Article Furniture Review: How to Buy Furniture Online

I actually first heard of Article from a friend of mine who furnished part of her new home with Article (including two sofas, a dining table and chairs, and accent chairs).  She told me that there was no physical store to test and try out the furniture, and that’s why their prices were so reasonable.  They skip the expense of a brick and mortar store and pass those savings to the consumer.  I must admit, my first thought was “How do you know if the sofa is comfortable?”

After acknowledging my incredulous look, she said read reviews of the furniture online from the Article website, looked at Instagram pictures, and basically found their sofa through online reviews.  When they got the sofa, she said it was very comfortable, just like the reviews said it would be.  Of course, when I was over at her new place, I sat on her Article sofa, her accent chair, and her dining chairs and can contest that they are all indeed very comfortable.  Amazing.

Fast forward a few months to our own furniture shopping adventure, and seriously, furniture shopping is almost impossible with an active toddler who does not want to sit in a stroller and wants to run around the furniture store.  We went to a ton of places to look at furniture and didn’t find anything that we liked.

Then I started looking at furniture online.

What is Article Furniture?

Article is a direct to consumer furniture company that specializes in mid-century modern (MCM) and Scandinavian design high quality furniture.  It was launched by four cofounders who are computer engineers from Vancouver in 2013!  They created a direct-to-consumer furniture business by eliminating brick and mortar shops, and by extension, the drastic (normally 400%) retail mark-up of furniture.  Article designs their own modern furniture with materials from all around the world.

Since Article eliminates the brick and mortar shops (though there is a Vancouver headquarters and port warehouses in the United States but these are not open to the public), it passes the savings along to the customer, an estimated 40-60% of furniture savings, according to Canadian Business magazine.

The success story of Article really reminds me of Delivering Happiness and Tony Hsieh of the online shoe empire, Zappos.  The service is faster than what one would normally expect from a furniture store.  Article has five guiding principles: be direct, be better, be good, be genuine and be adventurous.

Article provided the furniture to review for this post. All opinions are my own.  See genymoney.ca’s disclaimer for more information.

Here’s my review of the Article furniture ordering experience, including how much shipping is, what their return policy is, and how the furniture looks and feels to sit on:

Article Ordering Experience

Ordering from Article was easy.  Their website is very user friendly, you can click on the tabs for a drop down menu for the furniture you are looking for.  Then you see the pieces available and their designs.

You can click on the pictures and the dimensions and measurements to get a close up look of the material and finishing.  This is the Seno extendable dining table, and it seats up to 10 or 12.

What I like best about the Article website is that they have an “Article Social Club” where you can view Instagram pictures through the #ourArticle hashtag of how other people furnished their home with that particular piece of furniture, so you can get inspiration for your interior design ideas.

Article had our selected furniture (a Seno dining table and Sede chairs) in stock and so delivery would be within two weeks, however, when we ordered them our home wasn’t ready yet because of home construction delay.  I got a text that wanted to verify my address and delivery date for the order with a convenient link to confirm the date of delivery.  I also got an email with the same notice, it was super fast and easy to confirm and verify the address of delivery.

Of course, our contractor told us we would be moving in at a certain date, but then as things got delayed he said we would need to postpone the date.  I had to delay the date with the furniture delivery and it was very easy to do with a quick, hassle-free phone call to the delivery number.

The day before delivery, I got a text and email confirming the delivery window time, which was a 4 hour window.   The day of delivery, the delivery team called about 20 minutes before they arrived as well.  The delivery went very smoothly.

The Seno extendable dining table is gorgeous, heavy SOLID walnut wood and it has a very smooth finish.  It is very well made and solid and as I mentioned, very heavy.

This is what the Seno dining table looks like without the extension.

The leaves of the table are easily removable.  The extension support and hinge for the leaves are quite ingenious, actually.  Two rods on either end of the table can be pulled out and the leaf is placed and hinges directly into place.  It’s sturdy and easy to add or remove the leaves.

There are two pieces like this.  They can be stored away easily and then you have a smaller table that seats six comfortably.

The Seno Walnut table goes well with the Sede black leather walnut dining chair.

The Sede black leather dining chair is smooth and sleek and very mid century modern.  It is practical with young children because of the easy to clean leather.  The back of the chair and legs are the same American walnut as the Seno dining table.

Article Furniture Shipping Costs

• It is $49 for a flat rate shipping fee no matter how many pieces of furniture you order.  This is waived if have an order of $999 or more. Many local furniture places always charge a delivery cost so having it waived for a minimum order is fantastic.
• For a bit more money, If you want furniture delivered to a specific room, it is $99
• And for the ultimate upgrade of $169 they will deliver it to a specific room and then also assemble the furniture for you aka ‘white glove service’

Article Furniture Refund Policy

The most important thing about ordering furniture online is probably the apprehension about whether or not you will like it or whether or not it will fit in your place.

The good thing is that Article has a 30 day no questions asked return policy.  All you have to do is pay for the shipping cost (which is $49 flat rate) if you would like a refund.  They will inspect it within 72 hours of arriving in the warehouse and if it is in as-new condition, they will issue the refund.

However, if you decide to exchange the furniture instead of refunding it, the return shipping cost is waived, so basically it’s free to exchange.  They have a policy where you can exchange each item within a delivery once, but if you exchange more than once additional shipping fees will be charged.

Article has a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty if there are defects in material or workmanship.  You can check out more answers to other questions on their comprehensive FAQ’s page.

That’s my Article furniture review.  Ordering furniture online was really hassle free.  I didn’t have to deal with a cranky toddler who would rather be outside, or pushy commission-only furniture salespeople who try to sell us furniture protection plans. We were able to make a solid decision while enjoying a cup of coffee in our pyjamas.

Also make sure your home insurance covers in the case of flood damage or something like that.

Have you ever bought furniture online?  What was your experience like?