======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ==== ======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ====
My living room is around 75 percent complete (aesthetically speaking). I’ve got the bar cart, a tv stand, bar stools, a large couch, and a decent coffee table. It’s got a bit of a farmhouse vibe – rustic, with shades of taupe, muted white, and brown. I never meant for it to feel like something out of a Town and Country magazine, but I don’t hate it. That being said, I’m not comfortable with it in its current state. It’s missing a piece.
I’ve been struggling with finding something to place in the northernmost corner of my living room, next to the television stand and a window overlooking the leafy street below. I thought at one point about buying a giant cactus to plop down in this corner, but it would have thrown off the warm, equestrian look I have going on right now. I considered a hanging wall plant, but ultimately decided against it because truth be told, I was overwhelmed by the options you can choose from.
I have enough seating in my living room right now to host a decent pregame – four barstools and a couch (and that’s not even mentioning the kitchen counter which is always a fan favorite). And I knew in the back of mind that a plant would never fill that pesky corner like a chair would, but I needed to entertain that idea before I fully dove into research for a recliner or lounge chair.
I’ve searched high and low on Craigslist, Amazon, Wayfair, West Elm, Crafters and Weavers, and IKEA for ideas. I’ve scoured over user reviews, putting too much stock into the negative and not enough into the positive.
There have been a few instances where I’ve had a nice mahogany colored leather chair in my cart, but I’ve never been able to pull trig on anything. When it comes to furniture I prefer going into a physical store.
Sitting in something is the only real way to know whether or not it’s comfortable. No amount of positive user reviews can give you an idea of what it’s like to come home after a day at work and sit down in that recliner or lounge chair with a highball of scotch and just not think for a few minutes.
And so last Saturday morning I stepped inside a Crate and Barrel with a very rough idea of what I wanted. I can’t lie to you, I was intimidated. And honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking.
That place is upscale and I knew I was out of my element the second I started observing the clientele. Helicopter parents in their mid-30s with stern faces and six dollar lattes from the independent coffee shop down the street were everywhere. Old women who no doubt had names like Muffy, Tinny, and Poppy perused expensive stemware with skeptical gazes. And then there was me, a twenty-something on a fixed budget with a garden variety hangover testing out chairs while employees looked at me and assumed one thing and one thing only — this motherfucker can’t afford us.
Waltzing into the C&B on a sunny weekend morning was a fun way to spend a few hours. Perhaps I was still drunk. Maybe we can chalk this up to youthful ignorance, but one thing was certain after I sat down in a $1,100 Cavett Wood frame chair – I could not afford this shit.
And it wasn’t just the chairs. The appliance section of C&B could have kept me busy for the entire afternoon. Shiny pots, pans, and high-end mixers for baking lined the entire first floor. It was all very much out of my price range, and I walked out of that place after sampling four chairs and a few kitchen knick-knacks with my tail between my legs. Of course, I liked most of the leather chairs and fun kitchen appliances inside C&B. Expensive things are nice to look at. But I have to re-evaluate how I’m furniture shopping on Saturday mornings. I’m hitting up a Salvation Army next weekend and a few garage sales. Maybe I’ll get lucky. Maybe I won’t. But I know one thing for certain – Crate and Barrel is a place where furniture dreams go to die. .
Image via YouTube
Respond
jduda@grandex.co
Screw that place, just buy inflatable furniture
I usually take a walk through C&B with whoever I’m dating sometime during month two for a aesthetic litmus test. It’s a great way to know if you are going to be compatible in 20 years when you can actually afford those big wooden tables.
an*
Poverty take
Whenever I sell furniture, I claim that it’s from Crate & Barrel.
That’s why we registered there. Let everyone else buy us the expensive stemware and gadgetry. Plus they gave us two wine glasses as a gift for doing so.
Ikea is the go to. If you’re in Chicago, there’s a bunch of funriture stores within walking distance of the Lincoln Park Crate & Barrel that have furniture at different price points.
CB2 is Crate & Barrel’s cooler, modern little brother #themoreyouknow
Our coffee table and entertainment center is from there, as well as two couches in our movie room. The couches are big enough for two adults to sleep in while sprawled out and we paid $1800 for both. Not bad at all!
We should just pivot to Sears and help out another bankrupt retailer and by that i mean shorting their stock before they get unlisted. When are these people going to figure out that the more you exploit and de-value human labor, you can’t keep your business afloat if said people no longer have the disposable income to prop since they buy your goods and services. Luckily, the rest of the world is finding ways to phase out the dollar as the globalized commerce reserve currency and when they are fully successful, we’ll finally be able to affordably buy houses with a couple of paper clips and some bullets lol
What a shame, Johnny. When I left Chicago a few months ago I abandoned my nice leather chair. Would have passed it on to you had I known. Anyway, good luck on your quest.
I can’t remember the last time I went to an organized pregame at someone’s apartment. PGP
Tbh I doubt Muffy shops at C&B (“it’s not authentic antique from the 1700s? It’s not from an exclusive imported boutique?!”) but for us plebes, C&B is definitely the realm of wedding registries and the Gold Coast elite.