As a woodworker, I love how you tell people to find a local woodworker to create a custom piece of furniture. Yes, it will cost more than buying it at Target or Ikea but it will be a lifetime piece. I think the equivalent of The Brick here in Texas would be Big Lots or The Room Store.
Here in Houston - definitely Big Lots, but also At Home (which used to be Garden Ridge). The mirrored accessories, side tables, etc. remind me of Home Goods/ Marshall's/Ross.
My mom was looking at an RH couch but didn't want to pay over $10k for it. I told her she could probably get a custom couch for less and sure enough she found a local shop that has tons of great style, fabric, and fill options, built to exact measurements, and it was a few thousand dollars cheaper than the RH couch.
I'm a former employee of Crate & Barrel, CB2, and RH. The quality of the pieces at Crate and CB2 far surpasses RH. Most Crate & Barrel and CB2 non-"ready to assemble" furniture is made in North Carolina. They use high quality materials and union labor. Almost all RH furniture is made abroad of the lowest quality materials. I'm so happy to see a UA-cam designer who isn't fawning over RH!
Shame on you, RL has beautiful things, I think you are jealous because you can't afford them !! Give it a few more years,when your income goes up, you will have a different attitude ....
@@richardadams6988Tbh, there’s a difference between saying something is overpriced vs expensive. Value for your dollar is the real issue here. I have RH stuff and , for example, my counter -height Hudson chairs’ seats are too short and not comfortable at all. They still cost a lot. I could get that “ style over substance” for a lot less at Marshall’s.
Z-gallery looks like someone who’s nouveau riche with plumped up glossy lips, with shiny tacky furniture to match. (Although I liked some of the furniture TBH)
Ok, I started watching this channel because I love Nicks style but now I feel like half the reason I watch is because he is hilarious. These videos bring me joy. Thanks Nick.
This is how I feel about all the cheap decorating crap at Hobby Lobby!! It is the fast fashion version of home decor!! It will be in the landfill or in their yardsale in a couple of years!
Every once in awhile u find something at hobby.lobby that won't go out if style I've gound extremely expensive furniture that's made out of crap..not wood...only veneer on particle like materials..used furniture shops usually carry real wood pieces that can be refurbished..
That one shot of a Z Gallerie room with a fur pillow, printed snake pillow, 4 chrome items & crystal chandelier followed by the room with the fur pillow, printed zebra pillow, tiger print pillow, 4 brassy items & crystal table had me DYING laughing! Because nothing screams “elevated” pimp like a gold cougar beside the recliner couch...💃🏻🕺🏻
"You might be able to turn those pipe cleaners into something special..." OMG Nick you did a really good job saying that with a straight face lol. Love your channel, your content, your delivery--thank you!
I'm from the North East US and where I live, our version of The Brick is Bob's Discount Furniture 😂 They even manufacture their own tempurpedic memory foam cushioning and it's called "Bob-o-pedic"
We have so many Brick style stores in America: Value City, Big Lots, Bob’s, Ashley. Probably missing a bunch of others, but those are ones that come to mind.
There used to be a store in the Chicagoland area called Naked Furniture. All wood dressers, coffee tables, end tables etc. all different styles but totally unfinished. And it was reasonable. So, we bought a few pieces 30 years ago and painted/stained them ourselves. I wish that store was still around.
Jysk is the Nordic version of the Brick! The one chair I bought completely disintegrated in a two years: squeaking loose screws, peeling fake leather, crushed up caps on metal legs I couldn't find replacements for. They used to sell quality cotton sheets and curtains for cheap so we used the fabric for Christmas shirts and pillowcases. Now they basically have similar prices as IKEA but worse quality.
It's interesting to me that they have such a weird assortment of stuff. Like, the one near me clearly focuses on furniture, another one a bit further away sells mainly decor items, pillows and stuff, barely any furniture, and the one we went to to replace our air mattress on holiday in Denmark only sold garden furniture and camping stuff. And a few things like glasses and plates etc. So weird.
We have Jysk here in canada too, and it's not the same as The Brick. Maybe it's much better where you live, but here it's like a smaller, lesser quality but more expensive Ikea. The Brick has better quality, and is not Scandinavian inspired.
I think our version of the Brick is Value City. I live in a small town in Southern Illinois and traveled to St Louis where we got some decent chairs there for our kitchen table. Lots of furniture, lighting and stand alone decor ( big cats, eagles, etc) in the aesthetic I have named "Sparkle Cat".
I used to love RH when they were a bit less into themselves. We designed our living room in their Silver Sage (duped, cause their paint prices are stupid high) and white crown moulding. Mostly I shopped for inspiration and then went elsewhere for similar but more affordable pieces. I do the same for Pottery Barn. The only shopping these places get from me is window shopping. My husband is a hobby woodworker so if we like a piece he will put it on our to-do list.
We still have the paint swatch book and have it color matched everytime we paint. But yeah, I miss when RH used to sell actual quality home goods…ever since they started shipping those massive catalogs they’ve been super pretentious.
I joke that I don't earn enough to walk into RH, Williams Sonoma or Pottery Barn. We have all three of them at our high end mall in town and they're interesting to wander around, but the prices ... yikes.
If I do buy from a large retailer I just look at the materials now. I think spending money on a solid wood or metal piece is worth it cosidering how many pieces of Ikea furniture I've broken through the years that just didn't last.
Worked at RH veeerrry briefly, and in the onboarding they gave me a "leadership contract" the second line of which was "I will continuously destroy my own reality to create tomorrow's future for myself and my teammates". Still not sure what that meant or how it related to overprices bedframes and mimosas.
I laughed way too hard at "Call me crazy, but I don't love when my furniture's sold out of a tent." 😂😂 Also, maybe fun video idea: critique the rooms on different TV shows. I was watching Ted Lasso the other day and Keeley's big funky pink mirror popped up and my brain went, "Oh, Nick from UA-cam would not like that."
I agree 100% about RH, with one exception. I don't think their consumer base is "rich suburban folks", rather "suburban folks who are willing to go into deep debt to make people think they are rich." Out of curiosity I went to my local RH. The building looks straight out of Disney's imagineering department, "make me a fake European villa". I found nothing to my taste, the prices were crazy, and the quality ... I have done a little woodworking in my time, and I'd rather buy Ikea than RH. Neither is good quality, but Ikea does not pretend with "distressed" finishes or gray stained everything. Oh, I'm wrong, I found bathroom hardware I liked ... but there's no way I'm paying $65 for robe hook. [Lee Valley has nicer hardware at reasonable prices.] The staff completely ignored me, which was not nice, but fine, as I'm not sure what I would have said to them that was polite.
Yeah before turning into RH. Like when they had a name the hardware was reasonable and you could find something..but the rest hmmm never found anything useful. Except at Christmas when they had fun and interesting gift table... When they pulled out of our area they had already turned and I do not mourn the loss.
