Last week, I ended up going down a rabbit hole on the quality of West Elm furniture. I don't remember what the first article or two I read was, but I ended up at these two pieces before long.
In the second piece, the author asked WE employees how about the expected lifetime of WE furniture and got the response of 1 to 3 years. This shocked me since their furniture is a bit more expensive than Ikea furniture. Especially since a lot of people have a positive experience with Ikea furniture lasting a long time, even through moves and rough use.
So, I'm curious. For those of you who have WE furniture, is it really only lasting 1 to 3 years, or is it lasting longer? Is this light, regular, or heavy use?
Also, let's talk about fast furniture in general. For a while now, there has been a bit of a movement against fast fashion, but I, personally, haven't seen much backlash against fast furniture. What do you all think about it, its impact on society, its impact on the environment, or any thoughts in general?
I have no experience with WE, but lot's of experience with Ikea. Nearly everything that I've gotten from Ikea has held up really, really well, much better than I expected it to for the price. For example, I had the Trofast storage for my kids. It lasted 3 moves and was in near perfect condition when I gave it away for free after 8 years of hard use. I had a bed, same number of moves, sold it for almost as much as I paid, because it was in perfect condition (they still sell this same bed, but for twice as much as I paid for mine which is why I was able to get a good price when I sold it). My boys both currently have Ikea dressers in their rooms. They are over 3 years old and in near perfect condition.
Also, we can't afford the type of furniture that I would ultimately like, so for now, we've gotten a lot of things from Bob's and I've been really happy with everything. I mean, it's not super high quality, but for the most part, everything we've gotten has held up well so far and it looks good.
Even for "fast furniture" I'd be upset if my stuff was only lasting 1-3 years, that just seems crazy to me.
We just replaced all the furniture I bought in 2007 - a couch, coffee table, chair & a half, and ottoman all purchased for ~$1k. The coffee table was destroyed and based on it's materials couldn't be refinished so it went to the dump, but everything else was still in good enough condition that they'll continue to be used in someone else's home and I can imagine them still having several years of life left in them. 1-3 year for a single item over $1k? That's a hard pass from me.
Yikes. I don't own any furniture from WE, or any of the other "upscale" fast furniture retailers, so no experience to speak of. I have looked at it, admired the looks of it ... and decided hard pass on paying Pottery Barn prices for something with veneers, for example. We tend to make do with ugly but solid and durable hand me downs, thrift store finds, or Craig's List finds until we can afford to buy well constructed pieces. We've bought a couple particle board pieces from cheapie furniture stores at times when we couldn't find what we were looking for elsewhere for cheap, but I've eventually regretted every single one of those pieces.
Our hand me downs have meant our house has not looked picture perfect in the meantime, which I have had to come to terms with. I fully admit I've been jealous of friends, bloggers, IGers, etc. whose houses look so much prettier, and not even for lack of effort on my part. Some of our pieces are just ugly. Our bedroom looked like a college kid's until like this month, after >10 years in our house, when we finally bought solid cherry bedroom furniture. It has dovetail joints, mortise and tenon construction, and I don't expect to replace it, possibly ever in my adult life? But it was hard to find the quality I wanted, in the wood (cherry) that I wanted, in the style (shaker, with storage) that I wanted, and I didn't want to waste money on something temporary in the meantime.
The sort of funny thing is that I'm pretty sure if I'd bought corresponding pieces from Pottery Barn (king storage bed, dresser, mirror, chest, 2 night tables), I'd probably have spent more money than I did on well made, albeit less trendy pieces. (I don't have very trendy taste anyway, which goes along with my "use old stuff" style.) With veneers on it, I would not expect the PB pieces I was looking at to last more than 5-10 years before they were looking like crap. I've never had a veneered piece last longer than that before veneers crack, pieces fail, etc. PB's stuff may be better than WE's (1-3 years, omg), but I think a lot of people don't know how to identify quality furniture even looking at it in store, much less from an online description. Like, what do you look for? I wouldn't know, except that my dad is a furniture builder and has taught me explicitly what to look for. The uptick in online purchases probably contributes to retailer's ability, and consumers' appetites for fast furniture. You can hide a lot of weaknesses in a piece with pretty pictures.
