Deering asked a good question: if you buy REAL vintage (and not faux-vintage "shabby chic"), do you need to worry about bedbugs or other insect infestation?

I've never encountered that, in decades of buying furniture, BUT most of my stuff is from either private homes (where I could gauge for myself the general cleanliness level of the house) OR Goodwill-type stores (where they have upholstered stuff professionally fumigated). If you are buying from a thrift or antique store, I'd inquire about this, or look into fumigation. You certainly don't want vermin in your house, but I actually think this is somewhat rare.

Most really old sofas (like Deco era) require some structural repair to be functional or at least comfy again, but it's not that complicated or difficult to do it yourself. They have super quality construction by today's standards, with individually tied spring coils and hardwood frames. Even the cushions often have spring units, or down cushions, and these can usually be reused when you reupholster.

In comparison, most modern sofas use staples, plywood and cheap foam that falls apart after a few years of usage. Most discarded modern sofas I see have "failed" due to split or crumbling foam; this is even a bigger problem than stains on the upholstery fabric (which are usually cleanable). They were simply not designed for long term use; the assumption is that people WANT to redecorate and get "something new" every couple of years.

On the other hand, my Art Deco sofa and chair have been reupholstered twice in 27 years, and are still look as good as the day they were made. Old furniture was made to last a lifetime! It's a good value and I feel it's more attractive than anything you can buy in a store, Shabby Chic included. As someone mentioned, such furniture is still available at affordable prices if you look around your area -- Craigslist, newspaper classifieds, and ebay are good sources and so are estate sales. Antique stores have 'em, but are generally overpriced.

Like anything else in life, to get quality you either have to spend more money -- or expend more TIME AND EFFORT, to find the good stuff.

I always thought Rachel Ashwell was a scam artist, selling cheap painted furniture and sofas that were only a small step above the grad-school kind whose wrecked upholstery was hidden under layers of old sheets. Ever wonder why all her sofas were frowsy and white?

In 2005, I wasted a day advising a friend whose house I was redecorating that for the money she could have a real sofa--something with a hardwood frame and natural stuffing that would last several generations. We sat on Shabby Chic sofas for at least an hour; they were enveloping but not particularly comfortable, unless you like the idea of sitting on marshmallows. I didn't get it but she loved Shabby Chic and kept saying, "I don't care if I have to get another sofa in ten years!"

Guess what? In the end, she bought nothing. I'm sure there's a lesson in here somewhere.

Okay, I was kind of in a bad mood and being a dick. When I said the lower classes, I didn't necessarily mean the poor--class isn't all about money, it's also about taste. But even that isn't really an excuse on my part because then what I was saying was "people with lousy taste have lousy taste" which is inane even by internet standards.

That said, here's a story: I live in an extremely blue-collar town and when I went to view what is now my apartment, which had been vacant for several months despite very reasonable rent, I found this gem of a well-maintained 1930's apartment--dark varnished wood fixtures and cabinets, art deco ceiling lights--like, freakishly wonderful, something you'd pay $3000 a month for in Toronto. But as the landlord was showing it, he was sort of defensively placing himself between me and these wonderful antique cabinets and saying, now listen, don't worry, I'm going to be ripping these out and putting in new cabinets before anyone moves in. Apparently the yahoos who rent in my town were all turned off by the old wood fixtures and wanted stuff that was more "modern" i.e. formica cabinets from Home Despot.

This is in the same town where there are tons of nice old houses that have had their wood or shingle siding pulled off and replaced with vinyl--the cheapest grade of vinyl, no less, always the gray or taupe stuff. Yes, I know vinyl is cheap but these houses also have two snowmobiles and an ATV and a travel trailer in the yard. They're lower-class, not poor. There are just too many people out there who, given the choice, will spend their extra money on boneheaded motorized toys and cut costs by vandalizing our heritage. I have to look at their shitty vinyl houses and listen to their muscle cars and their goddamn hollywood-country music on public-address systems and there's just no bloody escape from it. Maybe there has always been a majority of people with lousy taste but they weren't always empowered to impose it on the rest of us. Okay, now I'm pissed off again so end of post. Guess where my handle comes from? ;)

One a week during my lunch hour I walk through because the stuff is beautifully presented. But I have no interest in buying anything. I already have a futon couch, which I bought in Chicago, that has moved with me several times since. An allen wrench is all the maintenance it needs.

We live in a throwaway society which makes it cheaper to buy new imported stuff than move what you've got to a new location. This is sad because continuity in ownership adds value to me. My parents still have a card table they got as a wedding present in the late 1950s. Now, in retirement, my Dad uses it as an extension of his desk.

a different example.

I refuse to buy any more appliances that are made in China. I noticed that the stuff I have bought the last few years lasts only a year or two before breaking.

this is shameful.

Things I have bought that have broken so soon include a microwave that had a fan that refused to stop blowing unless the door remained open all the time, a vacuum cleaner that lasted maybe a season, I've gone thru three weed whackers in four years, and I weed maybe four times a year, three lawnmowers in those same four years, and I have a small lawn.

landfills are filing up fast and all we can do is import rancid junk? are companies THAT pathetic?

I still have items from the 1970s, an old boom box type radio, an electric heater, etc, that STILL work just fine, mostly. I cannot imagine the crap I have recently bought being of much use in three years.

these were not inexpensive items, they went for the same or similar prices to many other items in the stores I bought them in.

SO, I refuse to buy anything anymore unless I am certain it is made in Italy, or Germany, or Canada, or the USA. It might take some more digging and cost some more, but the piece of mind gained more than makes up for it.

Back to the furniture. I always hated furniture. Oh, it looks nice, but I moved often for years as I lived in different places and furniture is just a pain in the ass. And so much of it looks so mediocre, badly designed, cliched or malproportioned.

The genius of shabby chic and other places is that there are some good bones underneath the furniture in places such as this. The design is refined with nice lines. The size is hefty and the thing is proportioned well with little useless kitsch to the items.

Unfortunately such quality seems to cost $5000. Better if we had an American homegrown Ikea type store but with higher quality well designed goods that last. The couches might cost $800 or $1200 each but they would be really chic, not the North Carolina, malproportioned, irrelevant, overpriced, particle board trash that fills so many US showrooms.

I know, I know, Americans mostly lack any discernable taste. I suffer this month trying in VAIN to find a good producer of high quality custom metal coasters for my company and am shocked that there is nothing chic and European styled or craftsmannish available anywhere in the states as far as I can tell.