topic Re: Furniture these days in Community Chat

Furniture these days

bonnielu — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:12:12 GMT

Walked through a furniture store to enter a local mall. Everything was oversized.... really big,long, bulky. My house would never fit any of it. Really curious, I have not bought furniture in years. If I needed something it seems EVERYTHING is beyond my space.

Thinking if I ever have to sell my house would it be an issue that my rooms would never accomodate what I saw in this store. I did ask a sales person and they seemed to think big size was the new normal.

Re: Furniture these days

Goldengate8361 — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:13:44 GMT

I suspect furniture is bigger now because people are bigger (i.e. fatter) now.

Re: Furniture these days

Desert Lily — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:51:15 GMT

@bonnielu Some furniture stores and department stores have sections devoted to "smaller spaces" (Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, Macy's, ikea, etc.), and some furniture stores and department stores have a greater selection online these days - Some of those pieces are shipped directly from the manufacturer and require assembly.

Re: Furniture these days

phoenixbrd — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 12:41:53 GMT

I think you have choices frequently depending on where you shop. There are choices for both larger or smaller furniture. (Wayfair offers many choices.)

Most of the furniture in my home is fairly large....I can do this because I have few well thought about/placed pieces. I don't jam a lot of furniture into my home.....rather have few really special pieces. It also depends on the function of the furntiure. The bathroom space requires smaller furniture, whereas the family room demands a large family sectional.

Re: Furniture these days

on the bay — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 08:36:31 GMT

I've been looking at a couch for my daughter. I've seen many smaller ones and larger ones.

I think the very large sectionals are popular not because of people's size so much but because families esp with children like to assemble on the couch together and watch tv together. And when having extended family or friends. Instead of going to movie theaters as much, people are gathering on their sofas in their own homes. Watching football, Christmas movies, all these things are a wonderful way to hang out together on a couch that can fit everyone (if they have the money!).

Re: Furniture these days

Cakers3 — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 10:26:12 GMT

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
I suspect furniture is bigger now because people are bigger (i.e. fatter) now.

@Goldengate8361 Nailed it.

Car seats are wider, too.

Re: Furniture these days

AngelPuppy1 — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 10:33:55 GMT

Hmmmmm -- interesting! I haven't shopped for furniture in ages either. Maybe also because a lot of the newer homes seem to have the open floor concept??? I think most older homes have separate rooms and the rooms seem to be smaller. I know this is true in our home which was built in the '50s and when we were looking at homes to pourchase, the older homes all pretty much had smaller, separate rooms, and the newer homes, a lot of them had the open floor plan and a much larger space! If I had to buy new furniture, I might have a problem also, then!

Re: Furniture these days

Winkk — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 12:58:55 GMT

I know what you mean. I recently bought living room furniture and when I went to chain furniture stores it was all big stuff. I have a small rancher and could not accommodate such big items.

I found shopping at individually owned stores is better. They have a better selection and work with you to find what you want. I ended up buying Flex Steel furniture. I bought it last February but did not get it until September.

Re: Furniture these days

RollTide2008 — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:50:12 GMT

In the last two years, I’ve purchased a sofa, 2 easy chairs with an ottoman, tv stand, bookcases, and a dinette set. I didn’t have any trouble finding standard size pieces that would fit my space. And I’m a large lady who fits quite comfortably in a standard chair.

Re: Furniture these days

deepwaterdotter — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:55:29 GMT

A larger price tag accompanies these larger pieces. If you want to buy off the showroom floor, you will have to pay that larger price. Smaller-sized items can be special ordered.

Re: Furniture these days

SharkE — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:08:45 GMT

All the colors are ugly too. You got browns, greys, black faux leather.

Reminds me of Bonanza TV show.

Re: Furniture these days

sometimesQVCaddict — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:19:10 GMT

Every store in the whole country is not the same obviously as 1 store in 1 city, so it's apparent that's what sells in your area or in that particular store.

I recently have been buying furniture & there are a million choices in all sizes & shapes for all rooms of the home. That's at local "chain" stores, more specialized or local stores & going completely custom special ordered. There are probably 50 different stores I can go to just within a half hour radius of me.

Actually am not purchasing anything oversized for all I have purchased or that's being custom built, as I live in an older home plus I don't like that kinda style.

Re: Furniture these days

SharkE — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:20:44 GMT

I love those 'luxury lounger' chairs at the theatres. Wonder if the common person can buy one ?

Re: Furniture these days

Trinity11 — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:24:29 GMT

It isn't new...large furniture has been around for at least twenty years. Even Ethan Allen, seller of classic looking furniture changed the scale of their furniture. I remember when we moved seventeen years ago, replacing our sofa took a week of shopping. Finally, found one that I still haven't replaced.

Re: Furniture these days

proudlyfromNJ — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:32:09 GMT

Houses are much larger these days than they used to be so they can easily accommodate larger furniture.

Re: Furniture these days

gardenman — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:42:30 GMT

If you poke around online (Wayfair, Amazon, Overstock, etc.) you'll find furniture in every size, shape, style you could imagine. Individual stores carry what they think will sell there, but if you poke around just a little bit, you can find very small furniture if that's what you want. You can find very large furniture. You can find anything these days.

Re: Furniture these days

ScrapHappy — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 15:51:16 GMT

I've bought furniture for our family room and living room within the past 2 years. For the family room we got a large sectional with the large ottoman in the middle...love it! The size of the room is large so it can handle the size of the furniture. We had our old sofa and love seat when we moved in and it was not appropriate to the space. The living room is much smaller and I got a sofa and 3 chairs. Could of fit a love seat but wanted chairs. When I was shopping, I found that many groups of furniture offered either chairs or love seat (minus the sectionals).

Re: Furniture these days

Scooby Doo — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 18:06:37 GMT

I've been searching for a refrigerator that will fit in my kitchen. The standard height is now 70 inches. My current fridge is 68 inches and I only have 69 inches to the bottom of the cabinet above. In order to get a fridge for that 1 inch I'll have to remodel my kitchen.

I'll have to take the cabinet out, which I really don't want to do. I can't move it or raise it.

1 inch!

Re: Furniture these days

ValuSkr — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 18:20:59 GMT

I know exactly what you mean. Bigger is better as far as furniture makers and retailers are concerned. Years ago, I wanted a small coffee table and they were near impossible to find. I finally found one - not at a furniture store, but at an art dealer in Lambertville, NJ.

Re: Furniture these days

Mindy D — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 04:14:00 GMT

@Scooby Doo I just found many shorter models of refrigerators. Google shorter regrigerators. I saw ones ranging from 62"-69."