Having just moved house, I embarked on a shopping trip for new furniture. What a disaster !!! I am used to shopping at Next, M&S, Debenhams etc and can't find anything similar here in Northern Virginia / DC. Everything is either too modern or a bad replica of something from the 1800's. I managed to purchase a sofa from Thomasville but thats it! I like Ethan Allen but for all the things I need, there won't be enough cash.

Does anyone know of a store that has similar items to Next and M&S, isnt too pricey and has fairly good quality stuff? Any help would be appreciated!!

thanks

There are some stores that sell unfinished (fully-assembled, of unfinished wood--which you can add stain to later) furniture. Those usually are excellent deals.

Ohhhhhh, Britty, I feel your pain!!

We spent four weeks searching for a chest of drawers (just something simple & nice, we're not that picky!) and couldn't find anything that wasn't utterly horrendous*! Finally we found the perfect one, in a furniture shop next door to our building (oops, should have checked there first!)... I don't think it has a website, and in any case it's mostly damned expensive - we were just lucky to walk in on the day they were selling the perfect chest of drawers at about 50% off.

Now we're after bedside tables and a bookcase... I know the kind of bookcase I want, the kind of thing you could pick up in your lunchbreak in the UK. Here? Nope, nothing doing - gaaaahhh!!

I haven't been in the store, but we have some catalogues from this place... they seem to have some pretty nice stuff, but again, a bit pricey. I quite fancy a few of the things in there, though...

I cannot WAIT for Ikea to open here - I was all excited last year because it was due to open 'in the spring'. Now it's opening, hmm, in the autumn, next spring, who knows. Bah.

(*edited to say... okay, that might have been a slight exaggeration. But several evenings/weekends were spent driving round everywhere that sells furniture within a god-knows-how-many-miles radius, and failing to find anything that was even close to what we had in mind!)

Do some goggling for the big furniture outlets in North Carolina. You probably aren't that far away to even venture driving down their for a look.

Just go to Ikea; that's what that stuff from Next reminds me of, except it's of a slightly higher quality. Kidding.

I think what you'll find is that our style of furniture is very different from yours. American furniture tends to be larger in proportion to European furniture, and it's not because WE'RE so much bigger than Europeans...at this point we're really not...it's because our houses are much larger, hence the rooms are much larger, hence tiddly European furniture would look silly in those giant rooms.

As for the style...you're clearly shopping in the wrong stores or you simply don't like American-style furniture. If you want something more moderately priced but with clean lines, try Crate and Barrel. It's not the cheapest furniture around, but you could do a lot worse. It's sort of like limey furniture but larger.

Ethan Allen is so fuddy-duddy anyway. I had a look at their site recently and was just really turned off by their furniture. It used to be nicer. Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn are probably where we'll get a lot of our furniture from once we arrive NEXT WEEK! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Since H_A beat me to the Ikea suggestion....

In DC area, "luxuriously" Ikea'd -- one in Springfield (VA) and another in Beltsville (MD, near beltway).

Here's the big North Carolina outlet.........

http://www.furniturelandsouth.com/about.shtml

But Ikea is SHITE! We bought a sofa and an armchair from there....god, NEVER again. Those slipcovers never go back on after you've washed them according to the instructions on the tag. I swear to god I contemplated divorce the last time we had to put the slipcover back on the sofa. Plus, the furniture feels so cheap.

I'd rather spend a bit more and get something of a better quality. A few Ikea pieces have lasted us the 5.5 years we've been in this house, but most have not and we do not abuse our furniture. The bookshelves in particular are rubbish; that printed piece of cardboard at the back is just manky.

It all looks so nice in the catalog, but once you get it home it looks like total student furniture.

Ikea is GREAT for some things, though; I love getting plates and cutlery from there because it doesn't matter if you abuse it; it's so cheap to replace. I also have some kitchen items from there that have stood up pretty well, though I prefer those OXO good grips ones, or gadgets from Williams Sonoma which last forever.