Post by heliocentric on Feb 4, 2019 12:32:52 GMT -5
We have a buffet from West Elm that we bought used several years ago. Maybe the quality was better then, but that thing is solid and still looks great. Although it's not like a buffets sees much use.
We have a mix of quality solid wood furniture and cheap furniture (not much in the middle). While you can tell the difference, the cheap stuff from Target and IKEA has still performed well for us--some for more than 15 years. Maybe we are just not that hard on things? Or got lucky with the pieces we purchased?
I think the piece of furniture we've owned the longest is an IKEA Ektorp sofa we've had for almost 15 years. We got a new cover when we redecorated last year, but just to change the color. We've honestly had good luck with what we've gotten there, but I think it helps that we've always been able to go in person to look at a piece and we've definitely ruled some out there because we didn't they'd last.
Our DR table and chairs are WE, and they're fine. Overall they've held up pretty well to kids and that kind of mess, though I do regret getting fabric dining chairs. But I feel like large upholstered furniture is different from a simple table and a lot more prone to wear and tear. For WE kind of money, I'd expect it to last way more than 1-3 years.
That said, we have Ikea pieces that we bought when we moved in together in 2007. Some things like the expedit cubes see daily use. We even passed 1 onto my sister. Our table and chairs were still in great shape, but we sold them when we moved into this house b/c they were too small.
Our house is combination of big store furniture, ikea, and more custom pieces that we paid $$ for. For example our dining table and chairs are john thomas and I love them. Our barstools are the same brand and I'm not as impressed, I've tightened them twice and my 44lb kid is the main user. I would like to replace our bedroom furniture mostly b/c I hate the style, there's nothing wrong with it. E's room is ikea, but her hemnes dresser only faired ok the 2nd move and I'm hoping it lasts a few more years before I need to worry.
I feel like there's a big difference between inexpensive furniture and fast furniture. Fast furniture, to me, is furniture manufactured to meet the want of trendiness, not a need. I'm not sure that any real design thinking goes into putting these pieces together other than making sure the aesthetic meets the trend factor of the days it's being made. Inexpensive furniture, otoh, is just that, and may or may not be trendy. It may be made with plywood, glue, and staples, rather than hardwood boards and traditional joinery--or it may not.
Because of these differences, I don't really like the idea of fast furniture. IMO it feeds the desire for mass consumption and, if it's cheap, less guilt for tossing it when it's out of style. Inexpensive furniture, though, makes it easier for people to meet their needs. I could be wrong about all of it, though!
ugh, I just ordered two accent tables from WE. While not major pieces of furniture and not super expensive, I do want them to last longer than 3 years!
Our current living room furniture--a sofa, love seat, ottoman, and two arm chairs--are from Crate & Barrel and they are almost 12 years old now. They have held up beautifully. The sofas could use a good upholstery cleaning, but overall, they look pretty good despite having been moved 3 times and had any number of spills on them over the years. Up until now, I have never bought WE furniture, but I would have put it in the same category at C&B--guess not?
Around the time we got the C&B furniture, we ordered a bunch of cheap case goods from Overstock and those ended up being pieces of crap that have not held up. We just got rid of the last of those--an end table that the legs were coming off of.
Most of the Ikea stuff we've ordered over the years has held up pretty well. Those Expedit (now Kallax) shelves are great. My kids have had those in their rooms for years and they are holding strong. Same for the trofast toy bench--that thing looks brand new and it's almost 10 years old. I've never bought anything upholstered from Ikea, but I think what we've gotten has been good quality for the money we spent.
Post by lightbulbsun on Feb 4, 2019 15:11:16 GMT -5
I have a bedframe/headboard and two living room chairs from west elm, and I think they're holding up well. I think the headboard is about 8 years old, and the chairs are about 7 years old. Everything is still in great condition, even with heavy use and dogs. I'm really surprised that people would replace WE furniture after only 3 years.
