Say No To Fast Furniture and Yes to Authentic Quality
Here at Rustic House it’s pretty obvious that we love interior design! Every part of the process that goes into making your home gorgeous, comfy and practical is a joy to us, and we love talking through ideas for your space.
One of the things we really enjoy is helping people figure out what suits them and their space. It’s an exciting time and one that’s well worth taking care over. We want you to love your furniture and see it grow into your life.
Something we’ve seen a lot over the last couple of years is the concept of ‘fast furniture’ - and we have some thoughts about it.
What is ‘fast furniture’?
We’ve all heard of fast food and fast fashion, but fast furniture is one of the more recent buzz-words to be appearing in the public. It’s got the same characteristics - meaning furniture that is quick and cheap to manufacture and buy - but also comes with compromises on quality.
Why are people buying more fast furniture and home decor?
Recent trends (and lockdown-based necessities!) meant that many people were spending so much more time in the house, and in more multi-functional ways than ever. We all had to drastically rethink how our living spaces worked and what we wanted from them.
In one sense, fast furniture does offer more choice to the consumer - more people are getting to experiment with their style and their taste. In others ways though,‘fast furniture’ isn’t actually that good for either our wallets or the planet.
Is fast furniture a good investment?
We do love the feeling of bringing home some new piece of furniture or decor, and seeing how it updates your space. However, while it might be cheap on the shelf or online, fast furniture often ends up costing you in the end.
Fast fashion is inevitably trend-driven - while it’s so easy to fall in love with something you’ve seen looking super chic on social media, flash-in-the-pan fads come and go - from rose gold to inflatable furniture, trendy items usually fall out of favour as soon as something new comes along - which of course you’ll want to buy to stay up to date. Fast furniture undoubtedly opens the door for more wasteful consumption.
And if your fast furniture doesn’t go out of style, there’s always the chance it won’t stand up to the task of being used all day every day. Lower price points more often than not mean a compromise on the quality of materials, which means that many people find themselves damaging or outright breaking a piece of furniture they hoped they would last for years - and having to buy again to replace it.
Is fast furniture good for the planet?
And it’s not just a problem for your wallet - it’s not great for the planet either. The more fast furniture we buy, the more we’re going to need either to donate, throw away, or try to repurpose.
Furniture made from chipboard and plastic coatings and veneers are also often difficult and expensive to recycle - so lots of it ends up in landfill or being incinerated. Not the best for our planet!
Slow life, slow food, slow furniture
So, just as we’re moving towards slow food for a more nutritious, healthier and sustaining meal over fast food, more and more people are moving back towards choosing solid investment pieces of furniture that they love and will build their home around for years to come.
We’re not saying don’t enjoy mixing it up with your home decor. Trends are fun and can help you figure out your taste! But for the sake of the planet, your wallet, and the amount of time you spend assembling furniture and rearranging your house, we’d encourage you shop mindfully, sustainably, and to save your serious pennies for pieces made from high quality materials and of great design that will stand the test of time.
That’s why our exclusive range is stocked full of pieces that are designed to stand up to life’s thrills and spills, knocks and scrapes, gain character be treasured years from now.
