the nicer neighborhoods in your area and shop garage sales. The nicer neighborhoods change out thier furniture more frequently and just don't want to be wastefull and throw it away, so you can often get great prices on slightly used stuff.

I haven't tried that yet, but made sense to me.

Kim

 

[SalandJeff]

You might try craigslist in your area. You may be able to find good quality used pieces that will last a lot longer than cheap new ones.

 

[holden]

We have bought through Boyles furniture in NC (we live in PA). I'm not sure if they have "bargin" priced furniture, but we saved a ton over what the same furniture would have cost here in PA.

 

[dmpteacher]

Kim, I had heard that too! I just wasn't sure if it was true. When it comes down to time to move, I'll keep that in mind.

I also love IKEA and there's one in Atlanta, but I worry about the delivery price. I think there is a business here who goes to Atlanta to pick up stuff and brings it here. Does anyone from the Nashville area know anything about this?

Thanks for all of the advice and keep them coming!!

 

[dd50]

You may want to look in Haverty's or American Signature if they have any in your area.

Sometimes Haverty's has good sales. Don't forget to look in the back rooms that most furniture stores have for one left or a scratch because sometimes you can find something really nice cheap.

 

[radmom]

Last spring we purchased a sectional from homereserve.com. We were very leery at first but decided to take a chance. We are very happy with our purchase. You will be very surprised when you go to the website. The furniture has to be assembled by you but don't let that deter you. Seriously this is a great buy. Also the customer service is wonderful. I called them constantly when I was trying to make my decision and they were more than willing to answer my questions. They will also send you swatches of fabric. If you want to travel to Indiana they will give you a tour of the factory and you can pack your purchase into a mini van and save on delivery.

 

[bored]

Head to western NC in the Hickory, NC area. Go to the hickory furniture mart and pick what you like. After you pick head up HWY 321 towards Boone, NC. You will be on whats called the 20 miles of furniture. All the major NC manufactures have outlets in the area as well as tons of independent furniture stores. It would be around a 6 hour drive from Nashville.

 

[Karenj2]

For bedroom furniture & dining room furniture, I'd look at craigslist or at garage sales (you'll need to buy a new matress, but you would be anyway with a new bedroom set).

For your living room furniture, if you want the furniture to last, don't buy IKEA. (I loved their stuff when I was JUST out of college, but the furniture doesn't really hold up well - it's made of particleboard.)

This is a plug for the company I work for, but I highly recommend Calico Corners. (Yes, they do sell furniture!) They have both the higher-end, heirloom quality furniture (that if you can afford, GET) plus a lower priced middle range furniture called "Classic Home" (that's still MUCH better quality than many other stores). (There's also a Savvy furniture line at an even lower price point, but it's not available everywhere yet...)

Even if you don't go there, check out this info - it explains how quality furniture is made, and what to look for in other furniture brands, to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. (Plus, we have free delivery!)

ETA: I have a spreadsheet that I created (for work - I work in the Training department) that helps people compare the different furniture pieces/companies. I could probably send it to you if you'd like.

 

[ktlm]

Definitely keep an eye on Craigslist. We were doing that when we bought our new house, and saw some great stuff come up. We found a formal dining room set that we know cost $10,000 new, that someone was selling for $1500 (we didn't wind up buying that one). I also found a reproduction retro dining set that I wanted for DD's playroom. I had looked at it online new but it was around $1500-2000, and I really didn't want to spend that for a playroom. I was doing my daily craigslist look for other stuff never expecting that would be something that might be there as it isn't really a common item, and the exact set I wanted popped up. It was in perfect condition, and I got it for $500 dollars. You will want to look at Craigslist daily and jump on it if you see something you want because the good stuff can go really fast. You'll have to sift through a lot of junk on Craigslist, but it is worth it when that great item shows up!

Also look for furniture consignment stores/used furniture stores near the richest (biggest nicest houses) area of your City. There are people who are constantly redecorating and they get rid of some great stuff. (I know this is true because I work with someone whose wife does this very thing) Those who don't want to put their furniture in Craigslist because they don't want people traipsing through their house to look at it, or they just want it out of their house in a hurry, often will send it to one of those stores. We saw a really great couch that looked brand new at the store in our town for what I know was a fraction of what it cost originally.

Those are the ways I know to get high dollar furniture at low dollar prices.

 

[NotUrsula]

Look around at (non-ritzy) antique malls for your wood pieces. Treat them for bedbugs before bringing them into the house (a couple of days closed in a hot garage should do it.) You can get beautiful solid wood pieces from the 1930's to 60's for next to nothing if you are willing to tolerate the occasional scratch.

A new mattress set is worth springing for. Keep an eye out for sales.

Another possibility is buying from a hotel liquidator. If you find one of those, rent a truck.

 

[Mommee]

Last spring we purchased a sectional from homereserve.com. We were very leery at first but decided to take a chance. We are very happy with our purchase. You will be very surprised when you go to the website. The furniture has to be assembled by you but don't let that deter you. Seriously this is a great buy. Also the customer service is wonderful. I called them constantly when I was trying to make my decision and they were more than willing to answer my questions. They will also send you swatches of fabric. If you want to travel to Indiana they will give you a tour of the factory and you can pack your purchase into a mini van and save on delivery.

Thank you so much! We're moving this winter to a smaller house and need new living room furniture. Can't wait to show DH. I'm having fun virtual shopping

 

[Pigeon]

In the past, I would have said that used furniture was the way to go. Now with the bed bug thing, it's not a chance I'd take. And it is NOT easy to get them out of an infested piece.

 

[polkadotminnie]

Costco has nice reasonable furniture.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Be careful since Nashville had the flood getting 2nd hand furniture could come with some unnoticable mold. Which could led to breathing issues or allergy/medical problems.

 

[TeaForTulips]

I LOVE Ikea but only for certain things. Some of their stuff is you get what you pay for...cheap. But! Other things are really great deals. If you have an American Signature furniture they are really great. Good prices and good quality. We just bought a HUGE sectional from them with insurance and delivery it was right at $1000.

I also agree with those who say watch craigslist. If you have a metro area around you and dont mind going to get something you can get some great deals!

Good luck!

 

[lisaross]

u could find nice stuff at Home Goods if u have that store... how about Bob's Furntiure

 

[HelenePA]

BigLots has some nice stuff.. I got my couches there 6 yrs ago and they are still going strong with 4kids 2 cats and a dog.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I LOVE Ikea but only for certain things. Some of their stuff is you get what you pay for...cheap. But! Other things are really great deals. If you have an American Signature furniture they are really great. Good prices and good quality. We just bought a HUGE sectional from them with insurance and delivery it was right at $1000.

Good luck!

I completely agree!

We have a pine bed from IKEA that will likely be passed down through succeeding generations. It's solid wood and v. heavy and, even though you can completely disassemble it in about 10 minutes with a rachet set and a strong back, it is well put together.

We also have a dresser (garage sale for $5) from IKEA that looks good with the bed that, while not on its last legs, would not stand up to daily use (it holds occasional clothes) anymore.

With IKEA, you just have to look at the construction.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Check out Sam's Club, BJ's and Costco, even if you don't have a membership. It would pretty much pay you to buy a membership if you like the furniture: they all stock good quality, well-made, real-wood furniture at extremely low prices. I'm probably going to buy a King sized bed from Sam's club in the next month or two. Real wood, good joining, good rails on the drawers etc. It will be about $1500 less than a comprable bed at the furniture store!