This article is really trying to gaslight us into believing it is only pessimism, when decline in quality is very real. The best example is that ikea no longer sells solid wood tables, they are particle board with wood grain stickers. The exciting part is they are more expensive than the original hardwood versions.
My experience is different (and I doubt that Ikea ever sold anything that wasn't made of particle boards). For example in Czechia, I bought the same bed in Ikea in 2010 and in 2021, and the price was nominally the same, so because of inflation, it is actually cheaper. But the quality went down and it's really bad.
Is solid hardwood production better for the environment than particle board, at the societal level (i.e. over the average societal lifespan of the finished products)?
Particle boards with wood grain stickers are the actual good stuff now. Ikea is literally selling cardboard with woodgrain stickers (that's not a joke).
Ikea has had a few tiers of furniture. You could always get chipboard etc. stuff at the cheaper ranges but they used to have more better choices on their higher ranges.
Let me put it this way: in my area, the vast majority are veneers or what looks like a vinyl sticker. This is an inversion of what it used to be, which was the majority were hardwood. The market in every geo is different, but I am in a top 10 major city in US. I don’t buy from Ikea online, so maybe that is possible! It doesn’t change my experience though.
This is the crux of my argument against these types of articles, they try to retcon “you are the one who is crazy! it’s always been like that”. I was searching at an autistic level for a dinner table for the last five years from IKEA until I just gave up and bought a vintage thing made of real teak, made by a craftsperson for less than a mid range sticker and mechanically separated wood table from IKEA.
I have a solid wood table that I bought at Ikea a few years ago. I think it’s made of bamboo. Isn’t that hardwood? Even if it’s compressed I don’t think it’s made of grain. It definitely doesn’t have stickers.