I bought a sectional from RH. It’s covered in an expensive fabric (Krypton) and…I paid $12k. Yes, I know, crazy, but I thought it would last and I’d have it for years. It is utter crap. It squeaked when we first sat on it and I thought, oh it needs to settle….but no. The squeaking got worse and after about 3 years of light to average use, the springs started collapsing. Last winter I screwed heavy plywood to the bottom to try to reinforce it. That sort of worked for about 6 months but now the springs are coming through the sides of the pieces. Absolute 100% waste of money. If I had to do it again, I’d buy from Ikea. Never never shop at RH.
I’ve never been in a solidly middle class house filled with RH. I’ve been in lots of homes owned by people in the top 5% of income earners who had a lot of RH decor. The people you’re describing certainly exist, but a huge portion of RH’s clientele have the disposable income to shop there without going into debt.
I go to RH and take photos for inspiration then use google photo to find me a dupe lol. Because RH is out of their minds with the “oh this veneer table has a giant scratch so now it’s only $3000.” It drives me crazy their $800 statues aren’t even stone- they’re plaster!!
Going to a RH Gallery is an amazing experience. I love their display rooms (the RH modern ones at least) and the whole environment is shockingly impressive, even if it’s also excessive. It’s like going to a theme park lol. That said, that’s where the love ends. I go there and get some inspiration and to enjoy myself for a bit, then shop for alternatives elsewhere that are a reasonable price hahahaha
This is the way. I am a designer with clients who love the look. I even have a wholesale account with one of their suppliers, but it's my least favourite one. I can get lower pricepoints for very similar pieces (RH pieces will be exclusive, but extremely similar pieces are available from their manufacturer) but the quality is just not there for me and I never recommend it. I can make that look happen for a client for much less and way better quality using other suppliers. I also think that's true for Pottery Barn. Crate and Barrel is a bit better, but still a lot of paying for a name.
Yes I love their stuff but WOAH it is SO expensive! I can’t conceive of buying a $12,000 couch. Yay for affordable dupes! (Although that cloud couch is one of a kind - most comfortable thing I’ve ever been on - but I just can’t spend that.)
@@trishdiggins 12000 euro is what some people have in a year for living...i would never spend that much money on a sofa .. on a whole kitchen.. of corse.. but i would feel guilty to have such an expensive sofa, when i could have made really good things out of this money not just sitting on it.
I wonder how many sales per day they need to make to stay in business. The one location in my city is huge and I can't imagine the market for furniture at this price point is very big.
The first point; Our family moved from Southern California to a Southern state during Covid. Bought a huge house with land for less than a quarter of what it would have cost us in LA. Decided we wanted quality lasting pieces of furniture cause for the first time in our married life we were able to afford excellent quality. We must have gone to close to fifty or so furniture stores (all different kinds) and we were hugely disappointed in how expensive it was for pre-fab laminated crap. Not real wood pieces. In the end, we bought mid-range quality for all our kids furniture (cause we knew they’d probably trash it anyway) and my husband found a wood worker who made custom pieces whom we commissioned to make our dining room table and side board as well as our kitchen table. We also had all our chairs custom made from another place, and bought a burl wood coffee table from somewhere else. Our tables, chairs and coffee table are some of the most expensive, but also the most worth it beautiful pieces in our home. And the cost was a refraction more of what it would have been to buy pre-fab at a furniture store. We love our carpenter, and would go back to him for anything else in a heartbeat.
I remember RH when they were all about selling and making historical hardware, furniture, and decor. I haven't followed them in a few decades and I am super confused about what they turned into.
I went into RH this spring, for the first time in probably 8 years. I thought I was in the wrong place. I thought I had walked into a hotel lobby. 😂 I loved the RH of yesteryear, which was more like Pottery Barn. I think I once bought a box of holiday cookies there once. Looks amazing. It also made me consider putting a vanity and sink in my master bedroom. 😂 (I live in a small 1950s house)
I know right. I went in for the first time in a long time after telling my husband how awesome it is. He had never been, so i wanted to show him some stuff. It was awful. The "wood" looks like plastic now. Na, I'll just keep buying at the antique stores.
Haha. I have a couple of pieces from 10-15 yrs ago bought on clearance and they’re very well made. Back then RH was pricey. But now it’s astronomically pricey. I guess I’m not the target customer as I know ppl who furnish their mansions w exclusively RH furniture.
When we bought our home 5 years ago, our realtors got us a gift. They told us they thought about having a barn door put in the master bedroom, but instead got us a home warranty for a year. I'm forever grateful they nixed the barndoor idea!!!
You're so right about Costco! 🤣 Never had a bad experience with the staff (although i wish they'd figure out a way to give out samples that doesn't encourage every idiot to congregate 6-deep with their carts and their entourage at the ends of the isles) but, if it's busy, I leave feeling highly irritated. We go at off-peak hours now just to avoid some of the hassle.
All my furniture is from consignment stores, very vintage pieces in our rooms and bedding, candles and kitchen items from target and a few large pieces from wayfarer. That's it. And we love our place. Bought a sectional from a client of mine. Really not much new stuff in our home except our kitchen cabinets and our flooring. We did dyi our master bath during COVID and it came out amazing. Added two sinks from the one sink puked the toilet area out a foot out in a pocket door from sink area to shower area and put a low bathtub in with white penny tile black grout and a vintage brass out of the wall shower head faucet. And brass faucets on sinks and brass mirrors over the sinks. Have to say for our first dyi it came out amazing and we saved like 15,000 doing it ourselves. Took us 3 months but was worth it.
I call that furniture from Costco and The Brick "Rosanne furniture" - as in from the set of the Rosanne Barr show. This was your nastiest yet, Nick. Keep up the good work! I recently saw an oversized living room set with built-in cup holders in someone's house. It was so big, it filled the entire room. And matching. Egad!
I'm with you on RH. About 8byears ago, my husband made a dupe of one of their farmhouse dining tables, and not only is it gorgeous and SOLID, it cost less than $300.
Nick, you would totally slay at a stand-up comedy show. I laughed through this entire video, agreeing with you 100%. Sad story: my husband bought a giant marshmallow recliner - white leather - it looks like an actual marshmallow. I have tried a million ways of getting rid of it because it is hideous, but he loves it like Martin Crane loved his recliner. We have a deal now - the second he drops dead I'm going to tote that thing to the street and leave it for the raccoons or petty thieves. First come first serve. The rest of the house is much more tasteful but that giant chair gives me evil side eye every time I'm in that room.
Everything you’ve said about the 5 retailers was spot on. When restoration hardware went dark (spooky without skeletons & spider webs) the pricing quadrupled. Unfinished upholstery pieces, really? Nailheads and burlap? $2000-3000 for an accent chair. I haven’t been back since I saw that particular nightmare.
