Buying furniture in NI?

livEwirE · 27-01-2012 3:13pm #1

Hi all,

I'm interested to hear peoples views on furniture stores in the North. Is there good value to be had? I'm interested in getting some end tables and a new suite over the next couple of months. I am also on the lookout for dining tables and chairs. Has anyone bought up North and how was your experience? How was the service you received? Is there value to be had? It seems like all of the good value stores for suites(Reid furniture) have gone bust here so really would like to see what is available.

Cheers,
ALL feedback is very much appreciated:D

maxer68 · 28-01-2012 1:07am

Reids sold crap - that why they closed.

With furniture, you get what you pay for. AVOID the places that spend millions advertising on tv pretending to sell to you at half price. their advertising is misleading and you will end up with utter rubbish and wish you never bought it.

Look for independent stores - some decent ones up north, but nothing spectacular. Try places like Michael Murphy's in Newbridge, or there's another guy in Clonmel.

Some people swear by a discount operator in Longford as he sells alot of end of lines / clearance from quality places - if you like something there, it will be a bargain.

And finally, there's IKEA - it won;t last a lifetime, but its half decent for the price

borderlinemeath · 29-01-2012 12:42am

livEwirE wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm interested to hear peoples views on furniture stores in the North. Is there good value to be had? I'm interested in getting some end tables and a new suite over the next couple of months. I am also on the lookout for dining tables and chairs. Has anyone bought up North and how was your experience? How was the service you received? Is there value to be had? It seems like all of the good value stores for suites(Reid furniture) have gone bust here so really would like to see what is available.

Cheers,
ALL feedback is very much appreciated:D

You get what you pay for. If you buy cheap you get cheap, north or south but Maxer is right, I wouldn't fall for the advertising spiel that the major UK companies come out with, it's more than likely never sold at the 'original' price, they all seem to lurch from one sale to the next. (and the same can be said for most of the chains that operate in the South as well)

In the past couple of years we have bought a lot of furniture for rental properties and for our own home and even for the rental properties we've bought solid wood furniture rather than flat pack or cheap veneers.

Pretty much everything has been bought in the likes of Rossmore furniture in Monaghan town in their factory store sales that they have about 4 times a year. (If you inquire they'll put you on the mailing list and you'll get notice of sales) We've also bought in Wogans in Dundalk, they have a large clearance floor of greatly reduced lines on the top floor. We have found that independent companies that are trading in or near the border have been more realistic with their prices rather than some of the big chains.

If price is more important than quality then Harvey Norman have a discount outlet in Dundalk as well, lots of end of line sofas, chairs, tables etc with decent reductions.

livEwirE · 30-01-2012 10:14am

This is great info thanks, any more independent discounters up North or South? Is Navan still a good option for furniture, I was only there once and wasn't particularly amazed.

maxer68 · 30-01-2012 10:29am

livEwirE wrote: »

This is great info thanks, any more independent discounters up North or South? Is Navan still a good option for furniture, I was only there once and wasn't particularly amazed.

It really depends on what you want.

If you have a decent budget and want high quality furniture, then Navan is great. Same if if are not too fussy and if you are willing to look at oddments / slighly damaged stuff.

The Harvey Norman outlet in Dundalk would be a very decent option as their furniture is at the higher quality end and the clearance outlet would have decent prices (harvey norman would be one that does not have false sales like DFS/Reids etc)

Overall, I don't think there's much choice up north as the big chains have it mostly covered and they sell crap.

If it something you just want to last for 2-5 years than Cost Plus sofas or other discount outlet will be fine. - Furniture is one product that the "you get what you pay for" phrase rings very true.

280special · 30-01-2012 10:58am

Its been ages since i bought any " new" furniture anywhere. We have been looking at antique and semi-antique stuff to match the age of the house and have found a reasonable source for these items. Would echo what has been said about the huge stores but also have to say the same about Harvey Norman in Dundalk. Bought a mattress there, wasnt cheap. It lasted 13 months before the edge broke, they didnt want to know and were damned rude about it to be honest. Havent set foot in the place since then as there is little point if you cant go back with a problem. Same thing has happened to a few friends and as is well known to most people in retail, bad service reduces footfall.

