Inexpensive?

I couldn’t find barrister bookcases in town, so Intertubes to the rescue. I ordered those from a place called Houzz for $999 each. My review:

Summary: Five stars due to price and convenience.

Arrived today, pre-assembled! I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of such an inexpensive (for furniture) item. It’s real wood, not laminate over particle board. The wood grain runs the right way with no visible end-grain. The stain color actually matches the color online (chocolate mousse).

It appears they stain on-demand; it smells of drying stain. The staining process is clearly “spray it as fast as you can” – there are lighter spots in crevices – but that’s all on the inside, which will be covered by books; it being a bookshelf and all. The outside looks great.

The doors slide on channels routed into the sides, not separate hardware, so they’re a bit loose. There is no latch; they just sit closed. There is a “stop” so that the doors do not swing into the shelf.

The back panel attachment is a bit sketchy (as another reviewer noted), but a minute with a hammer got the staples fully inserted.

A gouge on one side happened during shipping, but I’m putting two next to each other, so it cannot be seen – and that’s hardly Huozz’s fault (the cardboard was gouged, too, so return-before-opening was an option).

I’m very pleased and would recommend them. I reserve the right to update this review after a year.

Am I just at a place in life where $999 is “inexpensive” – albeit with the “for furniture” qualification (and “free” shipping)? I don’t think so. Furniture is pricey! Our deck dining set was $6000 – at 50% off. The counter stools were $170 each – at 25% off. I don’t remember how much the bedroom set cost, but it made my eyes roll; the mattress alone was more than $2000.

On an unrelated note, what’s up with parallel lines and this camera? The cove moulding is just barely out-of-frame at the top; I used that as a “square up the picture” line. Obviously that didn’t work. The scale is wonky, too – they’re much bigger than they look – but that is not unexpected in a photo. That curtain rod to the right is at least two meters off the floor.

I was aiming for a stain color that was close to the stools and contrasting with the cupboards (the “wall” to the left). I think that’s a win – especially given the internet and the incredible attention that everyone pays to color-balancing cameras and monitors.