Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Fine Living, Home, Design & Auto › Crate + Barrel Furniture
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Crate + Barrel Furniture - Page 3

post #31 of 45
8/2/10 at 3:48pm
My wife and I moved into a 3,000+ sqft house last year and had very little furniture to put in it (we were moving from an 800 sqft apartment) and have been slooowly acquiring pieces - we have yet to do anything with a couple of bedrooms, den, and dinning room. Around us there are plenty of choices in terms of quality and price but we actually like the style of a lot of the stuff at Crate + Barrel. We ended up purchasing a coffee table and end table from there and it is definitely very solid. After talking to the SA there and looking at some of the pieces more closely, we realized that they have have basically 3 levels of quality - one being stuff made entirely of particle board and wood veneer that you put together, another level with a mixture of solid wood and particle board or veneer, and a third level with all solid woods, dove tail construction, some pieces with reclaimed woods, etc. Our tables that we got were from this third level of quality and we have been very happy with them. We also bought some shelves and some bar stools from them that were of lesser quality but we knew what we were getting ahead of time. Regardless, we have been happy with those purchases as well.
Reply
Reply
post #32 of 45
8/2/10 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
Why are people so enamored with solid wood? It's a pretty silly obsession.

Yeaa-a, and what about those silly "Full-grain-leather" fools?
Reply
Reply
post #33 of 45
8/2/10 at 7:32pm
I never come to this sub-forum, but it doesn't surprise me that you people would dismiss C&B as "crap". In reality, these brands are very, very expensive furniture that few people can actually afford (without doing into debt). Most people can't afford $2000 for a piece of furniture. They don't have $2000 in the bank, half the time. Now, if you're saying it's a "ripoff", that's a different story, b/c I agree. That said, if you want a step up in price: Door Store Design Within Reach Room & Board. West Elm
Reply
Reply
post #34 of 45
8/2/10 at 7:41pm
Room and Board.

lefty
Reply
Reply
post #35 of 45
8/2/10 at 7:47pm
Solid plastic often has a design integrity and beauty that much solid wood lacks.

- B
Reply
Reply
post #36 of 45
8/2/10 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by voxsartoria View Post
Solid plastic often has a design integrity and beauty that much solid wood lacks.

- B

Reply
Reply
post #37 of 45
8/2/10 at 8:08pm
Also, I think a lot of indep furniture makers are selling their wares on Ebay for much better prices. The last line of the PDF article summed it up perfectly. Also, why did you not like West Elm? The guy with the orange suit has low gorge. Suit jacket from the 80s?
Reply
Reply
post #38 of 45
8/4/10 at 11:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
You're making quite a mistake by furnishing your home immediately. If you don't care about being generic, then go ahead, (and this isn't something a lot of people care about)... but the best furnished homes evolved. Don't buy everything at once, it's ok to be a bit sparse at first. Why spend money on mass produced shit?

C+B is objectively quite poor. It's like buying your entire wardrobe at Gap. You'll end up spending a lot of money on crappy, ubiquitous furniture. Let your house grow over time... buy furniture in your travels. Do you really need a fully furnished house ASAP? Why not let it evolve over time and actually take on a real character, and be furnished with true quality pieces?
This is really great advice. Seriously.
Reply
Reply
post #39 of 45
8/4/10 at 3:49pm
We've had nothing but great experiences with Room & Board and Restoration Hardware. We've had our furniture for about 5 years now and it's still in excellent shape. It's just my wife and I, no kids. Needless to say, she has a thing about re-arranging at least once a year, so the stuff has been moved around quite a bit. Our sofas from both places are made in the USA and the fabrics are very nice and hold up to a lot of wear. The other items are also of very high quality. Of course they're not one-of-a-kind, artisan-made stuff, but they are all solid wood and very heavy. If you like antique-ish stuff but do not have the time or patience to go around looking in flea-markets, garage sales and antique shops, Restoration Hardware offers some exceptional reproductions.
Reply
Reply
post #40 of 45
8/4/10 at 4:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reevolving View Post
I never come to this sub-forum, but it doesn't surprise me that you people would dismiss C&B as "crap".
In reality, these brands are very, very expensive furniture that few people can actually afford (without doing into debt).
Most people can't afford $2000 for a piece of furniture. They don't have $2000 in the bank, half the time.
Now, if you're saying it's a "ripoff", that's a different story, b/c I agree.

That said, if you want a step up in price:
West Elm

West Elm stuff is the same fiberboard crap, just cut into modern/contemporary shapes rather than classic/traditional ones.

$2,000 isn't all that expensive for heirloom-quality hardwood furniture, but it is when compared to Ikea.
Reply
Reply
post #41 of 45
8/4/10 at 6:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lefty View Post

Yeah. I went to that place in Chicago after spending a couple hours at Ligne Roset and there's no comparison. I couldn't find anything comfortable at Room and Board. It just looked cool.
Reply
Reply
post #42 of 45
8/4/10 at 8:46pm
Room and Board has some promising pieces and customizable office armoirs but they are unfinished (oil & wax is not real finish) and their prices are roughly 30/40% more than they should be.
I can order a lot of similar but better made furniture pieces from small crafting companies and individual craftsman and pay the same price as R&B charges ,but I would be getting infinetly better made and finished product.
To each its own.
Reply
Reply
post #43 of 45
8/5/10 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pg600rr View Post
I would look elsewhere, i.e., mom+pop stores as sugested in the article but I have no idea where to find such stores in the MA/NH area. THe ethan allen I went to had all stuffy trad stuff you'd see in some old womens house, etc. Very boring shit. I am assuming most of the mom+pop stores carry that type of shit.


First, I'll stick for C&B. We have some of their stuff and we like it. A couch that we've had for 3+ years now. Doing fine and looking great (since discountinued). A china cabinet that's okay. It's not fantastic, but also not high on our list to replace. A TV cabinet thingy. Same as the china cabinet. They had a bed that we LOVED, but it was just too expensive for what it was. They never put it on sale and discountinued it one day. C&B is not dead to me. We also have two end tables from PB that we love. In all the cases where we love something, it has been quickly discontinued, which leads me to think that these places are run by idiots.

Second, I'll reiterate what SField said: do not furnish your house all from one place. It will look like a catalog. Since you're in the NH/MA area, I'll recommend Brimfield. It's one of the big antiques/flea markets. if you can't find a couple nice pieces of furniture there, I don't think you're trying. It's last show of the year is Sept 6-11. Check it out.

b
Reply
Reply
post #44 of 45
8/12/10 at 7:41pm
Thread Starter 
Found another store I had never heard of that had a few things I liked... Arhaus?? anyone been there?

Also taking a trip to Gardner MA. this weekend, suppose to be a major furniture hub.
Reply
Reply
post #45 of 45
8/18/10 at 5:55pm
Thread Starter 
Didnt find shit in Gardner, have kind of change my mind on C+B after going back several times, alot of the wood tables, etc. feel hollow? and I am also starting to dislike the style a bit, RH on the other hand I am beginning to love... very much my style and the style of my house. I am gonna hit up the outlet tomorrow, was @ the location in Chestnuthill today and it was quite small.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Fine Living, Home, Design & Auto › Crate + Barrel Furniture