This item is for discussion of furniture of all sorts - tables, chairs,
lamps, sofas, etc.  What brands hold up?  Do people still like glass tops
after a couple years?  Is lemon oil polish good for the wood?

15 responses total.

Workbench (in Kerrytown) has a line of nice-looking, practical, economical
bookshelves ("veneer over 19mm chipcore") that i'm interested in.  (Sounds
like they're perpetually on "sale", but that's another issue.)  Does
anyone have experience with Workbench, bookshelves, etc. that might help
me make a decision on buying a couple new bookshelves for my apartment?

We have 'em and like 'em.  They don't seem to warp even when 
fully loaded.  I'm not sure if they're the same ones you mentioned
above.  We got the ones rated for the heavier loads.

Item 27 in dwellings cf is now linked to item 99 in consumer cf.

Some of the newer particle / chip board products are much better than
they use to be.

I should add that I've had pretty good luck with stuff from Workbench.
I've never had any of their stuff warp.

The bookshelves i'm looking at are rated 125#/150# per shelf (adjustable/
fixed) - any idea if those are the ones you've got mary?  (I could enter
part numbers....)

I went to a dinner party last night where the hostess warned people not
to put weight on one corner of her 6-month-old dining room table - it was
duct taped together because the corner came apart earlier that day when
she was pulling the table open to add leaves in the center. 

She is not unusually strong; it was a heavy wood table; she paid $2500 for
it at Workbench.  She didn't know what warranty coverage she'd have.

<i gets nervous> 

I took a walk through WorkBench today, since I realized that I really didn't
have an sort of reference point to figure out what was a fair price for the
fairly nice table I'm buying from a friend.  I came to the conclusion that
the stuff they have there is nice (which I already knew), but frightfully
expensive (and that I will be far better off accepting my friend's asking
price for the table than I would be by trying to calculate used price from
something based on WorkBench's new prices).

I've been buying bookcases at Meijer.  The three identical half height
bookcases I have in my living room were something like $20 each.  They look
fairly decent.  The most heavily loaded shelf on the one that I've had for
a couple of years has now warped somewhat.  If it gets really bad I'll have
to replace the shelf at some point, or just replace the bookcase with another
$20 bookcase, but that will still be cheaper than buying more durable
bookcases from WorkBench.

I'm pretty sure I know right where the receipt is for the bookshelves. 
I'll check it out later.  Over the past 18 years I've (we've) purchased
bedside stands, four bookshelves, my son's study desk, computer desk and
chair, another chair, a television cabinet and a couple of lamps from
Workbench.  I've not had any problems with the quality and I thought the
prices were reasonable. 

All of this furniture is still in use and (even the kids furniture) is in
great shape.  John had a Workbench pedestal bed and matching storage-style
headboard that he'd only used for three our four years when we wanted a
different style bed and sold it very quickly for almost what he paid for
it.

I've never purchased anything upholstered from Workbench.

Oh, I have no doubt that the prices are reasonable for the quality of stuff
that they're selling.  I just concluded that I'd rather pay less for lower
quality stuff and replace it if I need to.

Have the hostess call Workbench about the table.  I'm pretty sure they will
fix it for free.

Okay, we bought two of the bookcases in August of 1994, and
they are model numbers: DS3036WT and DS3072WT. In April of 1998
we bought another, model number WS48WWT.

Good luck with your shopping!

Actually, we bought two of the 72" units.  For a total of four
bookshelves from Workbench.  All of these are in the same room
so another feature from buying from Workbench is that you can often
come back years later and purchase compatible components.

Re: #11 - the hostess is a lawyer, and i don't doubt that she'll get 
        satisfaction out of Workbench.  I'll probably ask next time i
        talk to her, but it's a problem i'd rather avoid entirely.

Mary:  Those aren't the models i'm looking at, but i've taken down the
        numbers to check out next time i'm in Kerrytown.  Thank you for
        taking the time to dig them up!

My impression from walking through WorkBench a few times is that they
offer stuff ranging from "nice alternative to Meijer *if* it's durable" 
up to "display your moderate wealth".  I've no real interest in anything 
above the former.

I'm hoping to get something by mid-January.  Thanks to everyone who's 
responded here! 

You don't have to be a lawyer to get satisfaction out of Workbench.
We have a few pieces from them but later started going to antique
dealers and shops for the remainder of our stuff.  However, if going
with antiques, it's a good idea to be very wary of things with 
drawers unless you are good at equipping such things with drawer
slides, etc.

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss