3 Signs It's Time to Replace Your Pandemic-Era Furniture

If you bought furniture during Covid, it's worth taking a hard look at how it's holding up. Industry analysts have a name for what's happening right now: the pandemic replenishment cycle. Furniture bought in 2020 and 2021 is starting to show wear, and Dan, who works for his family's furniture business in South Jersey, laid out three things to know if you're thinking about replacing it.

How do you know it's time for new furniture?

The signs are usually physical, not emotional. Cushions that no longer spring back after you sit on them, cracks forming in a dining table, creaks that weren't there before in a bedframe. These are the ordinary signs of a piece reaching the end of its life, not necessarily a defect.

Dan brought in Michael, who owns Kensington and has spent 35 years in the furniture business, to talk about why people actually decide to replace a piece. Michael's take is that understanding the reason behind the purchase matters as much as the purchase itself. "Our goal with our knowledge of furniture and our years here is to give them solutions." The idea is to match someone with a piece that fits how they actually live, so they're not back in the store in a few years buying a second replacement for the same problem.

Ask about financing before you commit

Furniture isn't cheap. A couch or a dining room set can easily run over $2,000, and that number stops a lot of people before they even start looking. It's worth asking any store about financing options before you rule something out. Kensington offers financing through the Synchrony HOME card, which can make a bigger purchase more manageable than paying the full amount up front.

How to tell if a furniture store is reputable

This is the tip Michael speaks to directly, and it's the one that separates a good purchase from a costly mistake. A deal that seems too good to pass up is often exactly that. "Typically those type of deals cause problems because if you need service, if you want it to last, you typically become disappointed." In other words, the lowest price up front can turn into the most expensive option once you factor in service issues or having to replace the piece sooner than you planned.

This is really the tension between cheap and quality that a lot of shoppers in South Jersey are weighing right now. A reputable store isn't necessarily the one with the flashiest sale sign. It's the one that will still be there if something needs to be serviced, and that sells pieces built to last past the return window.

The bottom line

If your furniture is from the pandemic years and it's starting to creak, sag, or crack, that's a normal part of its life cycle, not a sign you did something wrong. When you're ready to replace it, look at the actual wear, ask about financing before you assume something is out of reach, and buy from a place that will stand behind what it sells.