My personal feeling is that secondhand is the best way to buy furniture. But it doesn’t come without its own challenges. That’s why I developed this 6 point quality checklist for you. Use it before buying secondhand furniture and you can be more confident that your purchase is of good quality and that it’s the right one for you.
Walk All The Way Around It
So in my shop, Consignments Ltd., a lot of the furniture is up against the walls. This is common practice for thrift and consignment shops and it’s almost always done for purely practical purposes. Unfortunately, however, furniture up against walls doesn’t give you the 360 degree view you need before buying secondhand furniture. Always ask the staff if you can pull the piece you are considering away from the wall. Walk all the way around, inspecting as you go. It’s step one in your quality checklist when buying secondhand furniture
Smell It – Yes, I Mean It
I stick my nose in things all the time. And by this I do not mean that I’m a busybody. I smell almost everything that comes into my shop, or my staff does. I would never want to be accused of running a stinky place and I surely don’t want my customers buying smelly things either. So before buying secondhand furniture, give it a good whiff. You don’t want to get home with the piece of your dreams and realize it smells like cigar smoke or old shoes.
Turn It Upside Down If Possible
The other day I was shopping secondhand (what a surprise, huh?). I saw a chair that I thought would be perfect for Bruce’s home office. It sat great. The fabric was in good shape all the way around. The price was right . But, before I scored it, I just had to check one more thing. Much to the surprise of my fellow customers and the sales clerk, I tipped the chair upside down. Guess what? The underlying fabric was all torn out and half the stuffing below the seat was missing. Bruce is still without a chair, but bullet dodged.
Operate the Drawers and Check Their Construction
If you’re looking at a secondhand chest of drawers, there are a couple tell-tale signs of quality that you may not be aware of. Drawer construction is one of these things. Better pieces of furniture have dovetail or pegged drawers. Lesser pieces have brad nails, even staples holding the drawers together. Better construction means that drawers, and therefor the dresser itself, will stand up to all that opening and closing. And speaking of opening and closing, make sure to check that the drawers open and close well. Sticky drawers can be caused by humidity, but they can also be a sign of less-than-stellar construction.
Pick Up A Corner If You Can
The other day a pair of lovely ladies purchased a love seat couch from me. One of their biggest concerns with the purchase was whether they’d be able to lift it out of their truck, as it was on the heavier side. What I explained to them was that weight can sometimes be a sign of good construction. In this case, the love seat was La-Z-Boy and that means steel construction. Even though that adds to the weight of the piece, it’s a good thing because the seat will hold up over time no matter how often your kids jump on it. LOL. The same is often true for chests-of-drawers, tables, etc. But check for particle board in newer pieces because that adds weight but not in a good way.
Take the Cushions Off
The other best practice to determine quality when buying secondhand furniture is to take the cushions off upholstered pieces. Sometimes they are hiding nasty stains on their flip sides and sometimes there are stains on the fabric the cushions rests upon. And if the cushions don’t come off, you’ll know that it was a cost-saving measure on the part of the manufacturer, and it’s a sign of a lesser piece. Detached cushions almost always signify a better furniture. Either way, you’ll want to know what your getting before you lay down your hard-earned cash. Now you know…
For more furniture-related topics, check out my previous blogs like: Brown Wood Furniture: Hot Interior Design Trend and Weird Wood Words in Furniture.
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