The Costco comment about a family of six walking arm and arm blocking the whole aisles is so true! My husband and I laugh about it every time we go to Sam's warehouse or Costco! Like, could you have not maybe left three of them at home? I don't know…😂 Value City is our version of the brick! Haha
100% agree.... But according to my sister it's the one store the kids love going to because of all the snacks and the cheap pizza at the end. She tries to leave them at home but it doesn't work lol. They got their allowance money, they promise not to beg for stuff hahaha
I died at the brick!! Lol We needed a new couch, my husband insisted we go to our local version of the brick which was even worse than what you showed. I went in kicking hand screaming because I already knew what I wanted and I KNEW they wouldn’t carry it. We walked the entire hideous synthetic marshmallow store, nothing. We came around the last bend and they had an Italian camel leather couch, that’s partly stuffed with down. It was EXACTLY the couch I wanted. The most expensive item in the store. And my husband won. Lol 😂
@@oterysrhaegan645 This is exactly what I said in my comment, too! But I don't hate Big Lots and even signed up for their discounts after my first time shopping there recently 😅. Even Tarjèt (Target in fancy speak, lol) can be a bit high for my pockets right now so I'm keeping Big Lots in my back pocket. They REALLY want me to use the 20% coupon they gave me for signing up, but Klarna has my wallet locked up tight at the moment 😂 And that then brings me to my other issue with them. While they're cheap...I still might want an option to pay off stuff over time.
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley I don't mind them, but I just don't think they're furniture is something you want to buy, especially without some kind of payment options. Honestly, the only thing I have bought there are black out curtains and glittery wrapping paper (cute, but definitely a mistake!).
I've been watching you for awhile now and I love how you can state your opinions on things without the unnecessary toxic snark that some other people do. It's not just what you say but also how you say it. You've got real class.
Nick - I live in an affluent area where a lot of people get rid of stuff they don't want for cheap. I just picked up a pristine charcoal velvet Chesterfield style RH small couch for (drumroll........) $200 recently! It goes perfectly in my cabin home (its a luxury cabin). I am over the moon happy. I have picked up towels and linens/curtains over the years discounted at their outlet store or on their webpage, too - or even ebay, but never any furniture. I totally agree with what you say about pricing, but I have always worked around that, and have dozens of items from there that I absolutely love. I noticed its really hard to find deals anymore, though :-(. Most of their stuff is too traditional for my eclectic taste, but a piece here and there does not look stodgy at all. Oh - I have a huge Stickley king sized cherry sleigh bed originally $5000 for $500 from a neighbor - and it looked brand new. Love a good deal.
I really really love your nod to target and ikea at the end (as well as FB marketplace and by extension community swaps in general). You really can find great things anywhere. So accessible and affordable are not at all dirty words. I was getting a prescription in a giant stop and shop yesterday. And I ALMOST bought fall serving ware the mix with my WilliamsSonoma stuff. (Then I realized I was high, and also spending $800 for medication because of the US healthcare system, so I let those dishes go. But they were REALLY nice.)
GREAT Video, Nick! One of my sons saw a RH TV console he liked, so he went home and built it. It was an exact dupe and a fraction of the cost. He's never had "how to build furniture" classes, just has "the knack".
Yes! I had a local carpenter (wood artist imo) build me a shelving unit for my closet as well as bedside tables and they are GORGEOUS solid and will stand the test of time. AND it was less expensive than the popular mdf mass produced products.
There was a family business in Winnipeg called Brick’s Fine Furniture. Because Brick is their last name, and their furniture was good quality. As you can imagine, they constantly had to advertise that they were NOT THE BRICK! The store unfortunately closed in 2018 after the death of the founding couple, but their daughter has relaunched it as Marsha Brick’s Fine Furniture.
I think you can’t go too wrong if you focus on quality when you buy things for your home. I’ve invested in Amish solid wood furniture ( they make modern options you can custom order) and it was infinitely cheaper than anything I can find at RH and it will last forever. I found a furniture store locally that sells everything off the floor at a discount. I got a designer couch for a great price. I also still have the first sofa I ever bought 15 years ago and it still looks good because I bought the most expensive I could afford at the time. I tend to stay away from many of the mainstream retailers for most of my home decor. I have bought things from Wayfair and the like, but very little. I feel like too I have found many high quality items at antique stores. I am not a huge fan of seasonal decor. I do a few things and plant some flowers, and that’s it. I don’t go crazy because I don’t want to store all that stuff 😅.
I second the Amish furniture recommendation. Some do a Craftsman style or something like that. I grew up like 15 miles away from the most Amish place in the world (Holmes Co., Ohio), my husband is from near another Amish area, and we happen to live in another town with a lot of Amish, including farms surrounding our neighborhood, which was built by the Amish. Above average quality in the woodwork, with solid doors. We have a few items of the furniture, crib that converts to toddler bed and then double bed, glider chair with footstool (kind for rocking a baby), dresser, and a couple end tables. Very solid construction, satin finishes on some. Dresser drawers have metal tracks with rollers, so they come out smoothly and snap closed. A lot of our other furniture, from a store about 2 steps above Ashley, which people are saying is 1 step above the Brick 😄, is more the style I like (I was saying in another comment on this channel that it seems like Jacobean revival), is less plain, but the quality is not quite as high, e.g. some drawer handles are hollow-backed, and one broke off after 10 or so years, and drawers slide out on wooden tracks with no rollers.
I'M HOWLING AT THE BRICK COMMENT! SO TRUE! Also, Ashley is kind of like that too, but not AS bad. (I actually have a couch from Ashley that I love, but it's definitely hit or miss)
The Ashley comment 👍🏻 so hit or miss. Also, heinously expensive. After over a year of looking for a couch, we FINALLY managed to find exactly what we wanted there, but ended up FINANCING the stupid thing (even though we were willing to pay cash) because it got us an additional $250 off. Yeesh. What a strange pricing model.
I’m 42 now and I’m more interested in comfy versus style. I’m not giving up on style but I tell ya I’ve been looking more and more at those bubble couches! 😂 I can do without the cup holders though! The problem with the contemporary couches is that they don’t support my neck or head. I’ve had a Room and Board couch for years and I’m tired of the lack of support,
I'm just here to say, THANK YOU with COSTCO. I lived in Mormonville southern Utah where the families are huge and they absolutely spread out across the aisle. Half the time Mom isn't even pushing the barge sized cart from behind. Because, why would she when she could instead walk beside it and pull it from the front corner. With the kids wandering around beside her. Don't get me started on them clustering around the sample peeps with their cart sitting in the aisle. Gah!
I'm really with you on all of it. It's refreshing to actually have someone that actually go ahead and say what he thinks even if it's not like what most thinks.
