Memes

I feel you. I resorted to making all of our shelves. Its a fun hobby, but I wish I had better options. Also I don't know how to make non-shelf furniture.

Europe? Second hand.

High quality but modernish oak furniture? You can often collect it for free. Paint it white if you think it looks too dated and attach a few new knobs.

Want to pay a bit more? Antique cupboards over 2 meters are invariably easier to dissassemble/reassassemble than an IKEA cupboard. You need less bolts if you make stuff from actual wood. Often just 4 bolts for a huge antique cupboard or no bolts at all just wood clamps/pegs. The top decoration can also often be removed. I've transported a 2.4x1.8m cupboard in the back of a VW Passat. But people don't know that and are scared it won't fit in their house or car, so don't buy them.

Wood is also easy to repair. I've bought early 19th century biedermeier cupboards for under 50Euros that now look like they just came out of a palace. The 16th century cupboard I bought, literally came from a castle. 100 Euros. 2m40 tall. Scares people off, they don't realise it's easy to dissassemble and that the top bit is usually detachable/extra, or they want ikea crap because it's what the neighbours have. People will tell you how much they paid for them(often thousands), then thank you for buying them at less than 10% because they simply don't sell and they would otherwise have been forced to chop them up for firewood. Often old people downsizing and moving to a retirement home. They'd be forced to pay hundreds in storage fees for each month it's not sold.

Some of them look bad when you buy them. I either use a (dark) furniture bees wax or pledge furniture renovator. Not a bit, but a lot of the stuff. Quality wood and you can rescue something that's been stuck in a damp shed and covered in pigeon shit for a decade, and make it look like new. Cracks? Two planks, some wood glue, some bricks. Holes? If the bees wax doesn't fill it, there's filler or wax for that. Etc. etc.

Some of my furniture has no screws, all dove tail carpenter stuff. Some has handmade screws, because they're from before industrialisation.

Only thing to avoid is wood worm, unless you have a large sauna, are willing to take a gamble on the wood not cracking as you cook it, and want to spend an entire day filling tiny holes afterwards.

If you can track down liquidation sales they are a pretty good source for desks, chairs and even shelving. I spent $50 on a beat up butcher block slab and with $20 worth of materials I cleaned it up into a decent looking desk.

String is a pretty nice shelving system.

I bought a metal filing cabinet that would ordinarily go for $400-$500 online for $15 off of Craigslist. I also scoop up and repair free shit from the curb. FB Marketplace and Craigslist are a mixed bag between shitty and overpriced and ridiculously cheap for what the actual retail value would be.

There’s a small town near where I live where you can walk to a bunch of small furniture stores, some with antiques/used and some with new stuff. Prices range but you can usually find a good deal. I’d look for one of these types of things, or IKEA