Stay well clear of DFS, one thing I noticed when looking for a sitting room suite about 5/6 years ago was the poor condition of some of the demo models in the showroom. These had been on show for approx 3 months as they were a new model....ready to fall to pieces.

OP, where are you based?

borderlinemeath · 30-01-2012 3:57pm

livEwirE wrote: »

This is great info thanks, any more independent discounters up North or South? Is Navan still a good option for furniture, I was only there once and wasn't particularly amazed.

Navan isn't the furniture 'producer' it used to be. Most of the stuff is bought in and what is produced locally will carry a hefty premium.

If you want a decent sofa I would recommend talking to 'The Sofa Company' in Drogheda. They will make any sofa, any size, any fabric & colour you want. They have makes on models on display but if you have an idea or a size you need they will make to order and fit. If you have an existing solid frame that you're happy to reuse they'll reupholster it either.

We got a couple of sofas off them about 5 years ago and they're still perfect except for a bit of fading on the fabric (which is to be expected if you don't close the blinds:o) We'll just get them recovered in a year or two.

Two sofas 5 years ago were about €2,500, one a large two seater, the other a made to size 3.5ish seater.

livEwirE · 30-01-2012 4:08pm

@ 280special, I'm based in Celbridge, Kildare.

millymash12 · 31-01-2012 7:46pm

I find that second hand shops are the best for furniture at the moment. There's oxfam home just off patrick street, got this gorgeous table for a tenner, it looks antique and has a beautiful stone top, brand new blinds (normally 100euro) for a tenner, and found a beautiful cream swede 3 seater sofa in a skip and a cream rocking chair, cleaned it, looks brand new

when i first moved in I bought all the Ikea stuff, does the job, but no character. now I am slowly replacing all of it piece by piece.

280special · 01-02-2012 6:31pm

livEwirE wrote: »

@ 280special, I'm based in Celbridge, Kildare.

Bit far away from me , havent been there in ages !

Am afraid that many of the smaller independants have gone, swallowed up by the big stores. Wogans do have some good value some times but maybe a bit far away for you ?

maxer68 · 01-02-2012 9:03pm

another area to try is around Kylemore Road in Dublin (starting at Mc Donalds on Naas road and heading towards ballyfermot)

In Royal Liver retail park you have bargaintown & furniture district, then further along on the main road you have 6/7 furniture outlets from "Karls" to some clearance operators.

livEwirE · 01-02-2012 9:35pm

Fantastic info thanks, keep those ideas coming:D
@ maxer68 that's a great area for furniture shopping alright!

Georgieeire · 11-04-2012 12:27pm

We bought 2 sofas from a place called Finline Furniture. They are in Co. Laois. They have a huge factory and you can see the sofas being made when you visit so you know you are buying direct from the source and cutting out any middlemen. They aren’t cheap but they do have lots of end of line fabrics and we got one sofa in a patterned fabric and other sofa in matching stripe for under 2k. It's cool to be able to design your own sofa.

It took about 4 weeks to arrive but I remember I was waiting for 8 weeks with Reids before. Worth checking out their website as they also do funky cornergroups and L shaped couches that you can make to whatever sizes you want. I like to support Irish especially in this climate.

livEwirE · 11-04-2012 8:34pm

@ Georgieeire, sounds cool, will definitely take a look thanks

senwod · 26-11-2017 10:47am

Online seems to be still the best option for good deals and the best choice have a look at designshop.ie they always seem to have a sale on

ImARebel · 27-11-2017 9:13am

I bought a mattress in Dreams and an extended warranty with it. Had a nightmare with them they wouldn't honour the warranty when the mattress broke and then I tried to make a cross border claim (small claim essentially) I couldn't get a court in the south to file the claim. Told me they'd never heard of such a thing. In the end they beat me and I'd to let it go.... Much as it killed me to do so. It wasn't worth the headache (or back ache!)

Stay away from them!

Buying furniture in NI?

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