Czech furniture!

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous (Czech-Related)' started by brigitte, Jan 28, 2005.

  1. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    Odd question, but I am on the lookout for a new bed, and recently went to a huge pine shop in town that has plenty. I picked up a couple of brochures in the shop as I liked a couple of beds in a range, and wanted to go home and think before buying.

    On getting home I looked at the brochure, and on the back it gave a Czech company as the manufacturers. They are called Sibex, and I wondered if anyone here has bought furniture off this company. It looks very well made, and there are lots of beautiful items that I would love. Especially a lovely Scandinavian redwood bedstead! Not one in stock here, but I would like to order one. Just after some reviews if anyone else has their furniture! I am prepared to pay a fair bit for several items in due course, so I want to know if their stuff is value for money.

    Website www.sibex.cz
     
  2. babicka

    babicka Well-Known Member

    It might be an idea to try to find out which is the nearest shop to you that does have some examples of this furniture in stock and/or on display. You might be able to find this out from that company direct, as they will be aware of their distribution points in the United Kingdom.
    I must say I have to agree with you, their furniture looks great.
     
  3. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    There is a shop which sells it - this is the one I mentioned above, they are suppliers - I thought it was a local company made it, only when I got home and looked at the brochures, I noticed it was a Czech company! The shop is English run, though, I think they have many different suppliers. There is a nicer bed in one of the brochures, but they do not have it in the shop, I'd have to order it. A lot of the stuff is in stock but typically the bed I like isn't! :wink: :roll:

    Another prob..... I live upstairs and the bed would come ready assembled, so it is going to be fun navigating the three turn staircase - probably knock a lot of paintwork off... So it would have to withstand delivery difficulties, let alone years of sleeping in!! :lol:
     
  4. babicka

    babicka Well-Known Member

    I probably did not make myself clear enough in my last post, what I was trying say was to contact that Czech company direct, by sending an e-mail to them, and finding out where they distribute their furniture to in England etc.

    I know what you mean about trying to get furniture up and down stairs.
    This house and the last house I lived in were not furniture friendly in that respect. You would think that when architects design domestic dwellings they would take into account that furniture cannot suddenly magically appear upstairs.
     
  5. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    Makes you wonder how some of the extremely large antique furniture was carried upstairs. Some old cottages, like my mother's, have very narrow twisty staircases, yet somehow there are massive pieces of bedroom furniture! If I was still living with my family, I would have to scratch the idea of getting the bed I want, as the stairwell there is very narrow, again three turns, but with a low ceiling to boot - if you are over 5ft 5" you have to duck! We had to get an old divan downstairs for a new one, and it was an absolutely dreadful task, and that folded in half!

    I agree with what you say about architects - I think todays homes are quite badly designed, the rooms are often very small. Unless you can afford an exclusive design which has very large rooms. My flat, in a house built in Edwardian times has a very high ceiling, and all the heat is going up there leaving the lower half chilly. I think in the original days there was a roaring fireplace, and that blasted out enough heat to fill the room. My convector heater is useless! One thing about small rooms, they cost less to heat! If I was buying a new house, I would go for a 1930s one, not new, as they are more solid and have more character.

    Back to the subject of this furniture, though. It would be nice to say that my furniture is imported Czech furniture! I think it looks a lot better than some of the catalogue stuff I looked at before. I prefer wood, in the 80s I had a lot of black plastic stuff, now I want a more natural look. I will take these brochures back to the shop in the week and get a quote. They will be able to obtain the items I want hopefully - if not I will contact the manufacturers to find out who in the UK has it all. Cheers for advice.
     
