Buying furniture online removes the two things a showroom gives you: scale and touch. Everything that goes wrong afterwards traces back to one of those.
Both can be replaced with method.
Solve scale with tape, not imagination
Nobody can picture 54 inches. Everybody can see it on their own floor.
Mark the full footprint on the floor with masking tape at the exact dimensions, and for tall pieces mark the height on the wall too. Then live with it for two days. Walk the route you normally walk. Sit where you normally sit.
Almost everyone moves the tape once, and almost nobody moves it again. Two days of tape prevents the single most common online furniture mistake, which is not "it was poor quality", it is "it was too big".
For sizing rules by piece, see coffee table sizing, dining table sizing and console dimensions.
Then measure the route in
This ends more deliveries than anything else. Measure the narrowest point on the path from the street to the room: doorways, the turn at the top of the stairs, the lift, the corner in the hall.
A table is manoeuvred on its side or its end, so the limiting number is usually the diagonal of the doorway rather than its width. If any measurement is close, ask whether the piece ships with the base detached, most made-to-order tables do.
Replace touch with specifications
You cannot feel the timber, so read for it. A listing that answers these is a listing from someone who knows what they made.
- Which species, by name. "Solid hardwood" with no name often means rubberwood or poplar.
- Solid throughout, or solid frame with panels? Both are legitimate; only one is what most people think they are buying.
- The finish, by type. And whether it can be repaired in place.
- The joinery. Mortise and tenon, dowels, or cam locks and staples.
- Full dimensions including thickness, and clearances, apron height on a table, knee clearance on a desk.
- Weight. Also tells you what it is made of. A "solid oak" table weighing 40 lb is not solid oak.
Missing specifications are themselves information. Nobody omits a good number.
What photographs hide
Scale. Rooms are shot wide and staged with undersized accessories to make furniture look larger. Trust the dimensions, never the photograph.
Color. Screens vary, and wood varies more. Warm lighting makes oak look golden and cool lighting makes walnut look gray. Ask for a photo in daylight if color is critical, and remember the piece will change color anyway over its first year.
Edges and undersides. Any listing showing only three-quarter hero shots is avoiding something. Look for close-ups of a joint, an edge profile and the underside. A maker proud of the construction photographs the construction.
Grain variation. On any real timber, the piece you receive will not match the photograph exactly. That is the material, not a fault, but on live edge and figured wood the variation is large, so ask for photos of the actual piece if that matters to you.
Understand what you are buying: stock or made to order
These are different transactions and confusing them causes most of the disappointment.
Stock furniture ships from a warehouse in days, arrives exactly as photographed, and can usually be returned.
Made to order is built after you order, in your dimensions and species. It takes weeks. The photograph is an example rather than the object. And it generally cannot be restocked, because it does not fit anyone else's room, which is why return terms on custom work are always tighter.
Neither is better. But if you need it by Friday, or you want the freedom to change your mind on arrival, made to order is the wrong choice and no amount of quality compensates.
Our custom page sets out how we work.
Read the shipping terms before the product description
Large furniture moves by freight, not parcel, and the terms differ enormously.
- Curbside: it comes off the truck onto the sidewalk. It is your problem from there. A 250 lb table is a real problem from there.
- Threshold: inside the first door, no further.
- Room of choice: into the room, usually still packaged.
- White glove: into the room, unpacked, assembled, packaging removed. Worth paying for on anything heavy.
Also check who pays return freight if something goes wrong, and whether there is a restocking fee. On heavy items, return freight alone can be several hundred dollars, and that turns a "free returns" policy into something quite different.
Inspect on delivery, before signing
- Photograph the packaging before opening, especially any damage to the crate.
- Open and inspect while the driver is still there where the carrier allows it.
- Note any damage on the delivery paperwork before signing. Signing a clean receipt and reporting damage later makes a freight claim much harder.
- Photograph everything immediately.
This is five minutes that decides whether a damage claim is straightforward or a dispute.
Questions that reveal the seller
Send an email before ordering. The reply tells you more than any review page.
- What is the moisture content of the timber at the time of build?
- Is the underside finished to the same standard as the top?
- How does the top attach to the base?
- What exactly does the warranty cover, and what voids it?
- Who made it, and where?
A maker answers these in a paragraph. A reseller answers vaguely or not at all. Neither is dishonest, but you should know which one you are buying from.
On reviews
Read the three-star reviews. Five-star reviews say "lovely, thank you" and one-star reviews are usually about delivery. The middle ones contain the actual information.
Look for reviews mentioning the piece after a year. Furniture problems are slow, sagging, joints opening, finish wearing through, and none of them appear in a review written the week it arrived.
Deposits and staged payment
Deposits are normal on made-to-order work, because the maker buys material and commits labor before delivery. What matters is that the terms are written down: how much, when the balance is due, and what happens if you cancel.
Ours are on the deposit terms page, including the cancellation window. Read the equivalent page wherever you buy, and be wary of any large deposit with no written cancellation terms at all.
The short version
- Tape the footprint on the floor for two days.
- Measure the route in, including the diagonal of the doorway.
- Read the specifications; treat missing ones as answers.
- Find out whether it is stock or made to order.
- Read the shipping tier and the return freight terms.
- Email five questions and judge the reply.
- Inspect and note damage before signing.