Oh FeatherB you have made me laugh !!.... Its sad but nice to know that other Brits are in the same situation. When I bought a house in Essex, I basically spent an hour at Next, half an hour at Matalan, and 15 minutes at DFS (they only had two nice sofas so it was an easy decision), and basically had furnished my entire house on a Saturday afternoon. Thanks for the link - they did have some nice bits there and they have a store 7 miles from me so Im off there tomorrow for a look (and hopefully a purchase). My USC husband doesnt understand and thinks Im being too picky! I thought I would never get over the "this isnt bread its cake" saga when I first came here but that pales into insignificance now....... Thanks so much and Ill let you know how I get on !

Thanks to the other posters too for the info - much appreciated.

Thanks Rebeccajo !!

My fiance liked this place when he came to Chicago.
http://roomandboard.com/rnb/

Pricey as well but as HA said Americans do EVERYTHING SUPERSIZED.

Never been here but try this place
http://www.eurofurniture.com/

Try to look in your local stores, I can't emphasise that enough. I had a real problem here with sofas and finding one that was of my liking. There just doesn't seem to be very many of those huge, sink in and disappear sofas like you get in the UK.

Most of our furniture is local. This way we keep the community going and don't have to go far. We tend to buy handmade, wooden, specially crafted stuff that you can stain yourself. We live in a really old house, so Ikea's furniture would just look stupid and rather naff.

Our fridge, freezer and washer and dryer came from the little electrical appliance shop 3 minutes from here. Because we are so local they deliver for free. The same for our sofa, end tables and coffee table - came from the furniture warehouse up the street. Again, delivery is free. Price wise we haven't paid over the odds. Because they wish to stay competitive and in business, they are reasonable in price. I'd rather pay $30 more than an online price if it means a local gets a commission (rather than some unseen superstore). We live in a small town and keeping people in business here is important to me.

Anyway, the point of this post (if I can remember it) is that you should look locally, don't be put off. You may be pleasantly surprised at the odd bargain and gorgeous piece of furniture.

Yeah... you do have a point. I must confess that I've only ever really admired Ikea's furniture from the distance of the website/catalogue, rather than actually buying any (ok, so I've been there with friends and they've got some decent stuff which seemed to last ok, but I agree the quality can be, uh, questionable), but I was hoping I'd be able to find some half-decent stuff there. Is it really all that bad? (I guess I don't need to ask after the description of your bookshelves!) I got all the stuff in my last place from Habitat (oh, how I miss you, Habitat bed ), but I thought Ikea might just be the place to go if we want to find reasonable-quality stuff that's actually going to be in stock anytime during the next decade! Perhaps not, though...

But ohhhhh yeah, Ikea bargain kitchen stuff, plates, cutlery, glasses, vases, all that stuff... plus the £5 lamp that I bequeathed to my mother when I left - THAT is what Ikea is great for!

(And as for OXO Good Grips... my boxes arrived from London on Friday, complete with assorted Good Grips kitchen utensils. I think my poor husband thought I must be insane, to import a potato peeler all the way from the UK... and yeah, I know you can get that stuff here too... but I like that stuff! )

Yup, looking locally seems to have worked for us - I'm in love with half the things in the shop NEXT DOOR, I'd buy half the shop if I could afford it. It's an absolutely massive place on all four (or is it five, I forget?) floors of a huge downtown building - I hadn't realised initially that they were using more than the ground floor (full of uber-modern weird-looking sofas and things that didn't appeal that much at all) and C. had warned me that it was 'really expensive', so I'd not even bothered going in... then I wandered in one afternoon, found the chest of drawers of my dreams (mysteriously reduced to a price below those of the crappy flimsy ones in Target) and... yeah, I'd like EVERYTHING there, please. They now have me on their mailing list and sent me a postcard about some special discounts this week... hurrah!

As for what you said about the 'huge, sink in and disappear' sofas..... mmmmm, that is what I'm after! Finally I'm living in a place with enough space to fit in the perfect sofa, and I can't find one! C. fancies one of those sectional, modern things, but... noooooo, I want the kind of sofa you can live on, damn it!!!

