[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Samurai

... I have two of these, for my both my locations. It is very practical because of the zero maintenance. One is 12 years old, the other is 7 years old. Both look new even now.

Wow, it looks great and has certainly stood the test of time.

[TorqueyTechie]

Folks, looking for changing the sofa at home. I am looking for a 3+1+1 (non recliner and fabric). I would also need a coffee table + couple of rocking chairs. Have seen few of them in urban ladder and pepperfry but little apprehensive before buying online. Any suggestions for good places in bangalore to go and shop?

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Folks, looking for changing the sofa at home. I am looking for a 3+1+1 (non recliner and fabric). I would also need a coffee table + couple of rocking chairs. Have seen few of them in urban ladder and pepperfry but little apprehensive before buying online. Any suggestions for good places in bangalore to go and shop?

Whatever you do, don't make the mistake I did and buy from a furniture shop run locally unless someone has referred you to one.

Some 3-4 years ago, I got a catalog from "Looking Good Furniture" in Koramangala along with my newspaper. My eyes zeroed in on a 3-piece leather corner sectional which cost ₹1.45 lakhs. We went to the store and met the glib owner who persuaded me to instead buy a similar set in what he claimed to be high-quality leatherette for ₹85K. I paid ₹20K as advance, the sofa was made to order. A couple of weeks later when I got the sofa I was aghast to see how poor the quality and workmanship is.

Furniture salesmen in Bangalore seem to be worse than what we hear of used-car dealers. I have learned my lesson the hard way and that is to stay away from furniture dealers unless vouched by someone and to pay only on an item I see in advance.

Not sure where you are located, but Auchan in the Lifestyle Oasis Mall has some good home furniture. However I mostly end up buying from FabFurnish online and I have always had a good experience with them. FabFurnish also has a store in Bellandur where they display the items.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Whatever you do, don't make the mistake I did and buy from a furniture shop run locally unless someone has referred you to one.

unfortunate but thanks for sharing. I visited a furniture exhibition yesterday in chennai and was very disappointed to see very few stalls and mostly unbranded stuff except for Zuari. It was being advertised as a 1rs margin sale and realized how they take people for a ride. For everything they were saying we can order and make as per spec. One guy also didn't have his store card and said they do not have a shop but make and sell to retailers. These guys are there only to rip off middle and lower middle class buyers with substandard products. Classic bait and switch techniques. Show you something, customer asks for variation and they take order and deliver some crap and stuck with the advance, we are at their mercy. I think we are better off buying online at urbanladder, pepperfry and FabFurnish rather than such fraud stores.

There were more stalls at the exhibition selling usual Chinese imports of general purpose stuff and clothes than furniture. Was very irritated with the whole experience and the fact that drover far and paid to get in made it worse.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I am a sucker for Saturday afternoons at numerous Chennai Trade Centre expos! Shopoholic, even for window shopping. Some are good, some are not so good, some are a complete waste of time. Also, prices are sometimes higher there, as even a small stall can cost around 50k.

We have bought some good things there. Notably, a folding foam-block sofa bed, which I sit on every day for past eleven years, and sleep on occasionally; and, more recently, a folding steel-frame spare bed.

Buyer beware, and try to know the actual value of what you are buying!

The biggest joke is "Special exhibition price." when the seller only sells at exhibitions!

Hey-ho, maybe, one day, this country will get consumer laws with teeth. My guess: about three decades after it gets road-traffic laws with teeth --- so too late for me to care!

[diyguy]

I am finalizing the deal on wooden carved furniture which are supposed to be imports from Malaysia. This image is similar to the one I am considering but more sober and less shiny in teak color finish. Please let me know if anyone has purchased similar import furniture and had any issues or anything that I should look out for. The cost is about 1.15L and being advised by mom not to take it

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by diyguy

The cost is about 1.15L and being advised by mom not to take it

I have a similar throne, mine was made by a carpenter from my own teak wood.

