So tonight I was flipping through the fantastic furniture catalogue, and there are a few things that I like in there. Some of it I actually need, others are just cause I want them.
But I have this thing. I have always had the opinion that fantastic furniture is for starting a home. That the quality isnt that great, and basically the furniture from there will get you through till you can buy decent stuff. I kinda have the same opinion about other cheaper stores.
Would you, do you buy the cheaper products from say fantastic furniture? Do you find, or have you found that the quality is lacking? Or is it like the ads say a bargain?
And not just fantastic furniture either, is it the same for the other bargain stores?
My sister bought one of the house packages, so got a bed, dining table, lounge, entertainment unit and coffee table and it was all really cheap stuff. The entertainment unit ended up falling apart so did the dining table, her bed broke and the only remaining thing was the coffee table. The lounge wore out quickly.
We tend to go for bargains at harvey norman, our entertainment stand was originally like $1000 and we got it half price. Our lounge we got from a second hand place and paid well under what it was worth. Places like all classifieds are good for bargains especially if people are moving interstate and can't take everything with them. We got 2 recylners from a lady i worked with she paid $800 for them each and we paid $50 for each. DD's cot was a discontinued line so we paid $300 and it was a $700 cot. We also got the mattress $50 cheaper than what its RRP.
Like you said fantastic furniture is good for when you first move in but it doesnt last, the quality isnt great you are better off shopping around for bargains. Salvos and Vinnies also can have reasonably decent stuff.
we have tv cabinet, buffet, two crystal cabinets, table and chairs (package deal) from FF - all great quality - they have solidly welded bits and pieces, drawers work fine no probs with doors etc.
we also have bunks which i'd say are probably mid range, and some "assemble at home" drawers and stuff - the drawers are really light weight, and wouldn't cope with adult clothes, due to the weight, but for kids stuff, fantastic
i think you need to go beyond the catalogue and look at the products in a store to see what they are like. the drawers we knew were tacky, but again, they came as part of a package deal, and i just took them cos it would have cost the same without them lol
We've bought a lot from Super Amart, and find the quality fine. Not always terribley solid, but it really depends on what you buy, and the bonus is they're almost always set up so you can see if it's cheap for a reason, or if it's a real bargin.
We've pretty much furnished our house with Super Amart actually hahaha! It's great. Like I said, you've just got to pick the right pieces. Everything we have is solid.
Fantastic is the same really, you've got to buy smart.
I'd probably only buy it if I needed it and it appealed to my tastes- if it were a money thing, I'd probably buy something well made from a secondhand furniture store instead of the cheap stuff new. But that's my personal choice. I think quality wise, the cheaper stores lack.... so in terms of quality/price ratio I'd say they're quite expensive ITMS? If I could afford it, I'd rather spend a couple of hundred dollars more and buy something of better quality that will last longer and wear better.
The cheaper stores suck you cause they have the same style of sutff that the more expensive stores have, but the price is always so low in comparision. we have gone in FF a few times and walked out saying no way, but I've never actually bought from there.
Normally we do buy from the more expensive stores, well layby from them and most of our stuff has lasted well.
My dining table, bed and the boys bunk beds are from there, purchased about a year ago, all excellent quality. My 3 seater and 2 recliners are from there, purchased in 2005 and still going strong! I love Fantastic Furniture Also I bought my boys tall boy, the kitchen pantry and the boys bookshelf from Ezy Furniture (same sort of thing) about 3 years ago, and they are still excellent too.
Best thing to do is go in a sus out the quality yourself Most things are made well, and I haven't had a problem with anything I've bought there... my boys can be rough
I have heaps of ff stuff and most of it has been awesome and is at least 5 years old and still looks new. I have a QS bed that is 8 years old and still going strong through 3 moves. I have the pine stained tallboy, bedsides and lingerie chest with a tv shelf on top. In the chocolate veneer I have 3 book shelves which are awesome quality (not the cheapest ones the next range up) and I also have a huge square dining table with eight leather type chocolate chairs. Like a pp I went and looked before I bought and didn't necessarily buy the cheapest stuff which can be a bit flimsy. I also have furniture from go-lo, SAMs Warehouse (both bargain stores) and ikea. I constantly get comments about how nice my stuff is the only bad buy was from a John Cootes store with a leather lounge that turned out to be a leather composite they misrepresented and which has peeled. My mum bought a ff one at the same time and it still looks great 5 years on.
We have a lounge from Sydneys which we bought because it was the most comfortable one in the style we liked. The fact it was $2000 cheaper than Harvey Norman's version was a bonus. We also have an ottoman storage seat from FF which, although not the greatest quality, does the job and the choice of fabrics plus the price swayed us to buy.
I would shop at Fantastic Furniture but their stores are even further away than Super Amart for me. Living in a small unit, I have had bits from Ikea over the years, but have slowly accumulated second hand furniture too. I like painting old bits and pieces different enamel paint colours.
We used to have a entertainment unit from there and only got rid of it as got a plasma that needed to be wall mounted as was too high on top of unit and didnt fit in hole tv was in. It was massive and solid we gave it to friends.
We also have bed side tables from there and a chest of drawers that are all still in good condition DH has fixed 1 of the drawers once but they are 8 years old!!!
Dining table and chairs are from there are all great, and glad didnt spend a lot as get covered in food etc with kids. Its also 8 years old and has only got dents now from kids bashing spoons on it!
Other things do look cheap and crappy there its just smart shopping and looking properly at things.
99% of our home is from there!!!!
When we sold the last house, we bought all new stuff for this house, which is twice the size.
You just need to shop smart. We have a 8 seater dining table, massive 10 seater corner lounge, ALL the beds, ours a king, 2 t.v units, the main a large black and glass one (gorgeous!) Lounge downstairs, bunks, 2 purple lounges in the library... I know there is more, but I cant rememeber right now... it was around $7,000 worth, and I have to say, my house looks like a show home.. very classy for a house with 6 kids in it!!!
Hmmm I think you get what you pay for to a degree but I think cheaper stuff is fine as long as you're gentle with it.
We've had cheaper things in the past and they are held up perfectly fine but then my SIL's have had things from the same place and it's been trashed within months, but that came down to how well it was looked after.
Buying furniture that lasts nowadays is very hard because you can pay $10k for a couch and it's still going to need to be replaced a few years down the line. You really need to look at the individual pieces and make sure they are made well. Some things are doomed from the start due to poor design/materials and you don't want to be wasting your money.
All my furniture is from FF.
All of it has worn really well.
They definitely have different ranges, which in turn show different quality.
In saying that, my mum has very exxy furniture tastes and her furniture is definitely better quality than mine.
But depends whether you want to pay $100 or $1000
My FF furniture will need to be replaced in a few years, but it was cheap- so I don't mind as much
When we had to "dress" our house for sale I went to FF. Picked up a dining table, side board and bed side tables. They are fine. The dining table looks quite good, but the top is soft, so no writing on it without something underneath. It is a bonus to us they are still quite good and usable, as their main purpose was to tell the house (which they did quite well).
is it a bargain or cheap product?
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Also I bought my boys tall boy, the kitchen pantry and the boys bookshelf from Ezy Furniture (same sort of thing) about 3 years ago, and they are still excellent too. 
.. but it was cheapish, and I have 6 kids!! 
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