Furniture recommendations: simple, functional, well-made, reasonable?

June 24, 2013 12:35 PM

I'm moving to an apartment later this summer, and I need to get furniture for it (starting from nothing). I really like a particular kind of furniture: severe, simple, anonymous, functional. Think of the Lehni Bed 1, beautiful but bare Shaker woodworking, Donald Judd's standing writing desk, Aalto's Paimio chair, and so on. All of this stuff is crushingly beyond-super-expensive. I'd love to get suggestions for alternatives, cheaper things in that style from major retailers, craftspeople who make pieces like these, and, in general, furniture along those lines that you don't have to buy from Switzerland for a million skillion dollars -- stuff that's well made but with adult-reasonable prices. (It would be great if this was available in the New York City area, as well, but I welcome answers beyond that, to make this question useful to people elsewhere with similar interests.) Thanks!
posted by the brave tetra-pak to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

In trying to furnish a studio apartment, I've found that the choices within my price range are

    - particle-board designer knockoffs from Ikea
    - particle-board designer knockoffs from Overstock.com
    - "rustic," "colonial-style" stuff from West Elm, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, etc.
    - "world goods" from World Market and similar

There's occasionally stuff on Etsy, but it's generally either "restored vintage," meaning really twee midcentury modern crud with a fresh coating of twee paint, or expensive, but not especially well-designed one-off pieces.

You may occasionally find authentic designer furniture for a fraction of the list price on Craigslist and such, but then the hauling process is your responsibility.
posted by Nomyte at 12:45 PM on June 24, 2013

At the risk of stating the obvious, "severe, simple, anonymous, functional" furniture says Ikea to me.
posted by seemoreglass at 12:46 PM on June 24, 2013 [3 favorites]

If you have a good eye (or can develop one), if you're comfortable with used things, and if you have a lot of time and some flexibility to invest, you can find some amazing things by hitting various used furniture stores (yes, even in NYC). Go on a regular basis, because the good stuff goes FAST. As far as quality goes, I find used-in-good-condition often lasts much better than even the better mid-range new stuff.

For bloggers who have managed to go this route, and who have styles that may speak to you, check out Manhattan Nest and The Brick House.

I say this as someone who currently has a Finn Juhl-look alike piece getting heat treated for insects in a hot attic. There are some totally amazing steals out there if you're willing to be persistent and a little paranoid about cleaning and decontamination.
posted by pie ninja at 12:52 PM on June 24, 2013

See also CB2 and Crate & Barrel. Ikea makes many things out of solid wood and metal that are decent quality while also having that very modern utilitarian look.
posted by steinwald at 12:52 PM on June 24, 2013

Adult-reasonable prices eh? What does that mean specifically? "Reasonably priced" for my definition of 'reasonable' has constricted me to Ikea and Craigslist, but if you're just a bit better-off then I, you should check CB2. Sleek! Severe! Sexy! Stylish!
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:55 PM on June 24, 2013

Check out Gothic Cabinet Craft they often have good sales.
posted by backwords at 1:01 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I think we need a little more guidance on "Adult-reasonable prices". Out here on the left-coast, a hand-made-in-the-U.S. chair seems to start at $500 (fairly simple, dimensioned lumber) to $800 (low-end of a good hand-split Windsor or rounded Shaker style) per chair. And go up with choices of lumber or other factors which influence construction difficulty. This from folks who reside in Sonoma County.

So if that doesn't sound totally unreasonable, sounds like a day trip up to Dutchess or Columbia County, or into the Berkshires, should a couple of furniture craftspeople who could fulfill what you're looking for. Find one whose style is close, have a conversation about what details you'd like beyond that, and work something out.

And that should give you a chair that with reasonable maintenance you can pass on to your grandchildren when they furnish their homes.

If you're talking about less than that chair, you're back to "mass-market and imported from the other side of the Pacific.
posted by straw at 1:07 PM on June 24, 2013

If you like the Shaker stuff and are willing to spend a few weekends being crafty there are some DIY kits that will give you a beautiful result for a lot less money.

Also along those lines, there are some industrial designers in Germany that have started something they call "Harz IV Möbel", which translates roughly to "Welfare Furniture". It's a set of plans for basic but attractive modernist-style stuff that can be made simply with cheap materials. You will need access to a basic woodworking shop though.
posted by mr.ersatz at 1:16 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I don't believe I've ever bought a brand new piece of furniture in my life, outside of mattresses. Shop Housing Works often has amazing stuff, and I usually buy old sofas and have them re-upholstered. If you can spend the time to haunt thrift stores and antique dealers and CL, you can find great stuff, but you have to keep an open mind and not have your heart set upon the exact designer name-brand thingie you see in your head.

And you can pretty easily build Shaker repros from the catalogue.
posted by Ideefixe at 1:19 PM on June 24, 2013

I buy almost all my furniture from Craigslist, but you have to have patience and cash. (I found my leather couch in good condition for $100 delivered though!) I'm still waiting for the Thomasville settee to show up there!

One of the "frugal tricks" to furnishing your house (or to dress well) is to mix high and low priced items. But one or two pieces for each room that are "high" priced. It doesn't have to be the biggest item, but just something that adds the "pop" to a generic Ikea/West Elm room.

Alternatively, build your own furniture. (If you're in an apartment, that might not work so well.) That bed, for example, would be extremely easy to build in wood. (In fact, I've built one and then sold it.)
posted by ethidda at 1:34 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Room & Board.

Crate & Barrel.

Both are located in Manhattan.

Please clarify your price range.
posted by John Cohen at 2:37 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

If you live near a major city, start plugging names of the styles/brands of furniture you're looking for into the Craigslist search engine for your area--Shaker, Lehni, etc. Check the search engine every single day. See if there are auction houses around. Check out Etsy for craftspeople who make furniture similar to what you're looking for. It takes time, but a few good pieces will really set the tone for your place so that you can mix it up as you go along.
posted by Elsie at 2:58 PM on June 24, 2013

Seconding Room & Board. It's the definition of what you're looking for (I often call it "Design Actually Within Reach").
posted by sweltering at 3:27 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Chilton sells American-made, Shaker-inspired (and other styles of) furniture that's relatively affordable—more so than Thomas Moser, for instance. I'm not sure, it may be too much on the "elegant" end of the Shakeresque aesthetic and not enough on the "severe" end for you.
posted by Orinda at 5:42 PM on June 24, 2013

Those aluminum emeco navy chairs are pretty great, hunt for knock offs.
posted by oceanjesse at 8:04 PM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Check NY Furnish for Ashley Furniture with lower than market prices and superb customer service.
posted by raphael19 at 8:28 PM on June 24, 2013

That bed would be super simple for a metal fab shop that can handle welding and powdercoating. You could even be eco about it and use metal square tubes cut down from old gym machines from craigslist.
posted by WeekendJen at 10:17 AM on June 25, 2013