I also agree completely about being more than willing to pay extra for something from a local business rather than some giant online place (I would never buy furniture online without seeing it unless it was really, really, really cheap, anyway - you never know what it's really going to be like 'til you've seen it!), but... not double the price, which seems to be what we'd have to pay in some of the places round here.

We bought Ikea furniture for this house in 2001 and while most of it is still here, it looks knackered. I wouldn't waste money on Ikea furniture except for the odd piece that has held up well. It's cheap and even worse, it LOOKS and FEELS cheap.

I agree wholeheartedly with you both, however I live in Old Town Alexandria in VA, where the small furniture shops here want anything from $3,000 to $5,000 just for a chest of drawers. The pieces are lovely and one or two would be great, but with needing so much, I need to spend less. I will ask if they are due for any sales though as that might work!

Wow... that is, um, quite a lot! I know I wouldn't have any difficulty at all finding lovely stuff if we had a ton of money to spend, but as we don't... we'll just have to take our time scouring every shop we can find in search of the perfect furniture! And I've just realised (this'll serve me right for typing big long messages when I'm half asleep) that my post above contradicted itself totally - when I say that looking in local shops seems to have worked for us, I meant when it came to finding a chest of drawers. Very pleased with those... now if they'd just reduce the prices of everything else in there by about 75% or more, I might be able to afford some more stuff. I'll just have to keep an eye on the place and see what else they reduce to an affordable price. Oh well... at least my clothes now have somewhere to live, it's a start!

Well, I'd never be able to afford $3000 for a piece and I agree with Feather, you just have to keep looking. Now and again a certain piece pops up that is affordable and fits right in. They are there, they DO exist, you just have to keep your eyes peeled for them and nab 'em when you see 'em!

Most of my furniture has come from local shops. You get better prices than if you hit the city, and as mags stated it is generally free delivery and even set up on appliances. Ikea, well I never bought from them but when I have browsed I am never impressed. I am one that would prefer and older piece (used) made of solid wood that I know is going to last me a lifetime if I so choose. We picked up a solid maple bedroom set when we returned, from a local junk/thrift/bargain shop for $300 (double bed, chest of drawers, dresser and a mirror)! You can't buy that pressed wood crap for that! All it needed was a good lemon oil rub down!

We got a very cool giant L couch off craigslist - handmade, designer, rarely used. Cheap!

We got an very cool retro bedroom set from a big charity shop here, 70s brown /black laminate, impeccably clean. VERY COOL & cheap!

You shop like I do then!

I love finding bargains - it makes the victory sweeter. This couch is absolutely amazing, a heavy custom mohair upholstered couch, never used by some rich doctor who lived by the beach - perfect!

There's a place about a half hour drive from me that sells proper wooden furniture, tends to be unstained and is REALLY cheap. It's cheaper than the laminate furniture you get in Ikea and far better quality.

As a rule, Ikea seems to be good for rugs, lamps, utensils, glassware etc etc. I find that the actual furniture is pants. A friend of mine in London bought a huge sofa of theirs. Bloody monster it was. THE most uncomfortable thing I've ever sat on. It started to go threadbare within 6 months, sag within 4 months and I swear I almost contracted piles a couple of times by sitting on it, it was so hard! j/k

Their sofas are hit and miss, definitely. You can even tell that in the store just by sitting on them. However I've had an IKEA sofa for about 4 years now and its been great and comfy and is holding up fine despite constant abuse. I've never dared try washing the cover though! With IKEA stuff you really get what you pay for, a cheap sofa may seem a bargain, but usually there's a reason its cheap.

I always tend to buy IKEA stuff because of the work I'm in I tend to move jobs often. Having IKEA furnature means never having to give a crap when the movers damage your stuff!

I live in Arlington and work in Old Town on weekends and know exactly how expensive those shops are! But I love to look anyway. If you see any sales, please let me know!