I love Nick and he does it really well but literally all the interior designers on UA-cam have hot takes on trends or popular things they don’t like lol
I am a Costco employee 23 years... DEAD ON in my opinion! I LOVE Costco however, they are catering for the masses and they do keep furniture generic! I have found some wonderful items ( that people have returned from online) that were GREAT finds. Other than that, it's towels, linens and food that I stick to.
Soo glad you talked about RH. I’ve always thought they were extremely over priced and way too lauded by certain interior designers who practically drool over anything from RH. PS. I absolutely love your humorous inserts! You’re hilarious!
I once had this marvelous old, 1920's-30's Art Deco sofa, that had built-in, brass and steel fold-up ash trays in the arms. It wasn't close to being as tacky as the cup holder-couch, (the sofa was lovely, and made from materials actually found in nature) but, still; this did make me smile... :)
Ace Hardware comes to mind. I need some marshmallow furniture, a barn door console, and very specific sized screws can't get at a Home Depot or Lowe's 😂
I live in the NE USA and our version of "The Brick" is Bob's Discount Furniture. You described it to the tee! Not wrong that every region has their own version of this store.
Remember when RH was where you went to RESTORE Victorian HOMES? I have wrought iron corbels which serves to decorate pass through and I framed doors in 2 NYC apartments. They now hold up my cookbook shelf in my suburban kitchen. I also have botanical Christmas decor from 2004 stored in the original Resto (that’s what it was called) boxes. When the rebranded to all get walls, they froze all of their looks. Yes. We got it. It’s an aviation chair and a globe bar. And the only things that grew were the price and the SIZE! Honestly, even in Short Hills (the resto that outsells NYC) who the hell has a living room this side of Sonoma that can accommodate this 15 foot sectional?! And what are the property taxes?!?! For more style and reduced (still high, but reasonable) prices, shop Arhaus. They’re right there down the strip in Short Hills.
I worked at Z Gallerie, and the quality of the furniture and decor was pretty awful...like, unbelievably terrible. Returns galore. You absolutely nailed it on your description. More often than not, the worst, most entitled customers I've ever dealt with on top of it. Then there were the nice customers who got screwed buying furniture that didn't last, and there wasn't much we could do at the store level (as much as we would have liked to help). Chapter 11 shut our store, which was another mess. Actually lol'd when you mentioned them, and agree with you 100%! You triggered me this morning, Nick :)
In Texas our “Brick” is Big Lots!😂 I personally cannot afford the high quality furniture stores but all of my furniture has been bought at estate sales from people who could. Love your channel!❤
I love estate sales! Thirty years ago, we bought a solid oak table at a great price. We couldn’t afford quality retail furniture at the time and wanted a table that would stand up to toddlers and teens. We still have our un-stylish oak pedestal table. I’d never think of replacing it. It’s a family member!
I was thinking Big Lots too. I don’t go in ours often since prices are no better than Target (which is cleaner/better layout) but you’re right about their carrying the cheaply made outdated furniture and decor. 🤮
The Melbourne Victoria Australia equivalent of the brick would be fantastic furniture which is the Sydney based company that is around Australia like modern basic or Marshmellow sofa's
When my husband and I were first married, our allowances were about $36 a month. I know that’s a lot for some people, but we were pinching pennies to save up for a house. So it was a really low amount compared to what we spent when we were dating. Allowance being basically anything we wanted that wasn’t necessary to live. Anyways, I have so much nostalgia for DollarTree because I tried SO hard to make it work with some of their decor because I really wanted something for our new apartment. It takes me back! I wish I had thrifted more in the past, back then. I wasn’t aware of the neat and unique things you can find there. We have since increased our allowance, but I go to the thrift store often.
I have a throw blanket from RH that I got as a gift and I do like it, but it's not really better than the throw blankets you can get anywhere else. It got a hole in it just like any other old blanket would too. That's my only experience with them 😂 Glad to know I'm not missing out on too much.
RH is so over priced. I agree on every retailer you mentioned and a couple of your comments had me tearing up😂. My daughter buys her dog beds at home goods. She has a beautifully decorated home and their dog has great beds. I will NOT do plastic glasses. I had a wine and cheese party for an engagement celebration tonight. I am 75 and have given all the good stuff to my daughter because I have moved to a tiny beach house. My son came to town for the casual gathering and I mentioned I would need to buy some inexpensive wine glasses. He said he would go to the thrift store because he could pick up glassware for less than a dollar each. And then I could donate them back. It was a hit. We had Champaign flutes, crystal wine and glass wines, margarita and martini glasses and being Florida/beach it is always casual and the glasses were a hit. To see the groom drinking a nice cab out of a martini glass was a picture and I also made a pitcher of bloody Marys and people were drinking them out of wine glasses so it made for a relaxed atmosphere that I never would have dreamed of. Of course Florida is relaxed and a flip flop kind of place so it worked. Excuse the clumsy wording. It is after 1AM and I watch your videos before I go to sleep because they are so much fun.
The stuff from RH is mostly if not all from China and yes their showroom in Marin County is absolutely beautiful and you are right -- too expensive for my taste. I wanted to buy a sofa and all their fabric was wrinkled and worn out looking so I went to a near-by furniture store and bought just the sofa and accent chair I wanted and even fabric to redo by dinning chairs - looks beautiful.
I absolutely LOVE how spicy you are in this video. Your roasts are some of my favourite things ever 🤣🤣🤣 I agree about the gaudy glam stuff and marshmallow couches. In the UK we have a chain store called "The Range" which is kind of reminiscent of The Brick. It has some cute smaller items and soft furnishings but the actual furniture items are a HARD no for me lol.
I worked for a construction management company that served only the astronomical rich. EVERYTHING interior was sourced from RH. I was just an assistant to a few project manager, but I was always dumbfounded by the cost and quality of that stuff.
Estate auctions are a great place to get real wood furniture for a steal. We got an antique hardwood maple bed for $10 at one and it is gorgeous! Nobody seems to want older furniture and it sells for a song.
Not making fun of IKEA because they have some affordable, decent stuff. But once somebody told me IKEA is the Swedish word for "particle board." This was one of your best videos. Loved it!
IKEA does not mean anything in Swedish. Just had to check, even if I knew it wouldn't be correct. But IKEA has the company's founder's first and last names' as well as his home village's initials in it (Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnary). It's a made up name, that doesn’t mean a thing.
I honestly don't mind particleboard furniture. If I want a beautiful coffee table made of solid wood that's one thing. But the little storage cabinet in the bathroom doesn't need to be solid wood.
A couple quick thoughts: Costco's actual business model was always geared toward small businesses, not families. Not that I'd buy anything there either, but if you're ever in Boston, you MUST see RH's flagship store there. The building, which they completely renovated, was the Historic Museum of Natural History. When I was a kid it was Bonwit Teller and then it was Louis of Boston. Amazing.
