Kate Can Cook

I have a new product to review today: furniture by Home Reserve. Let me give you a little more information.

Home Reserve sells furniture (I believe) completely online. They may also have a brick-and-mortar showroom in Indiana. In any case, you go online, pick out your couch, chair, loveseat, sofa, ottoman, pillows, or accent table, then pick out your fabric, pay, and in a few weeks, the furniture will be at your door. Simple? Not quite that simple.

It’s true. You go online. Pick out a style you like. Pick out whatever furniture piece you like. Then pick from the variety of fabrics they have (including washable and pet friendly fabrics). Pay. This is when Home Reserve kicks in. The wooden pieces of the furniture are cut out and the fabric cut and sewn. All of it is packaged in – can you believe it? – a few boxes, and shipped (via UPS I believe) to your home. Then your work begins. Yes, you have to put the furniture together.

BUT WAIT! Don’t minimize/close the browser window yet! This isn’t as difficult as it seems. Each wooden piece has the numbers carved into it. The directions are simple. It’s like a huge 3-D puzzle that is also comfortable for your rear end.

I found Home Reserve while looking for inexpensive furniture online. We looked at Ikea (where we had our previous furniture) and had even purchased furniture from West Elm. West Elm was taking forever and a day to even contact us for a potential delivery date, and I was growing impatient. I found Home Reserve and, honestly, dismissed it. I can’t test it out? Ridiculous. But – for some reason – I couldn’t let it go. So Jazz and I ordered about 5 swatches of fabric from HR (at $2 a piece) and picked out two we liked. Then we purchased the chair and a pillow. It seemed a safe bet, even if the pattern was wild and crazy.

It took 3 of us about an hour to put it together, but I think that’s because 3 chefs are too many for the HR chair kitchen. At first, well, I was underwhelmed. It seemed small and the cushions were tough. After a few days, the cushions softened. Now, it’s very, very comfy.

Next we ordered the sofa and some more pillows. When we first received the sofa, about half the pieces in the box were broken. I was miffed. I e-mailed HR’s customer service and received a response within a few hours. Within two days, the new pieces were shipped, free of charge, no questions asked. I happened to have off from work that day, and managed to put the entire sofa together by myself while watching “Encino Man.” By the time Pauly Shore’s name passed over the credits, I was sitting in my brand new sofa. The sofa felt the same as the chair initially — very tough. We have broken it in nicely, and friends have slept on it. I’d say it’s a winner. All told, for 5 pillows, a sofa, and a chair, it came to under $600. We’re also going to get at least one ottoman.

I could go on about HR, but I will leave it to you to research all of the ins and outs. Here’s a sample: each piece of furniture has built in storage, everything can be returned within a certain amount of time, and they have a fabric exchange program. Here’s my bottom line: the furniture is comfortable, inexpensive, looks great, and is not heavy. It’s perfect for apartment living. It may also be good for dorms, play rooms, and finished basements, where you don’t want to spend a lot of money but want great furniture. I can’t really complain about this product.