I am not a big Ikea fan, but believe it or not, we had really good luck at La-Z-Boy in Fairfax for our couch and sofa. And you can spend hours on their website playing with their interactive design center. Can't remember what kind of chests or tables they had, but you can look on their website - http://www.la-z-boy.com/


Bargains are the best! I found my favorite table and a sweet little chair at two different antique marts in Maryland. The table needed a bit of work, but I enjoy doing that sort of thing anyway. Total cost for both = less than $75. Whoo hoo!

Britty, I have also been to a place called Upscale Resale in Falls Church a few times, http://www.upscaleresale.com/. It's a consignment shop and the prices can sometimes be a bit high, but you also can hit it on the right day and find a good deal.

Whatever you do, good luck and happy shopping!

I totally agree. The furniture sucks, the other stuff can be very nice but you gotta be selective.

I decided to have a look at a lot of the furniture stores in Old Town Alexandria yesterday, and found a lovely deep chair that would have been perfect. Alas the price was $3,000 !!!!!!! so not an option at all really....... anyway a friend recommended a huge furniture store called Belfort out near Dulles Airport in VA (if anyone is local then its really worth a visit). I managed to find quite a few items that I either like or really like, and that are affordable. For the price of a chair in Old Town, I could get a sofa, large rug, artwork, and a leather chaise !!! Oh happy days..... DerekkJ - if you have time to visit Belfort then Im sure you will find some nice things and for a fraction of the cost of something from one of those pretentious stores on King Street !! Well made too.

I would say West Elm or CB2 (both online places) would be equivalent to Next & M&S. Modern stuff, clean lines and nothing like the naff crap most of the stores stock. CB2 also have wonderful prices on kitchen stuff too -- a little more upmarket than Ikea, but still cheap enough to not care if any of it breaks.

Again, we're very much local shoppers, and don't forget antique stores or yard sales. We've got some amazing pieces of furniture that we've restored either with paint or fabric that will last forever. Or take it somewhere local (again!) to get it done there if you're not feeling creative. Another option is Ebay. Great retro stuff on sale for crazy prices if you're into that kind of thing.

slow to the topic I know, you could try this place http://www.eurway.com/ which is based in Austin & Dallas but I'm sure they ship. Do you have roomstore & rooms to go? They have nice settees for reasonable prices.

Farmer's Branch is like Dallas's furniture district; it seems like it's nothing but furniture stores.

You all should find your local outlet mall. There is one in Washington Court House for those of you in Cincinnati or Columbus areas. It is about a half an hour up Interstate 71. There is a Pottery Barn Outlet store up there that is INCREDIBLY cheap. And like Deviletter and Tim and Bethanie said.... check out charity shops. Cincinnati has some REALLY good charity shops... you're best bet is to check out ones in the 'upper class' areas, such as West Chester, Hyde Park, Loveland, Montgomery and Kenwood. If you need directions you can PM me... I remember where most ###### is. Also check out your local flea markets too alot of times you'll find antique dealers set up in them. There is Traders World up on N. Intersate 75 before you get to dayton. There is also Turtle Creek just before Traders World. One of them is on the same exit as Hustler Hollywood(I point that out because the sign is HUGE). Also Ohio and Pennsylvaina are the lands of the Amish. Go look around at an Amish village, you can find BEAUTIFUL hand carved furniture and you'll be supporting a very cool culture. Not to mention you can get the BEST food in Amish towns.

I bought mine from Regency Furniture. While they had some monstrosities in stock, I did manage to find a good few I liked.
I bought mine in the 4th of July sale, still slightly pricey at $2000 for two loveseats.
Got a bedroom set from Marlo's for my son, thought the prices for sofas there weren't too bad, but quality wasn't as high as Regency.

oops, i meant to also include.... For sofas, loveseats, chairs.... go to SofaExpress. Usually they have 100s of style and brands and if you can find one that you like but not in the right color and fabric you can pick one you do like... as they carry different colors, fabrics, and patterns for most of their sofas.

www.sofaexpress.com

Don't know if American Signature is in that area but they have really nice stuff.