OMG, the cup holder sofas! I was in Big Lots hoping to find a cheap desk for my 8 yr old and he excitedly pointed at a sofa with cup holders. "We should get THIS ONE! It has cup holders!!!" I gently told him that it really was not my style but didn't want to sound like an absolute snob because I'm sure there were plenty of people shopping there who had similar sofas in their homes. "Oh, you just don't get it." Oh no, I get it sweetie. Cup holders at your fingertips so you don't have to look away from your show or gaming screen is a great priority to a certain demographic. However, on top of just how ugly I think those sofas are, the mold growing on the sticky residue in those holders that would develop in a house with kids is cringe inducing. That's why we have end tables and coasters.
I'm in MN and I'm thinking our The Brick would be Slumberland or Ashley's. I haven't been to either in ages, but that's the type of decor I visualize when thinking of these chains.
Ashley is the best I came up too, it’s slightly nicer stuff than the brick but same vibe. Honestly, even non-retailers in Midwest, almost everything outside the city is kinda Brick-ish
Z Gallerie is the 19 year old that just got her own place and does all the things they couldn't do while living with their parents. I think us ladies all had this phase of some sort because we got overexcited to decorate. After awhile it gets old and we eventually mature out of it
Regarding Costco home decor/fixtures, I largely agree, but it is worth taking a look. They intermittently carry a Kohler one bowl stainless kitchen sink and faucet combo for $300, it is a truly excellent value because purchased separately it would cost at least $500, possibly 6. And I purchased 2 beautiful merino wool fine weight sweaters last year after Christmas for $15. You simply can’t beat that. I am not that uniquely built, a medium usually fits. But yes, Costco tries to find the one thing that is the best thing at a given price point. Their Kirkland brand is also nearly always reliable. I purchased one food item, I no longer remember what, but it was , in my opinion, awful. But that is over thirty years of shopping.
You have exactly described recliners as I do-giant colored, sometimes collapsed, marshmallows. A few do have good style, but hard to find under $3,000-$4,000.
Every time I search for “recliners” I get results for days that are the marshmallows. If I just look for armchairs that recline, I tend to have better luck. It’s a very fine distinction but for some ungodly reason it makes a difference. Also Crate & Barrel have some nice reclining armchairs for less than US$2k.
I laughed when you mentioned The Brick and your next comment "If you're not from Canada, nobody's perfect, that's fine" had me on the floor. Another great video. Love the fast pace and the number of pictures you always include to support your points. Perhaps a follow up video of your favorite stores and what in particular you like about them. You have mentioned names in your videos but I don't recall a video where you comment about the design strengths of one vs another.
I live in Redding, CA. Thats in far northern Ca. Far away from Los Angeles, which is like another planet to us. Those people are nuts. And, yes we have several stores that sell the marshmallow furniture. I despise those oversized sofas and chairs. I just recently found you and I am busy watching all your older videos so I can catch up to the current ones. Love your snide remarks.
The Costco here in Puerto Rico is nice and so are the employees and customers! Should a customer’s kids dare to run around, you will hear a message on the loud speakers ( 😂 equivalent to put a leash on your kids). Something that makes the rest of the customers smile, and yes I use to take my kids to Costco and they knew better than to run around or act up.
Nick you make me laugh so hard that I almost pee a little.. Thanks for the shout out about Craigslist, FB Marketplace and Estate and garage Sales. I've been killing it at these sales and it makes the hunt for home decor sooo fun also because usually you can negotiate prices, which I'm learning to do:)
I loved the dollar store for the weekly craft night I held every Thursday for my grandkids who were 3 &5 lol. Seriously I was able to stock up markers , diy Christmas, Valentines etc…. I tried Michaels but it became so pricey especially when they had more than one item to color etc..
I diy a bunch of stuff to save money 10/10 I would recommend a simple rag rug as a beginner project. But it’s important to appreciate little flaws & see them as character that shows what you did was a labor of love
I replaced (almost) all the floors in my builder basic home with some really nice stuff I got from Costco at a great price. However, it took me a while to get the job done, and by the time I realized I hadn’t bought enough they were no longer carrying it. So I guess the last room will have to be finished with floors from the Dollartree or The Brick.
Great video! I relate to having strong opinions about style/taste but not judging people for theirs. I always think if I share what I think (tacky, gaudy, metallic like wow that's fake) it will not be taken well (I would not say it to the owner). I love hearing your take because you're saying what I want to say.
I live in the Detroit area, and I worked in Detroit downtown for 30 years. Had view of Windsor Ontario from my cubicle (3 blocks from the river). The Brick reminds me of Gardiner White. A Detroit area discount furniture store. Weekly ads with sectionals that recline and cup holders. You reminded me of that, and it made me laugh.
In New Zealand the one big box store for everything is The Warehouse, but their furniture is very limited. I think our version of RH would be "Early Settler". The names of these stores tell you everything you need to know about their furniture.
As a woodworker, I love how you tell people to find a local woodworker to create a custom piece of furniture. Yes, it will cost more than buying it at Target or Ikea but it will be a lifetime piece. I think the equivalent of The Brick here in Texas would be Big Lots or The Room Store.
Amen. I can not imagine buying furniture from big lot. Thanks
I also got Big Lots vibes from The Brick
Here in Houston - definitely Big Lots, but also At Home (which used to be Garden Ridge). The mirrored accessories, side tables, etc. remind me of Home Goods/ Marshall's/Ross.
Made me think of “rooms to go”
@@charlesdavis2165 ugh At Home
My mom was looking at an RH couch but didn't want to pay over $10k for it. I told her she could probably get a custom couch for less and sure enough she found a local shop that has tons of great style, fabric, and fill options, built to exact measurements, and it was a few thousand dollars cheaper than the RH couch.
Never thought I'd see a list with only 5 businesses that included both RH and Dollar Tree, but here we are.
I'm a former employee of Crate & Barrel, CB2, and RH. The quality of the pieces at Crate and CB2 far surpasses RH. Most Crate & Barrel and CB2 non-"ready to assemble" furniture is made in North Carolina. They use high quality materials and union labor. Almost all RH furniture is made abroad of the lowest quality materials. I'm so happy to see a UA-cam designer who isn't fawning over RH!
I love fin e furniture and exotic wood. What is the treatment of the wood from RH supposed to be evoking? Is it from Mars?
Shame on you, RL has beautiful things, I think you are jealous because you can't afford them !! Give it a few more years,when your income goes up, you will have a different attitude ....
Thanks for this input. And mentioning union labor.
@@richardadams6988Ralph Lauren?
@@richardadams6988Tbh, there’s a difference between saying something is overpriced vs expensive. Value for your dollar is the real issue here. I have RH stuff and , for example, my counter -height Hudson chairs’ seats are too short and not comfortable at all. They still cost a lot. I could get that “ style over substance” for a lot less at Marshall’s.