We chose styles that we really liked with the intent on keeping them long-term.
I bought 4 walnut bentwood chairs about 9yrs ago. They held up fine with very heavy use by children. I actually resold them for a decent amount a year ago. I consider WE the same quality as Crate & Barrel or PB...mid-range, definitely not high end. I think finding comfortable, stylish & durable couches is very hard to do, especially for a good price. I’m not surprised a WE couch doesn’t hold up. IKEA does a pretty good job for the price for couches but you have to assemble which sucks and some of them are uncomfortable. Really good couches with a full that maintains shape & comfort and looks good are expensive. I have some Room & Board and Herman Miller Furniture...it will last longer than I will...lol.
I have not had the best experience with WE. I bought a LR chair from them. They delivered it when I was out of town with no notice and then just left it outside in a box exposed to rain and theft. When we went to put the legs on it, one of them was not cut right and we had to make some adjustments to get it to fit. The quality isn't great. With that said, we've had it for several years now and it has held up ok.
Post by InBetweenDays on Feb 5, 2019 11:45:50 GMT -5
I've never heard the term "fast furniture". We just bought our first West Elm furniture purchase a few months ago (bought a chaise - we have lamps, rugs, and other things from them). Like others have said I've always thought of WE as the same quality as C&B. We have two Crate & Barrel couches (11 years and 8 years old) and a swivel side chair (8 years old) that have all held up extremely well.
We have a beach cottage that is pretty much all Ikea furniture. The furniture was new when we bought the cottage 16 years ago and most of it is still in ok condition. But the Ektorp couch and chair are trashed and they don't really get much regular use.
We have had a West Elm couch and glider for 6+ years and they are still in like new condition. I expect them to last many more years. We also just bought a West Elm bed/headboard that I again expect to last many years. I don’t consider it to be disposable furniture at all. Although I also have an apartment full of IKEA furniture that is still going strong after 10+ years.
I will say that West Elm has atrocious customer service, and I don’t plan on buying more furniture from them, unless I ever need another couch piece for our sectional.
When I first moved out of my parents apartment, my whole apt was pretty much from IKEA because it’s what I could afford. We’ve slowly started to replace things as they’ve broken/worn out/etc, but I’m pretty happy with many of our ikea pieces. Especially for the kids room!
We have accent furniture and beds from WE that have all held up well. I’m not sure I’d buy anything that gets heavier use because I have heard about the quality issues and IMO it’s too expensive to only let a few years. Which is a shame because I like the style.
I have a mix of Ikea, hand-me-down, and expensive furniture. Nothing from WE. I've heard complaints in recent years of finishes wearing off, and other quality downturn complaints, so we have steered clear of them. I'm always shocked at how well our Ikea/Target stuff has lasted.
The non-negative WE posts make me feel better about their quality. My Ikea and Target furniture has also help up surprisingly well. The only complaint I have is that one arm on my 6 year old Karlstad sofa is bowed.
That said, we have Ikea pieces that we bought when we moved in together in 2007. Some things like the expedit cubes see daily use. We even passed 1 onto my sister. Our table and chairs were still in great shape, but we sold them when we moved into this house b/c they were too small.
Our house is combination of big store furniture, ikea, and more custom pieces that we paid $$ for. For example our dining table and chairs are john thomas and I love them. Our barstools are the same brand and I'm not as impressed, I've tightened them twice and my 44lb kid is the main user. I would like to replace our bedroom furniture mostly b/c I hate the style, there's nothing wrong with it. E's room is ikea, but her hemnes dresser only faired ok the 2nd move and I'm hoping it lasts a few more years before I need to worry.
If you don’t mind me asking, can you link your John Thomas set? How many chairs do you have? What did you spend? I saw a JT set I loved at a furniture store last weekend and it was more than I wanted to spend ($1700) but I am thinking I am eventually going to buy it bc besides the color (which I can change), the style was what I am looking for. Bye, bye money.