  6. Qcumber

    Qcumber Well-Known Member

    Large pieces of furniture were mounted inside the room by the joiner and his mates. They were not delivered mounted. Besides they didn't use nails or screws, but only pegs and dowels. At least this is the way it was in France until recently. :)
     
  7. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    That makes sense. I was back at the shop a couple of days ago asking about the 'readily assembled' status of this bed I'm after, and was informed it actually comes as 4 parts, then you lay the slats across. not really readily assembled, then is it! :lol: Mind you, it makes things easier - although if it's me that has to put it together, it will be anyone's guess as to how many nights I will sleep in it before a rather large crash and a very uncomfortable awakening. (be memories as I spent many years waking up on a mattress on the floor in my younger days! :wink: ) Hopefully part of the delivery men's job will be putting it together SAFELY!

    I think 'readily assembled' probably refers to large dressers, sideboards, tables and cupboards.
     
  8. Qcumber

    Qcumber Well-Known Member

    Normally, large oak dressers that go in upstairs bedrooms have to be assembled in the room, otherwise they couldn't go up the stairs. Even in some cases the panels themselves had be hoisted upstairs through the window by installing a temporary beam secured with ropes and provided with a pulley. Not to worry. Nowadays deliverers and removers have powered lifts that will carry the piece of furniture or its parts to the floor you want. :)
     
  9. KJP

    KJP Well-Known Member

    Found this a fairly interesting thread....why would it be nice to say that my furniture is imported Czech furniture?

    We are talking about a country that:
    a: is NOT known for their wood, indigenous
    b: half the czech forest as been destroyed by acid rain
    c: read the Prague Post? Made in Czech is a deterent to sales...made in the EU is all the rage now

    Love the country, but lets not push it. Next people will purport its surfing capabilities ! Nothing like the Vltava for waves , eh? :lol:
     
  10. Dana

    Dana Well-Known Member

    And half of the remaining forest cut down by the communists
     
  11. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    Hello KJP!! Nice to see you!

    Yes, it would be a good talking point, but that is not the main reason - I spotted the furniture BEFORE I knew where it came from! I would also see it as supporting a business in another country too rather than some huge company in the UK! I don't mind where it comes from, so long as it is well made. I think it is very good to support businesses abroad, I don't actually think the wood comes from CZ anyway, the Czech company just make the stuff. As for acid rain - ditto many countries.

    Do I read the Prague Post? No. I don't follow whatever the rage is. Following the rage is for sheep! Made in EU? Doesn't matter to me. All I am looking for is a good piece of furniture - this looks good, it has been seen in the shop, and I would like several items.

    Surfing capabilites? LOL!! Awww think that is a long shot!! Is Scandinavian redwood used for surfboards?
     
  12. KJP

    KJP Well-Known Member

    iz noz me some vood...translation: I know wood well.

    Even in the states, where the redwood forest are becoming a rareity, to purchase inland or western red is now frowned upon, and it should be.

    You also missing the export factor. No Czech made furniture wants to get the wood from any other country, taxation issues, transport, etc.

    Wood can also be a carrier of bugs, so the wood does come from here. Mostly knotty pine, which is a low grade wood. Note the knots in it, red knots were from limbs that were alive when it was cut down, black means the limb was dead when felled...

    Maybe those damn commies did it Dana? :}

    What you or I feel about the made in the EU label matters not, the Czechs want it,for made in Czech wasn't carrying the weight, it was a frowned upon label that branding determined should be taken off, so they have applied to carry the made in the EU label
     
  13. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    It is good wood, I am not sure about the knots! My present pine furniture has dark brown ones - I wouldn't say red.

    I would be interested to know if the company have any replanting strategies - I was just thinking about some of the rainforests that are being destroyed by over-felling. Looking at the website it doesn't say where it came from.

    This bed I would like, as I like the look of it, after looking for months, and it appears well made. I am not just getting it because of where it comes from, that bit was a surprise to me when I looked at the brochure later at home, as I thought it was British. And locally made. Admittedly it swayed my opinion a bit, that's why I made the comment about having CZ furniture as a talking point. I thought, well, it would be nice to support another country's industry. Not just to sound like I was showing off, not a chance. Apologies if it sounded that way.