Z Gallery reminds me of the Friends episode when Joey got his soap opera job and decked out the apartment with all the super classy goods-😄
Z-gallery looks like someone who’s nouveau riche with plumped up glossy lips, with shiny tacky furniture to match. (Although I liked some of the furniture TBH)
Funny you should say that because while he was showing z gallery examples that episode popped into my head.
RIGHT?!!!🤣🤣🤣
Z Galleries; that reminds me of 80s/90s Miami/Beach Cuban and Latin influences.. just sayin’… lived it, survived it 🥳
And if you're really old like me you remember this stuff from the late seventies/early eighties - so dated.
Ok, I started watching this channel because I love Nicks style but now I feel like half the reason I watch is because he is hilarious. These videos bring me joy. Thanks Nick.
Completely agree
Call me crazy.. But I don't want to buy my furniture out of a tent....
I would totally buy EVERYTHING from the Nick Lewis Collection. Make it happen.
Haha they don't take my calls! 😂
@@Nick_Lewis sounds like you need us to find a supplier for your glitter farmhouse collection. Consider it done 😂
@@Nick_Lewis then send them a fax😂😂😂
@@amberbanuelos7053 glitter farmhouse collection 😂
How about a Nick Lewis Collection at #Wayfair?
This is how I feel about all the cheap decorating crap at Hobby Lobby!! It is the fast fashion version of home decor!! It will be in the landfill or in their yardsale in a couple of years!
I really thought he would mention Hobby Lobby.
@@miaaugustine4321 no such thing as hobby lobby in Canada. Is it American?
Every once in awhile u find something at hobby.lobby that won't go out if style
I've gound extremely expensive furniture that's made out of crap..not wood...only veneer on particle like materials..used furniture shops usually carry real wood pieces that can be refurbished..
Hobby Lobby sells interior deco?
Oh what a nightmare!
Does everything look like it came off of the set of The Rockford Files?
Not if you sell it on Facebook marketplace! That can be $$$!!
That one shot of a Z Gallerie room with a fur pillow, printed snake pillow, 4 chrome items & crystal chandelier followed by the room with the fur pillow, printed zebra pillow, tiger print pillow, 4 brassy items & crystal table had me DYING laughing! Because nothing screams “elevated” pimp like a gold cougar beside the recliner couch...💃🏻🕺🏻
"You might be able to turn those pipe cleaners into something special..." OMG Nick you did a really good job saying that with a straight face lol. Love your channel, your content, your delivery--thank you!
“If you’re not from Canada, nobody’s perfect, that’s fine.” Love you, Nick! 🍁🧡
That was funny!!!
😆
Nick's jokes! 🤣🤣
Still laughing! 🍁
That was so funny to me lol
I'm from the North East US and where I live, our version of The Brick is Bob's Discount Furniture 😂 They even manufacture their own tempurpedic memory foam cushioning and it's called "Bob-o-pedic"
Yes!!! 😂😂😂
😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂
NorCal here and yes! BOB'S is exactly what I thought of too 😂
@@judib3937That's exactly what I was thinking.
We have so many Brick style stores in America: Value City, Big Lots, Bob’s, Ashley. Probably missing a bunch of others, but those are ones that come to mind.
In San Antonio the same furniture store on the hyway goes out of business regularly. But never closes.
To Bridget guns, you must live in my neighborhood!,
Yes! I was thinking Ashley!!
Sears 😂
Big Lots?
There used to be a store in the Chicagoland area called Naked Furniture. All wood dressers, coffee tables, end tables etc. all different styles but totally unfinished. And it was reasonable. So, we bought a few pieces 30 years ago and painted/stained them ourselves. I wish that store was still around.
We had those here in the Detroit area many years ago.
Jysk is the Nordic version of the Brick! The one chair I bought completely disintegrated in a two years: squeaking loose screws, peeling fake leather, crushed up caps on metal legs I couldn't find replacements for. They used to sell quality cotton sheets and curtains for cheap so we used the fabric for Christmas shirts and pillowcases. Now they basically have similar prices as IKEA but worse quality.
It's interesting to me that they have such a weird assortment of stuff. Like, the one near me clearly focuses on furniture, another one a bit further away sells mainly decor items, pillows and stuff, barely any furniture, and the one we went to to replace our air mattress on holiday in Denmark only sold garden furniture and camping stuff. And a few things like glasses and plates etc. So weird.
We have Jysk here in canada too, and it's not the same as The Brick. Maybe it's much better where you live, but here it's like a smaller, lesser quality but more expensive Ikea. The Brick has better quality, and is not Scandinavian inspired.
You need to find a new place to shop !!
I think our version of the Brick is Value City. I live in a small town in Southern Illinois and traveled to St Louis where we got some decent chairs there for our kitchen table. Lots of furniture, lighting and stand alone decor ( big cats, eagles, etc) in the aesthetic I have named "Sparkle Cat".
I was gonna say Value City too
Yep, bingo! Value city furniture lol
Yep came here to say that.
I used to love RH when they were a bit less into themselves. We designed our living room in their Silver Sage (duped, cause their paint prices are stupid high) and white crown moulding. Mostly I shopped for inspiration and then went elsewhere for similar but more affordable pieces. I do the same for Pottery Barn. The only shopping these places get from me is window shopping. My husband is a hobby woodworker so if we like a piece he will put it on our to-do list.
Totally right? I used to buy into it, but not anymore. Have they changed, or have I? Hard to say.
We still have the paint swatch book and have it color matched everytime we paint. But yeah, I miss when RH used to sell actual quality home goods…ever since they started shipping those massive catalogs they’ve been super pretentious.
@@Nick_Lewis I think we've just gotten wiser.
I joke that I don't earn enough to walk into RH, Williams Sonoma or Pottery Barn. We have all three of them at our high end mall in town and they're interesting to wander around, but the prices ... yikes.
If I do buy from a large retailer I just look at the materials now. I think spending money on a solid wood or metal piece is worth it cosidering how many pieces of Ikea furniture I've broken through the years that just didn't last.
Worked at RH veeerrry briefly, and in the onboarding they gave me a "leadership contract" the second line of which was "I will continuously destroy my own reality to create tomorrow's future for myself and my teammates".
Still not sure what that meant or how it related to overprices bedframes and mimosas.
Wtf......
I bet some egomaniac in corporate leadership was real proud of that line 🤣
nah you worked at hogwarts 😭
Whoever wrote that, was high af 😂
Now, that's spooky! (And "tomorrow's future" is just silly writing.)
I laughed way too hard at "Call me crazy, but I don't love when my furniture's sold out of a tent." 😂😂 Also, maybe fun video idea: critique the rooms on different TV shows. I was watching Ted Lasso the other day and Keeley's big funky pink mirror popped up and my brain went, "Oh, Nick from UA-cam would not like that."
