Good quality furniture store (La Mesa, Mesa: new home, buying, construction) - San Diego - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

loveisblind · 03-27-2012, 02:01 AM

My fiancee and I are having a little dilemma. He wants a La-z-boy sofa because we believe its good quality (solid wood construction, comfortable) but we both agree the fabric and color choices are horrendously ugly. What are your recommendations for a good quality furniture store, preferably by North County (but willing to go into the city if absolutely necessary). We want furniture that has solid construction (none of that particle board stuff) and has comfortable sofas. But we're struggling to find a store that offers good construction and modern fabrics and colors. Any suggestions would be great. =)

htnspz · 03-27-2012, 04:27 AM

I would try:
Crate and Barrel
Bassett
Macys (and get one of their furniture warranties or a sofa that has a good warranty)

bradleyyo · 03-27-2012, 06:54 AM

Ikea????

earlyretirement · 03-27-2012, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loveisblind

solid construction (none of that particle board stuff) and has comfortable sofas. But we're struggling to find a store that offers good construction and modern fabrics and colors. =)

I guess it would depend how modern you were looking for? We just furnished an entire large 5 bedroom house last year and I went to many many furniture stores.

We ended up buying our sofa at Bo Concepts downtown. BoConcept.com It is super comfortable and they have a ton of modern fabrics and colors to choose from. It might be too modern for you so you'd have to see. They do have some more traditional looking sofas as well.

Their stuff is on the expensive side. We got some leather chairs from there and it can add up if you go with some of the higher end leathers.

Another one of our living rooms we got a sturdy sofa from Pottery Barn. And they also have different fabrics and materials you can pick out. They have some nice stuff and it's not too expensive. The UTC store will give you 10% off if you tell them you're buying a new home. We ordered some stuff here as well.

We also got tons of stuff from Restoration Hardware but I didn't like their sofas at all but most of our beds and all of our outdoor furniture was from there.

Good luck.

shmoov_groovzsd · 03-27-2012, 11:01 AM

I agree. I am having the same dilemma with our second property. Ethan Allen, West Elm, Thomasville etc etc have been utterly disappointing. It seems, at least to me, furniture is not being made to last for several generations. They are made for right now which isnt necessarily a bad thing.

You might want to try Arizona Leather, a friend of ours has sofas from there and they seem somewhat decent.
I agree with earlyretirement. BoConcept has some nice stuff as well but turned out to be too modern for the house we are furnishing.

On the flip side, our current house is a 1947 bungalow and we furnished it in the style of Arts and Crafts. So lots of Mission/Morris style furniture, tiffany lamps etc. The furniture we bought was all custom made and ordered from a store in La Mesa. The shop owner has become very good friends of ours. So if you are leaning in that direction, PM me and I can give you the info.

whiteboyslo · 03-27-2012, 12:27 PM

Not cheap, but I would second Bassett. Our couch, matching chair, lounge chairs, and dining room table set came from them. It's very solid stuff, plus you have the option of customizing the pieces to a number of different configurations.

Mike

loveisblind · 03-27-2012, 03:47 PM

I guess a better term for what I want is contemporary. Not too modern though. Just lazboy had ugly, dowdy 70s fabric. They wanted me to choose a style, and then an ugly fabric. My fiancee thought Bassett looked cheaply made, although I wouldn't really know. I may look at it again since its next to a lazboy. BoConcept looks more my style. Thomasville left me with no sofas that really intrigued us. However, it may be out of my fiancee's price point. Have you guys shopped at Skylar's?

whiteboyslo · 03-27-2012, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loveisblind

My fiancee thought Bassett looked cheaply made, although I wouldn't really know. I may look at it again since its next to a lazboy.

I'm 6'7" and about 300lbs, so knowing/trusting my furniture to be solid is always a big concern. I found Bassett's stuff to be VERY sturdy. Case in point, our dining room table set is the taller styles (hi boy?) that's really popular right now. As you can imagine, 300 lbs can make even a normal height chair sway a bit if it's cheaply made. But the chairs for my set are solid as a rock, and this set is a few years old now.

