> Then sometime in maybe the last 50 years or so we started buying and manufacturing much cheaper furniture that wasn't expected to last. I agree with the not-

> Then sometime in maybe the last 50 years or so we started buying and manufacturing much cheaper furniture that wasn't expected to last. I agree with the not-expected-to-last-ness, but I don't know about cheaper. Anecdotally, in recent years, quite a number of my friends became new home owners, and many purchased expensive furniture from big brands, which don't seem to be really all that more durable at all. They are like 10~100x times the price of an IKEA's equivalent, but marginally better in build quality. Some of them are even less well-made than IKEA. (Dining table with a surface that you can't put hot thing on, circular things that aren't perfectly circular, sofa cushions that start sinking within a year of use, etc.) One of the couple-of-thousand table is less than two years old, and has chipped veneer, loosened screws, and is just generally flex-y and wobbly. The table top has already been replaced once, and it took 6 months for the replacement to arrive. Meanwhile, I have a nearly 10-year-old IKEA table with minor cosmetic scratches, no wobbling, nothing loose, steady, and practical. I feel like if I ever buy a house, it will be either IKEA or custom made from someone I trust.