I also watched it, I love the mirror! it’s an iconic piece
That’s a fantastic idea!
I don't want to catch you in a Walmart !,you are not wanted !!!!hahaha
0:40 I'm stealing "We do we." It combines you-do-you with I-gotta-do-me, and both are great reminders. I love it!
I agree 100% about RH, with one exception. I don't think their consumer base is "rich suburban folks", rather "suburban folks who are willing to go into deep debt to make people think they are rich."
Out of curiosity I went to my local RH. The building looks straight out of Disney's imagineering department, "make me a fake European villa". I found nothing to my taste, the prices were crazy, and the quality ... I have done a little woodworking in my time, and I'd rather buy Ikea than RH. Neither is good quality, but Ikea does not pretend with "distressed" finishes or gray stained everything.
Oh, I'm wrong, I found bathroom hardware I liked ... but there's no way I'm paying $65 for robe hook. [Lee Valley has nicer hardware at reasonable prices.]
The staff completely ignored me, which was not nice, but fine, as I'm not sure what I would have said to them that was polite.
Yeah before turning into RH. Like when they had a name the hardware was reasonable and you could find something..but the rest hmmm never found anything useful. Except at Christmas when they had fun and interesting gift table... When they pulled out of our area they had already turned and I do not mourn the loss.
If someone spoke to you, you could ask them if they were "destroying their own reality" as per one of the comments below.
Shout out to Lee Valley! Great place.
I bought a sectional from RH. It’s covered in an expensive fabric (Krypton) and…I paid $12k.
Yes, I know, crazy, but I thought it would last and I’d have it for years.
It is utter crap.
It squeaked when we first sat on it and I thought, oh it needs to settle….but no. The squeaking got worse and after about 3 years of light to average use, the springs started collapsing. Last winter I screwed heavy plywood to the bottom to try to reinforce it. That sort of worked for about 6 months but now the springs are coming through the sides of the pieces.
Absolute 100% waste of money.
If I had to do it again, I’d buy from Ikea.
Never never shop at RH.
I’ve never been in a solidly middle class house filled with RH. I’ve been in lots of homes owned by people in the top 5% of income earners who had a lot of RH decor. The people you’re describing certainly exist, but a huge portion of RH’s clientele have the disposable income to shop there without going into debt.
Sitting on my couch from the Brick's tent sale next to my table lights from Costco laughing along with you Nick 😂
Love someone who's self-deprecating -- good for you!
That's the spirit!
Whether true or not, that's hilarious!!
Hey! Do you have cup holders too? Those look awesome 😅
I go to RH and take photos for inspiration then use google photo to find me a dupe lol. Because RH is out of their minds with the “oh this veneer table has a giant scratch so now it’s only $3000.” It drives me crazy their $800 statues aren’t even stone- they’re plaster!!
Totally agree. They do large scale really well if you have the space for it, but only for inspo. Then you go somewhere else. 😅
Right, if you have 800 to spend on a statue, you can afford actual stone 😅.
I don't want to have to take put a loan to buy a coat hook at RH. Nope.
So nick where do you like to shop lol. Is there a video on that? Love the content and you, hilarious presentation 😃
Going to a RH Gallery is an amazing experience. I love their display rooms (the RH modern ones at least) and the whole environment is shockingly impressive, even if it’s also excessive. It’s like going to a theme park lol. That said, that’s where the love ends. I go there and get some inspiration and to enjoy myself for a bit, then shop for alternatives elsewhere that are a reasonable price hahahaha
You're a very smart consumer, John.
This is the way. I am a designer with clients who love the look. I even have a wholesale account with one of their suppliers, but it's my least favourite one. I can get lower pricepoints for very similar pieces (RH pieces will be exclusive, but extremely similar pieces are available from their manufacturer) but the quality is just not there for me and I never recommend it. I can make that look happen for a client for much less and way better quality using other suppliers. I also think that's true for Pottery Barn. Crate and Barrel is a bit better, but still a lot of paying for a name.
Yes I love their stuff but WOAH it is SO expensive! I can’t conceive of buying a $12,000 couch. Yay for affordable dupes! (Although that cloud couch is one of a kind - most comfortable thing I’ve ever been on - but I just can’t spend that.)
@@trishdiggins 12000 euro is what some people have in a year for living...i would never spend that much money on a sofa .. on a whole kitchen.. of corse.. but i would feel guilty to have such an expensive sofa, when i could have made really good things out of this money not just sitting on it.
I wonder how many sales per day they need to make to stay in business. The one location in my city is huge and I can't imagine the market for furniture at this price point is very big.
The first point;
Our family moved from Southern California to a Southern state during Covid. Bought a huge house with land for less than a quarter of what it would have cost us in LA. Decided we wanted quality lasting pieces of furniture cause for the first time in our married life we were able to afford excellent quality. We must have gone to close to fifty or so furniture stores (all different kinds) and we were hugely disappointed in how expensive it was for pre-fab laminated crap. Not real wood pieces. In the end, we bought mid-range quality for all our kids furniture (cause we knew they’d probably trash it anyway) and my husband found a wood worker who made custom pieces whom we commissioned to make our dining room table and side board as well as our kitchen table. We also had all our chairs custom made from another place, and bought a burl wood coffee table from somewhere else. Our tables, chairs and coffee table are some of the most expensive, but also the most worth it beautiful pieces in our home. And the cost was a refraction more of what it would have been to buy pre-fab at a furniture store. We love our carpenter, and would go back to him for anything else in a heartbeat.
Should have gone to a second hand store. Recycling quality furniture is better for the planet.
I know what you mean, I had the same problem finding a Maid & Butler ,quality is hard to find ! Don't you agree?
Can't wait to see what your favorite retailers are. You are such a delight - a wonderful blend of kind snarkiness and wit.
I remember RH when they were all about selling and making historical hardware, furniture, and decor. I haven't followed them in a few decades and I am super confused about what they turned into.
I went into RH this spring, for the first time in probably 8 years. I thought I was in the wrong place. I thought I had walked into a hotel lobby. 😂 I loved the RH of yesteryear, which was more like Pottery Barn. I think I once bought a box of holiday cookies there once. Looks amazing. It also made me consider putting a vanity and sink in my master bedroom. 😂 (I live in a small 1950s house)
I know right. I went in for the first time in a long time after telling my husband how awesome it is. He had never been, so i wanted to show him some stuff. It was awful. The "wood" looks like plastic now. Na, I'll just keep buying at the antique stores.
Exactly! They used to have awesome designs, glad I kept photos of a lot of it. Go in an RH today and NONE of those things are there. SO disappointing!
Think super expensive mausoleum chic.
Haha. I have a couple of pieces from 10-15 yrs ago bought on clearance and they’re very well made. Back then RH was pricey. But now it’s astronomically pricey. I guess I’m not the target customer as I know ppl who furnish their mansions w exclusively RH furniture.
