The secret is it's ALSO Ikea.

Go to the Ikea website and search for bookcases. The standard Billy bookcase is $89 in my location. It's made of wood veneer over particlebaord. They last about 10- 15 years or so before the glue holding the particles together breaks down and they become fragile.

Then use the Materials option to limit to "Solid Wood", the same size Hemnes bookcase is $250. Same height, similar styling, made of solid wood and going to last much longer.

You can buy solid, long lasting furniture at Ikea, but it's not the cheapest option so people often miss it.

We just get stuff from IKEA and don't abuse it.

I feel you. I resorted to making all of our shelves. Its a fun hobby, but I wish I had better options. Also I don't know how to make non-shelf furniture.

Europe? Second hand.

High quality but modernish oak furniture? You can often collect it for free. Paint it white if you think it looks too dated and attach a few new knobs.

Want to pay a bit more? Antique cupboards over 2 meters are invariably easier to dissassemble/reassassemble than an IKEA cupboard. You need less bolts if you make stuff from actual wood. Often just 4 bolts for a huge antique cupboard or no bolts at all just wood clamps/pegs. The top decoration can also often be removed. I've transported a 2.4x1.8m cupboard in the back of a VW Passat. But people don't know that and are scared it won't fit in their house or car, so don't buy them.

Wood is also easy to repair. I've bought early 19th century biedermeier cupboards for under 50Euros that now look like they just came out of a palace. The 16th century cupboard I bought, literally came from a castle. 100 Euros. 2m40 tall. Scares people off, they don't realise it's easy to dissassemble and that the top bit is usually detachable/extra, or they want ikea crap because it's what the neighbours have. People will tell you how much they paid for them(often thousands), then thank you for buying them at less than 10% because they simply don't sell and they would otherwise have been forced to chop them up for firewood. Often old people downsizing and moving to a retirement home. They'd be forced to pay hundreds in storage fees for each month it's not sold.

Some of them look bad when you buy them. I either use a (dark) furniture bees wax or pledge furniture renovator. Not a bit, but a lot of the stuff. Quality wood and you can rescue something that's been stuck in a damp shed and covered in pigeon shit for a decade, and make it look like new. Cracks? Two planks, some wood glue, some bricks. Holes? If the bees wax doesn't fill it, there's filler or wax for that. Etc. etc.

Some of my furniture has no screws, all dove tail carpenter stuff. Some has handmade screws, because they're from before industrialisation.

Only thing to avoid is wood worm, unless you have a large sauna, are willing to take a gamble on the wood not cracking as you cook it, and want to spend an entire day filling tiny holes afterwards.

Estate sales?

My friend upcycles old furniture they find and I pay them for their work.

Essentially she finds broken furniture (not fully broken maybe paints all scratched, chair missing a few legs, etc) and fixes them up. Local pickup furniture people are giving away for free cause they moving or something like that.

If you can track down liquidation sales they are a pretty good source for desks, chairs and even shelving. I spent $50 on a beat up butcher block slab and with $20 worth of materials I cleaned it up into a decent looking desk.

String is a pretty nice shelving system.

Thrift stores, basically. I worked in various thrift stores for 5 years and mostly furnished my home that way. Just be thorough when you're inspecting it before you buy it! Check for bugs, broken/missing pieces, wiggly legs, cosmetic damage. We've gotten some really cool stuff in great condition for actually reasonable prices. My favorite is an ancient La-Z-Boy for $12, in decent shape.

If there's a Re-Store near you, they're great too! We got an adorable coffee hutch for $65, a decent couch for $80, a couple nightstands for $10-20 each, a solid, heavy duty coffee table for $30. It requires patience to find what you might be looking for, and it helps if you already know which thrift stores tend to get better quality items. Antique stores are worth a shot too, if you're ok with spending on the upper end of cheap? You can get some really well built, old, beautiful furniture. Or see if there's a furniture consignment store around you!

I think things like IKEA or Target are fine too, as long as you take care of your furniture. I've never had any problems with anything from IKEA, even when I buy used, but it probably helps I don't have kids, lol.

There’s a small town near where I live where you can walk to a bunch of small furniture stores, some with antiques/used and some with new stuff. Prices range but you can usually find a good deal. I’d look for one of these types of things, or IKEA

Like someone else said, ikea and don’t beat it up. Most of their stuff isn’t high quality lumber but it’s not particle board like Walmart either.

I bought a metal filing cabinet that would ordinarily go for $400-$500 online for $15 off of Craigslist. I also scoop up and repair free shit from the curb. FB Marketplace and Craigslist are a mixed bag between shitty and overpriced and ridiculously cheap for what the actual retail value would be.