These carved furniture need upholstering after a few years when the cushions sag and the fabric gets dirty. When they do the reupholstering, they have to nail the fabric all over again. Therefore it is crucial to know what wood is being used. If it is some firewood, it will splinter and crack. Since you said teak finish, there is no guessing what wood this one has.

The other point to note is that these carved furniture are not exactly comfortable to sit in. I have tried various ones including my own and I find parts of my body aching after an hour or so. Probably something to do with the angle of the back rest and some other factors -- You will notice that the back is usually ramrod straight and sometimes people augment with cylindrical pillows so that one can at least sit with some comfort. A modern simplistic design is much more comfortable to sit in and lie down on for extended periods.

Not sure how long you were planning to keep it, but if you are planning to dispose it after a few years, then ₹1.15 lakh sounds like an awful waste. I would go with your mom on this one.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

These carved furniture need upholstering after a few years when the cushions sag and the fabric gets dirty. When they do the reupholstering, they have to nail the fabric all over again.
The other point to note is that these carved furniture are not exactly comfortable to sit in.

thank you for the reply. my sister purchased a very similar one about 25 years back for 5k and has got it upholstered a couple of times. It looks awesome and the wood is terrific. The one I am considering is made of teak wood and there is another in mahogany.
I agree on the comfort level and it is more for guests and short term seating. There are suitable cushions to improve comfort but they are definitely not couchy. I have two lazboy recliners for long term seating and had disposed of our sofa recently.
Good input on the nailing and reupholstering. Will check with the seller.
For the sagging he has said he will bolster the underneath with thin plywood which will prevent the sag. I guess with rubbing and use the print will fade where there is contact.
I intend keeping this as long as my sister has and hers is now as good as new.
The other ones I was considering were this

[Ferrari1976]

Originally Posted by poloman

I have bought dining table and coffee table from these guys. Both of them are of acceptable quality. No furniture is going to look the same way as in photos. But in almost all of these cases minor transportation damage was present. Also some issues like drawers not opening in summers however will be present.

Can you please post the pics of the dining table and the coffee table? The prices are quite cheap compared to the market rates.Thanks!

[Sebring]

Reminds me of the time when we were cheated by Durian in Shivajinagar into buying their so called leather sofa set, expensive at that, which came undone within 30 days. Dad filed a case but things did not move for a long time, so dropped it. Waste of time and money.

"Furniture salesmen in Bangalore seem to be worse than what we hear of used-car dealers."

[diyguy]

If anyone is looking for a deal on laZboy recliners, they are on sale on flipkart and after the Citibank discount it is working out to 25.5k compared to 31k that I paid for it three months back. It's a sweet deal.

[adimicra]

I am planning to order Apollo Fabric sofa from urbanladder.com
Any feedback on these?
They have a sale going on till tomorrow and these sofas are available at 20% discount.
Looking for some quick feedback.

Thanks in advance
- Aadi

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by adimicra

I am planning to order Apollo Fabric sofa from urbanladder.com. They have a sale going on till tomorrow and these sofas are available at 20% discount.

i recently purchased two recliners from UL and thought I was getting a good deal till I found the same cheaper on FK, a few months after my purchase. However on the Apollo, there has not been a discount so far if I recall correct. There are many referral discounts doing the rounds here on the forum where you will get 2k off on using someone's referral code. I was planning on the Apollo myself but then picked up something locally in Chennai.
I also did a home trial with UL and reimbursed the 500 against one of my recliner purchases.

[Latheesh]

Looking for an office chair for home use. Short listed Urban Ladder Venturi Study Chair-3 Axis Adjustable. It costs 5999/- (after 2k discount) on their site. Any reviews of this chair? Any other suggestions?

[Lij]

Need advice on a good polish for wooden furniture, which one would you recommend?

Also anyone used homemade polish? I read that we can make one by mixing 1 cup of olive oil with 1/4 cup of white vinegar, anyone has any experience with this?