As for the couch, one test I came up with in the store (and let me preface this by saying I'm by no means a furniture expert), was to grab one foot of the couch and see how high I could lift it before the corner across from it at the far end lifted off the ground. The thought process being that a weak and flimsy couch would allow a lot of flex and twist before the other end came up, but a sturdy couch would raise basically as one unit. The Bassett couch passed this the best.

As to style, I would call ours 'contemporary casual' (i.e. Pottery Barn) and found a number of Bassett's items to fit that description.

Mike

earlyretirement · 03-27-2012, 04:10 PM

loveisblind,

If you go to BoConcept, ask for Whitney (I think she is the store manager). She is very friendly. I knew exactly what I was looking for so she didn't help in the design selection but she was helpful when I needed to order it and kept in constant contact on the delivery.

If you go with the BoConcept route, just keep in mind it takes quite a while to get as the furniture is made in Europe. Some of my stuff took 2.5 months to make and get. I also got my desk there and really sturdy (although expensive) around $2,300 or so.

The furniture is super comfortable! The leather fly chairs I got there are probably the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in. Although I still take a bit of flack from my wife as we put them in a 2nd living room that we haven't really used at all. LOL.

Shmoov is right about the low quality stuff at some of those stores. The only thing I used stores like West Elm for and where I think they are great is smaller design elements like clocks, light fixtures, mirrors, pillows. Also, they have some decent smaller desks if you need something to fit a spot. But I wouldn't get any major larger furniture here.

Thomasville and Basset I don't really like the style but Thomasville we ordered a really great sturdy circular table that was really a quality piece. It was fairly pricey but good quality.

loveisblind · 03-27-2012, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiteboyslo

I'm 6'7" and about 300lbs, so knowing/trusting my furniture to be solid is always a big concern. I found Bassett's stuff to be VERY sturdy.

...................

As for the couch, one test I came up with in the store (and let me preface this by saying I'm by no means a furniture expert), was to grab one foot of the couch and see how high I could lift it before the corner across from it at the far end lifted off the ground. The thought process being that a weak and flimsy couch would allow a lot of flex and twist before the other end came up, but a sturdy couch would raise basically as one unit. The Bassett couch passed this the best.

Mike

Wow. Thanks! This is very helpful info. My fiancee was also concerned about that and he is tall as well. I am a little confused about the couch test but I'll probably get the hang of it with practice. lol I think when we checked it out, we thought it looked much more my style. I was only in there for like 5 min. though. My fiancee dismissed the place as having uncomfortable sofas. He likes sofas with comfortable back cushions. Would you say that this store would fit that need as well?

Quote:

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

loveisblind,
.................................

Some of my stuff took 2.5 months to make and get.
.....................................

Thomasville and Basset I don't really like the style but Thomasville we ordered a really great sturdy circular table that was really a quality piece. It was fairly pricey but good quality.

Yes I don't mind the wait. Lazyboy was probably going to take 6-8 weeks so 2.5 months isn't that far off. I did remember my boyfriend liking the tables at Thomasville. I might take another look when we're on the market for a table. I think I'll look at BoConcept this weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

I agree. I am having the same dilemma with our second property. Ethan Allen, West Elm, Thomasville etc etc have been utterly disappointing. It seems, at least to me, furniture is not being made to last for several generations. They are made for right now which isnt necessarily a bad thing.

I know. The only couch style my fiancee and I can agree on is contemporary but not too modern like West Elm. Thomasville sofas kind of look like stuff at my grandmother's house. Kind of high end traditional looking furniture. Although some of the tables were nice and I saw an end table there I liked on a clearance sale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by htnspz

I would try:

Macys (and get one of their furniture warranties or a sofa that has a good warranty)

I don't think I've ever seen furniture at Macys. Is it an online thing or in certain Macy's?