Why was Soviet furniture better than modern furniture?

It is impossible not to notice how significantly the quality of modern furniture has become different, in particular, its service life. If a cabinet made in the time of our grandmothers can still retain functionality, then modern models wear out within the first 10 years of operation.

Brief information about furniture from the times of the USSR

Speaking about the Soviet period of furniture production, it is worth dividing it into two segments:

• The first is the pre-war period, when this industry was so undeveloped that they mainly used what was created during the tsarist period. The only things produced for the needs of citizens were armored beds and simple kitchen sets, represented by stools and simple cabinets.
• The second period is the post-war period. Here the state decided that it was time to think about the needs of the common population. In the period from the 50s to the 70s, mass production of all types of furniture began. But it was done so poorly that the appearance was simply terrifying. More or less decent elements of the headset were produced in the Baltic countries. Already in the 50s and 60s, it was possible to purchase veneered cabinets here, coated with a thick layer of varnish. While Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were still “rolling together” something that only vaguely resembled normal furniture.

Soviet furniture

The development of this area of ​​industry moved rather slowly. This was due to the difficult economic situation. In any case, that’s what they always said, that in the post-war years the country was ruined. And the state was not thinking about how comfortable its citizens were, but about providing everyone with the most necessary things. Although, if you look at Germany in the post-war period, they quickly recovered and began to make quality products for home improvement, which were not only attractive, but also functional.

One of the successful examples of the development of European production of interior elements is the company IKEA. By the way, it was from this that most of the furniture produced in the USSR in the post-war period was written off. But if European manufacturers were distinguished by the quality of the goods they produced, both in terms of production technology and in terms of functionality and aesthetics, then in the USSR everything turned out to be quite poor and crooked - especially in terms of ergonomics and attractive appearance.

So, it’s worth taking a closer look at examples of Soviet furniture. Was it so strong and reliable?

The so-called “wall” is cabinet furniture that occupied most of the room, especially in Khrushchev-era buildings. It was made from thick chipboard, so all the doors were so heavy that they very quickly warped under their own weight. This was also facilitated by low-quality fittings. The varnish very often chipped, after which further destruction and delamination of the chipboard occurred at the place of the chip. Dropping such a door on your toe could easily break it.

Despite the fact that the idea was taken from the Swedish Ikea, the implementation lagged behind technologically and in terms of design.Therefore, both the appearance and the quality during operation were not up to par.

Folding book tables. This is another “masterpiece” of Soviet production. As a rule, the legs became loose so quickly that they had to be fixed later with brackets and bolts. Otherwise, the product could not be used. And even when folded, they remained as non-functional as possible.

Kitchen sets. Low-quality chipboard, unattractive design, even for those times. All this makes such furniture very strange. It was sometimes impossible to purchase a complete kitchen set due to the fact that the cabinets for the sink could differ in appearance from the rest of the structure.

Book sofas. The main task of this type of furniture was to save space in a small room. But it was uncomfortable to sleep on it, both for one person and for two people. This happened due to a flaw in the design. Since individual parts had a slight slope towards the center. Therefore, those sleeping on such a sofa always rolled towards the middle.

Sitting on such a sofa was also uncomfortable, since its depth did not correspond to the anatomical features of the human structure. All this happened due to the fact that during the design they treated the anatomical and ergonomic characteristics very negligently.

As can be seen from everything presented above, most of the problems related specifically to appearance and ease of use. But the very quality of the materials from which the furniture was made showed incredibly high results in terms of wear resistance.

The main problem was not the quality of the material, but the efficiency of connection, integration and functionality.

Why Soviet furniture lasted a long time, but modern furniture did not

If we compare Soviet furniture with foreign-made objects of the same period, then, undoubtedly, it was inferior to its foreign counterparts in terms of convenience. This was due to the fact that abroad they paid great attention to comfort.

If we compare Soviet furniture with that which is produced in the post-Soviet space now, then the opposite bias is observed. The appearance and performance characteristics of modern products have been improved, but the quality has become much worse. This happens due to the desire of industrialists working in this niche to get maximum profit with minimal investment. But since saving on design and convenience means losing to competitors, furniture producing companies are forced to look for other ways to reduce the cost of their products. This is where the savings on quality come into play. This is not always visible immediately upon purchase, but only manifests itself after a certain period of use, which is what modern manufacturers take advantage of.

In the modern world, it is simply not profitable to produce high-quality goods, otherwise in 10 years you will not come for a new sofa, but will continue to sleep on the old good one.