Furniture wars
Who makes your furniture? Or a better question who made your furniture? If you are fortunate you live in a home where the materials of the furniture in your home meant to last. I have pieces of furniture that are not as old as me but getting there. In sharp contrast I remember my first couch. A gift from a friend. Made from foam covered in fabric. You could literally lift the whole thing with one hand. Of course that couch did not last and returned to the street because I imagined that is where it came from. Something abandoned by someone who is in the process of moving out of their apartment. In fact I remember when we used to make the rounds. Checking out the street corners after the annual moving day to see what treasures had made it to the curb. Today I watched a video about the changing furniture industry. There was a time when furniture was made by craftsmen. The largest problem with good furniture is that it is heavy. In our modern world where stores go in and out of business, I noticed that the best furniture stores in my town offered to deliver the products they sold. Few people have delivery trucks in their driveway. The industry for many has moved to something called flat pack where a pile of cheap pieces are placed in a cardboard box and sent to you to be put together. Looking at you IKEA. Unless you are very careful you will not be keeping that IKEA table for any more than a few years. Designed to be used and thrown away. If someone asked me should you go into the furniture industry and learn to do it properly I would have to say no. Very few people have the time or the money to do the job properly. I think the next time I go into a furniture store I am going to look more than once at what was involved in the manufacture. Something assures me that MDF will not be a major selling point.