    I understand your concerns though, regarding the felling. Ideally I would like salvaged wood, reclaimed timber, some of the stuff I have seen is really lovely.
     
  14. KJP

    KJP Well-Known Member

    only a trained eye can judge the quality of furniture by looking. Its all in the joinery....notice the Amish is the USA, no nails, dowels nor glue...just damn hard work and a butt load of time

    You should look for fingerjoints, mortize and tenon, etc. to judge furniture. Pine is a soft wood (other than yellow pine which is on the cusp) and usually crap wood has crap construction to match...
     
  15. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    This is what I mean, when you say crap furniture. And pine being a soft wood. I see so much rubbish in the catalogues and shops, that looks as though it wouldn't last five minutes, and costs far too much for the cheap quality. Having had experience of such cheap stuff in the 80s, this is why I want quality now! I have looked in furniture shops and seen very flimsy pine furniture, that would probably not withstand many years of use.
    I decided I was going to look harder and find better quality stuff that would still be as new in 10 years time, and then would probably last another 10!

    This is why I went up this shop I am getting the bed from. I often noticed the stuff outside on my way past and thought it looked well made sturdy furniture. When I was bed hunting I decided to pop up and look closer as I thought that they would have the quality I am looking for.

    Checking the brochures this afternoon, it does say that the timber is from renewable sources - so that is good. I wouldn't consider consider buying anything derived from rainforests.
     
  16. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    Reminds me..

    My ex partner decided on buying a Jacuzzi, the fool. We had a normal bath, but were replacing it, so he goes out and says he's bought a new one. The delivery men turn up, and unload this thing, which we couldn't get in the front door - let alone up the stairs. It sat in the hall for months while he worked out how to get it upstairs... :roll: Then we had to knock 2 rooms into one, redesign the entire bathroom layout and to add insult to injury his mate installed it... And cocked the whole thing up, and it never worked properly... (btw,his mate is a Slovak)
     
  17. KJP

    KJP Well-Known Member

    My neighbor has him beat- he bought such a large jacuzzi and didnt consider if he had enough hot water to fill it, needed to upgrade the H20 tank but they didnt make one large enough to fill it in the space he had for it!
     
  18. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    Planning regulations for swimming pools in the UK are somewhat odd. Apparently you can dig the hole, but you have to get planning permission to fill it with water... Rules may have changed now, but I always thought that a bit odd! There are some crazy laws in the UK. Only the other week I read that someone was being ordered to pull down a children's playhouse because they didn't have permission, yet some travellers erected all sorts of sheds on a nearby camp and the council did nothing!

    Be interesting to know about planning regulations in CZ, what you can or can't do - it was the case in Japan that you can only have a car appropriate to the size of your house, because of the parking space!

    Regarding my previous post about Slovak plumbing, a correction. The Slovak concerned turned up with a crate of beer and 2 mates to install the bath - he stood against the wall drinking the beer, and the 2 mates did all the work.. so technically he didn't cock it up.... he just stood there smoking telling the others what to do. :wink:
     
  19. KJP

    KJP Well-Known Member

    The reason you need the planning permission to fill it with water is that it is now a hazard. Children fall into pools all the time and die...want to add water, you need a fence around it first...
     
  20. brigitte

    brigitte Well-Known Member

    We don't have fencing regulations here, never have had - although there have been incidents where the idea has been mooted. It isn't a legal requirement for that reason, unfortunately there have been many deaths, children, animals ect. A few years ago in this town, a toddler drowned at a party, and there was a lot of stuff in the papers/news about fencing being required by law, but haven't heard anything about it since.

    I'll have a look for the reasons, only last week a story of some cows falling into a pool was in the papers.

    Having had a search around, it says you do not need planning permission at all - unless it is an indoor pool. So that has changed! From what i've read, it is still a recommendation to inform the local authorities anyway.
     

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