Living Room Furniture

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Looking for a good furniture store
Scandinavian Furniture

Looking for a good furniture store

Aug 2003

I recently moved into a larger apartment and now need to fill my living room with furniture. I've been scouting around the bay area for good furniture stores that have good deals and unique styles - but it's been hard. I haven't been able to find any good ''furniture store recommendation sites''. I tried to use Mr. Cheap's San Francisco but almost all of the furniture stores listed in there are out of business! I've heard people talk about the Macy's furniture outlet as a great place to get deals, but again, can't seem to find it in the Bay Area. Any and all furniture store recommendations would be great. Janice

I just bought a nice armchair at Pier 1 (I went to the one at El Cerrito Plaza) on sale for under $300. I also like the furniture place at the corner of Ashby and San Pablo, which has pretty conservative, more or less reasonably priced stuff that can be quite nice (we bought a couch and dining set there). It's a door or two down from a place that sells beautiful, unusual painted cabinetry. For beautiful, unusual cabinetry there's also the Red Lantern on the corner of Rose and ML King in Berkeley. And there's always IKEA, which is hit and miss, but when you find something nice it's generally good value for your money. Have fun! Pamela

Try Roney's furniture in San Leandro off of Washington St. It is a big warehouse with lots of furniture shipped up from the major makers in North Carolina. We have had great luck there. Dawn

There are great deals to be found at Tradeway, on San Pablo in El Cerrito. They carry name brand furniture that has been scratched or damaged in freight. They have great prices. Everything is displayed as is, but once you purchase it they will fix things up as best they can. We bought a TV armoire there that had a big scratch on top that they managed to color in and hide. You can't tell it's damamged. Plus the warehouse itself is something you have to see to believe. anon

Try the furniture outlet in the back of the Crate and Barrel outlet store on Fourth Street. The selection is a bit hit or miss, as it is a true outlet store with damaged goods and floor samples. I haven't bought anything there myself, but many pieces seem to basically be fine and sell for deep discounts. Susan

I have also heard that Macy's furniture outlet is a very good place to find furniture at good prices. I haven't been there, but am told it's in Fremont and worth the drive. Linnea

Hi. One more plug for Harvey Clars! They have auctions at the end of every month. Not only do they sell antiques, but they also sell contemporary furniture at reasonable prices. They have a preview on the Friday before the auction so you can see what they have before the auction starts on Saturday. Saturday is when they sell the contemporary and low to mid end priced antiques. Sunday they sell the higher end pieces. This isn't junk folks. Antique dealers come from Davis every month to fill their shops! If you haven't ever been to an auction, it's really fun. Harvey Clars is on 5644 Telegraph. The phone number is 428-0100. Website is harveyclar.com. They also sell for people and appraise items. If you go, tell them Beth sent you.

Scandinavian Furniture

Aug 1999

Can anyone recommend a furniture store that sells furniture similar to what Scandinavian Designs sells? We are just looking for more options. So far, the best deal on simple all-wood maple furniture I've seen is the Nordwins line at Woodworks in Concord 1150 Concord Ave. I'm planning to get chests of drawers and such there. The Crate and Barrel Outlet on 4th Street has reasonable prices on tables. I'm interested to hear others' findings., too, since I need *everything*. dana

When we were looking for Scandinavian style furniture about 8 years ago, we went to two others. One was a large store in San Francisco, I think on Van Ness. They used to advertise a lot on the radio (free parking). The other was on a main street in Alameda. That one was listed in the phone book. I don't recall the names of either one but I think the Alameda one was a Swedish family name. While we were in this mode, my in-laws took us into a Scandinavian furniture store up in Medford, OR that they like. The salesperson said people come there from the SF area because of the lack of choice down there and the fact that there is no sales tax in Oregon. (I fell in love with one of the designs they had.) If you have a reason to go up there and have a way to get the furniture down here, I recommend checking them out. It's called scan|design. Fran

viking trader and a store that is located in the corner of university and the street where the sauna place is, i do not remember the name, but is before the use credit union. Ada

8/99
I just bought a small, teak cabinet from Danish Interiors, Inc. at 1325 Park Street in Alameda. The shop appears to be run by an enthusiastic Danish man and his English wife, a funny and charming couple. Their shop is crammed full of an amazing selection of high quality tables, chairs, office furniture etc. Prices are not as low as Scandinavian Designs, but it all comes assembled and delivery was free to our house in Oakland. You get lots of personal attention at this shop and the furniture is in beautiful condition.