The thought of splurging on a sofa from Crate & Barrel has honestly never crossed my mind. With the amount of money it costs to buy one of their sofas, you could instead bring home 4 sofas from your closest IKEA.
I’m no math whizz but four sofas definitely seems more worth it than one. As a die-hard IKEA fan, it begs the question why anyone would make this trade-off.
To make matters worse, trying to figure out why stuff from Crate & Barrel is so expensive, or if the prices are in any way justified will leave you even more confused. There’s a whole mixed bag of opinions on the brand with some swearing by it and others who would rather shop anywhere else.
In the first place, if Crate & Barrel was any good, why are we seeing such conflicting ratings among review sites?
Questions, questions, questions. But one thing for certain is that it wouldn’t fill a review-researching shopper with confidence in their products.
If you’re asking yourself the same boatload of questions, stay tuned. Today, I’m here to get to the bottom of this and figure out if the sofas from Crate & Barrel are worth it. Hopefully you’ll be able to decide if this is the right sofa brand for you by the end of it all.
To begin, let’s start by talking about the number one factor when it comes to buying a sofa.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Price
Image credit: PostGradProblems
Let’s face it, price is the first thing shoppers look at when choosing possible candidates for their next sofa. Unless you’re part of the Gold Coast elite that is – which I’m not.
There are many opinions on how much is “expensive” for a sofa, but one thing nobody will say about Crate & Barrel is that they are an affordable option.
For those who haven’t checked, getting your hands on any one of their most popular sofas is an easy way to set yourself back two thousand dollars:
Remember that these are just the base prices. Selecting different fabrics or a bigger couch size will quickly pile up upon that bill. Also, god forbid you’re looking for a leather sofa which will add an additional $2500 minimum to the final price.
Taking IKEA sofas as our standard unit of measurement when comparing costs… well that’s a lot of IKEA sofas.
Needless to say for someone who is still in his 20s, that would be way out of my current budget for a sofa. But if we’re talking about a couple of years down the line then maybe?
After all, Crate & Barrel is generally regarded as a “grown-up” brand for those settled in their home.
I’ve taken the liberty to visually show where they stand on the sofa price spectrum with this flowchart:
IKEA, Ashley, Target → Rivet, Article → Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Room & Board → Restoration Hardware, Herman Miller, Design Within Reach.
As the chart clearly demonstrates, while Crate & Barrel may not be the Ferrari of sofas, they are still pretty up there – maybe they can be compared to the BMWs. So, given how un-budget-friendly their sofas are, they surely must have the goods to back it up right?
Thankfully, the good news is they do!
Quality
What can I say? When it comes to sofas made right, Crate & Barrel does it better than most. I truly believe that after days of sofa research.
Whether their sofas are made up to snuff for something worth nearly $2000 is another story, but it can’t be denied that they are built to last. You couldn’t say the same for several of the other sofa brands that fall in the same price range. I’m looking at you West Elm.
If you suddenly entered a sofa-killing frenzy to wipe any traces of a Crate & Barrel sofa off the face of the Earth, you’d be at it for quite some time.
Even when considering that each of their models are made very differently (they are in fact private labeled), most of them have impeccable construction. This is especially true for their sofas built in America – North Carolina to be specific.
Among their most popular models, the Lounge II, Axis II, Gather, and Petrie check these boxes (at least they do in CB America). The Willow and Barrett sofas… not so much, but there also haven’t been any resounding complaints about them.
Not to say that “made in America” is the end all be all of sofas, but in all seriousness nobody makes sofas like North Carolina craftsmen (it’s known as the furniture capital of the world for a reason).
A dissection of one of these meticulously built sofas will show you that they mean business. Kiln dried hardwood frames, joints that are glued and screwed, high quality springs in the cushions to prevent sagging. The Works.
Of all the things that could send a sofa to an untimely death, the couch fabric wearing out would be the most likely culprit in this case. Even then some of their sofa models come slipcovered and can be revived with one of their replaceable slipcovers (like the Lounge II petite).
If Crate & Barrel doesn’t offer replacement slipcovers for the model you’re looking at, you can also get bespoke covers for their sofa models from third parties. With Crate & Barrel being what they are, this would also save you a pretty penny compared to their original covers.
Basically, their couches last a long time (go for the ones made in North Carolina).
Credibility
If only the process of buying a couch was as simple as just “buying the couch”. Reputation, customer service and post-sales support matter and it pays to think about these things before running into issues.
I mean, why else would anyone be paying two thousand dollars for a sofa? Sure, the quality on their sofas is great but they aren’t the only ones who play at that game either.
Once upon a time (which wasn’t very long ago), if you read through the reviews it is clear that Crate & Barrel had a rather solid reputation. Unfortunately as of recent, it’s been looking like this:
It’s incredible how un-credible recent reviews are making them out to be! The recurring theme seems to be down to supply chain issues and massive delays which is not particularly shocking given what’s been going on in the world.
Either way, people aren’t happy right now which should make it clear that it’s not the best of times to order a sofa from them. Hopefully they can bounce back from this in the near-future without cutting costs on their sofa quality.
Yay Or Nay?
If it wasn’t already obvious from the title of this blogpost, I wouldn’t get a sofa from Crate & Barrel. The thing is, I think that their sofas are a little too highly priced even on their best days.
If given the choice (and budget), I would prefer to get my sofa from Room & Board who have well-made couches on top of an unsurpassed reputation when it comes to customer service. Or I’d get a fancy leather sofa from Article who make wonderful leather sofas.
But! If you’ve got an eye on one of Crate & Barrel’s sofa offerings, then I say: go for it. Yes, their sofas are expensive but there’s always more to a sofa than price and quality.
At the end of the day, no amount of analysis will tell you how it’s like to sink into the sofa after a hard day’s work, pasta in hand as you curl up to watch the latest season of your favourite Netflix series.
As it has always been, sitting on a couch is the only way to know whether it’s the couch for you, and with Crate & Barrel you can do that by visiting one of their showrooms. It’s a huge plus point to know that you love how the sofa feels before spending a bomb.
So I say if the quality holds up and you found a model that you like (and you can afford it), why not?
Pro tip: If you’re ever looking for slipcovers for Crate & Barrel sofas, you can get them bespoke made at Comfort Works.
Whether it’s to change things up, protect the sofa, extend its life, or simply because you want an easier time maintaining the couch with machine washable fabrics – we’ve got you covered! That’s even for their couch models that didn’t originally come slipcovered.
Want to find out which of their sofas we make slipcovers for? Give us a visit on our main website:
171 Comments
by M
Where do you rank West Elm in your hierarchy of stores?
by Naomi
That’s a tricky one, M!
It’s no secret that we’re probably biased about these things anyway, so it’s understandable that slipcover availability is something we’d look for hand-in-hand with getting a sofa. West Elm has great quality sofas at medium-to-high range prices, but their ordering process may be a little too old-school for us. We’re not too crazy about having to dial them up on the phone just to look for slipcover options. Even then, you may not get the slipcovers after all if your sofa has been discontinued 🙁
Luckily, we make custom slipcovers for various West Elm sofa models. But as a consumer, it may not be the best experience if you’re looking to maintain your old West Elm sofa or get it a new skin.
For this reason, I’d say we rank them above Crate and Barrel but below Pottery Barn!
by Lisa S
I think most of the negative reviews were for shipping delays, not unusual for 2021. I ordered custom sofa from another brand in Jan to be delivered 6 weeks later. Guess what, petroleum product shortage and guess what sofa cushions are made of? I got my sofa in June…so I ignore shipping delay reviews. Sounds like overall you think its a solid brand.
by Naomi
Hi Lisa,
You’re right – with all that is going on in the world right now (not to mention the recent issues with logistics and shipment delays), it is no wonder that shipping can be much longer than expected.
The pain point for us in this article about CB would be its affordability. We’re huge on sustainability and so paying a bomb for a couch can be a huge turnoff, especially when you can find something of similar value (in terms of quality) for much less. In this case, paying an average of 2-2.5K for a 3-seater couch would make us stop to think twice, when there are hundreds other similar options on the market at more competitive prices. It also doesn’t help that upkeeping it with slipcovers aren’t as easy, since CB doesn’t make them available for discontinued brands which may need it. (bear in mind, these are the kind of things sofa nerds like us would fuss about!)
That being said, we do value quality above almost all else and this is definitely something CB is known for – being manufactured by North Carolina sofa craftsmen and all.
To each his own, of course. At the end of the day, the best way to decide on a couch is to sit/curl up in it (as Aaron said!).
by matt
Not in the market, ever, for $2K+ sofas, as Craigslist is more my style. And perusing Seattle Craig’s, it’s eye-opening how many shabby (& NOT in the chic way) Crate & Barrel sofas are listed either as free items or for under $200. Don’t know if their structure is holding up, but the fabric & cushions look beat – worn, torn, & deflated!! If I spent over $500 on a sofa, I’d look after it properly & then expect near perfection for approx a decade.
by Naomi
We hear ya, Matt!
And if I’ll be completely honest, I’d say I feel exactly the same way. Can’t imagine paying over 2k+ USD for a sofa, only to have to replace it 2-3 years down the line. On average, you’d then be paying 1k a year –just to own a couch! Insane.
To be fair though, the quality of CB couches are impeccable. So you may be paying a bomb at first, but you’ll be keeping the sofa for a good long time – with the right care, of course.
by Janet
I work for CB. I would NEVER purchase furniture from this company. Furniture delays are a suspicious, delivery people are shady and the warehouse personnel inspects nothing. Go ahead. Take a chance. Order something small like a chair first. You’ll be calling customer service the day of delivery.
by Jan
Me too. I was told by someone in Leadership that they were informed that CB is over $1million in debt. They aren’t paying their bills from the vendors, so the vendors have cut them off. That’s why they cut our hours just before the holidays and are hawking over us to get our Stella scores up (false measurement of customer service). We spend our days answering calls from customers about every kind of damage and deliveries not showing up and we’re supposed to have a Stella rating of 87%? LOL. Your comment was 100% spot on. It all starts in the warehouse and the company refuses to do anything about it. Customers need to be informed of the truth. This company cares NOTHING about them or their employees.
by Kyle
I have this sofa and it leaks feathers and sags regardless of how often you vacuum/fluff/rotate it… I even got a replacement and am having the same issue. Go with another option if you can!