[ggm]

If you have family, check in before you give the heirloom toy away, your brother or sister may kill you if they're harbouring dibs on it.

I am still not forgiven for throwing away one half of Johnsons dictionary, the one with the "oats" joke despite it being mostly damaged, beyond repair and unsellably filthy.

I'm writing this looking at a 15th or 16th C wooden stool my mother rescued from a skip. Kondo would have done for it when Chippendale or Sheraton were alive if not before. Now I have a 21st century flat with 21st century life and a 500 year old oak stool I still use to change light bulbs.

[lkois]

Sure but modern stools are designed to break to make you buy another, so you'll save money in the long run. They don't make them like that anymore. You'll be able to pass it down to your grandkids one day.

[jstanley]

Old stools broke as well, but the ones that broke don't exist any more. Only the really good ones remain.

[Cthulhu_]

A good example of survivorship bias. I'm sure there's 70 year old IKEA furniture out there too.

I think anyone CAN make a good stool like that if they can find the materials and some hand tools, it's just that nobody can be bothered and nobody wants to pay someone to put in the effort. Or that nobody has access to tools and/or a space to do the work. There does seem to be a bit of a renaissance in woodworking though.

[piva00]

I commonly find second hand IKEA sideboards in teak here in Sweden, mid-century design is still sought after and nicer IKEA furniture from the 60s/70s sells for quite a mark-up.

[ggm]

My office desk is an IKEA butcherblock beech top on IKEA legs, our former dining table. A wedding gift from my mother 33 years ago. I think 70 is entirely plausible. One good sandbank and re-oil and it's good for 40 more.

[schwartzworld]

Ikea was founded in 1943, so there is not 70 year old Ikea furniture anywhere.

[ido]

1943 was 79 years ago, so theoretically there might be?

Jokes aside some IKEA stuff really is pretty good quality and lasts decades. Other stuff is cheap crap but you don't have to buy the cheap crap.

[detaro]

bad news: 1943 is more than 70 years ago. (probably still almost true though)

[schwartzworld]

Damnit. That's what I get for responding at 5am.

[Broken_Hippo]

Most of the really good ones have broken too: The ones that remain have been lucky.

[shoo]

some of that luckiness is probably due the tree. what we need to do is breed a second generation of especially lucky stools from the same stock.

1. germinate new oak trees from genetic material recovered from lucky stool (1-20 years, say) 2. tend to trees as they mature (40 years) 3. fell trees, craft new generation of stools. (~1 year) 4. use stools until only a handful of lucky stools survive (500+ years) 5. iterate

if all goes to plan, by year 2600 or so the third crop can be underway

[Broken_Hippo]

We look at something old and think "They don't make them like this..."

No, we make them better. That old thing is lucky to have survived - most things we've made in the past broke. Wood? Oh, yeah, that'll dry out and crack and break in ways that it is easier to buy something new - or buy large woodworking tools. And honestly, if you are worried about long-lasting furniture, be more choosy and spend money for quality.

Also worth mentioning that old furniture was made for a different lifestyle and housing and isn't always as useful as modern furniture is.