When we bought our home 5 years ago, our realtors got us a gift. They told us they thought about having a barn door put in the master bedroom, but instead got us a home warranty for a year. I'm forever grateful they nixed the barndoor idea!!!
That's quite a gift! My realtor just gave me some Rae Dunn mugs and a basket. LOL
Is it customary for realtors to give their customers a gift? I've never heard of this.
I feel like that’s weird for a realtor to give you a barn door.
@@stumblebum-s7y , I guess it depends on the realtor.
My realtor gave us a bottle of wine.
You're so right about Costco! 🤣 Never had a bad experience with the staff (although i wish they'd figure out a way to give out samples that doesn't encourage every idiot to congregate 6-deep with their carts and their entourage at the ends of the isles) but, if it's busy, I leave feeling highly irritated. We go at off-peak hours now just to avoid some of the hassle.
All my furniture is from consignment stores, very vintage pieces in our rooms and bedding, candles and kitchen items from target and a few large pieces from wayfarer. That's it. And we love our place. Bought a sectional from a client of mine. Really not much new stuff in our home except our kitchen cabinets and our flooring. We did dyi our master bath during COVID and it came out amazing. Added two sinks from the one sink puked the toilet area out a foot out in a pocket door from sink area to shower area and put a low bathtub in with white penny tile black grout and a vintage brass out of the wall shower head faucet. And brass faucets on sinks and brass mirrors over the sinks. Have to say for our first dyi it came out amazing and we saved like 15,000 doing it ourselves. Took us 3 months but was worth it.
And how high is your mobile house off the ground?
I call that furniture from Costco and The Brick "Rosanne furniture" - as in from the set of the Rosanne Barr show. This was your nastiest yet, Nick. Keep up the good work! I recently saw an oversized living room set with built-in cup holders in someone's house. It was so big, it filled the entire room. And matching. Egad!
OMG
Was the Rosanne furniture that nice?
And guess what kind of people shop there!!! Da....
I'm with you on RH. About 8byears ago, my husband made a dupe of one of their farmhouse dining tables, and not only is it gorgeous and SOLID, it cost less than $300.
Nick, you would totally slay at a stand-up comedy show. I laughed through this entire video, agreeing with you 100%. Sad story: my husband bought a giant marshmallow recliner - white leather - it looks like an actual marshmallow. I have tried a million ways of getting rid of it because it is hideous, but he loves it like Martin Crane loved his recliner. We have a deal now - the second he drops dead I'm going to tote that thing to the street and leave it for the raccoons or petty thieves. First come first serve. The rest of the house is much more tasteful but that giant chair gives me evil side eye every time I'm in that room.
Can't you accidentally destroy the marshmallow? You can't live like this!
Martin Crane loves his recliner LOL
I'm sure you could figure out a way to accidentally toast it. 🤔🔥
I was able to convince my husband to give away his previous huge recliner because it hurt his lower back, but now he wants one with cupholders.
I love stand up & I don’t think I’ve ever seen a set based on home decorating. It’s time, Nick! 😂😂😂
Everything you’ve said about the 5 retailers was spot on. When restoration hardware went dark (spooky without skeletons & spider webs) the pricing quadrupled. Unfinished upholstery pieces, really? Nailheads and burlap? $2000-3000 for an accent chair. I haven’t been back since I saw that particular nightmare.
And they are still in business!!
The Costco comment about a family of six walking arm and arm blocking the whole aisles is so true!
My husband and I laugh about it every time we go to Sam's warehouse or Costco! Like, could you have not maybe left three of them at home? I don't know…😂
Value City is our version of the brick! Haha
Yup
100% agree.... But according to my sister it's the one store the kids love going to because of all the snacks and the cheap pizza at the end. She tries to leave them at home but it doesn't work lol. They got their allowance money, they promise not to beg for stuff hahaha
I died at the brick!! Lol We needed a new couch, my husband insisted we go to our local version of the brick which was even worse than what you showed. I went in kicking hand screaming because I already knew what I wanted and I KNEW they wouldn’t carry it. We walked the entire hideous synthetic marshmallow store, nothing. We came around the last bend and they had an Italian camel leather couch, that’s partly stuffed with down. It was EXACTLY the couch I wanted. The most expensive item in the store. And my husband won. Lol 😂
The Brick reminds me of Big Lots.
@@oterysrhaegan645 omg YES, I was thinking the same thing
There's always one exception to every rule ... 🙂
@@oterysrhaegan645 This is exactly what I said in my comment, too! But I don't hate Big Lots and even signed up for their discounts after my first time shopping there recently 😅. Even Tarjèt (Target in fancy speak, lol) can be a bit high for my pockets right now so I'm keeping Big Lots in my back pocket. They REALLY want me to use the 20% coupon they gave me for signing up, but Klarna has my wallet locked up tight at the moment 😂 And that then brings me to my other issue with them. While they're cheap...I still might want an option to pay off stuff over time.
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley I don't mind them, but I just don't think they're furniture is something you want to buy, especially without some kind of payment options. Honestly, the only thing I have bought there are black out curtains and glittery wrapping paper (cute, but definitely a mistake!).
"We do we." Nick you always make me laugh. Agreed regarding RH.
I've been watching you for awhile now and I love how you can state your opinions on things without the unnecessary toxic snark that some other people do. It's not just what you say but also how you say it. You've got real class.
Amen!
Nick - I live in an affluent area where a lot of people get rid of stuff they don't want for cheap. I just picked up a pristine charcoal velvet Chesterfield style RH small couch for (drumroll........) $200 recently! It goes perfectly in my cabin home (its a luxury cabin). I am over the moon happy. I have picked up towels and linens/curtains over the years discounted at their outlet store or on their webpage, too - or even ebay, but never any furniture. I totally agree with what you say about pricing, but I have always worked around that, and have dozens of items from there that I absolutely love. I noticed its really hard to find deals anymore, though :-(. Most of their stuff is too traditional for my eclectic taste, but a piece here and there does not look stodgy at all. Oh - I have a huge Stickley king sized cherry sleigh bed originally $5000 for $500 from a neighbor - and it looked brand new. Love a good deal.
I really really love your nod to target and ikea at the end (as well as FB marketplace and by extension community swaps in general).
You really can find great things anywhere. So accessible and affordable are not at all dirty words.
I was getting a prescription in a giant stop and shop yesterday. And I ALMOST bought fall serving ware the mix with my WilliamsSonoma stuff. (Then I realized I was high, and also spending $800 for medication because of the US healthcare system, so I let those dishes go. But they were REALLY nice.)
Nobody is more fun making fun, than Nick Lewis, LOL! ❤
GREAT Video, Nick! One of my sons saw a RH TV console he liked, so he went home and built it. It was an exact dupe and a fraction of the cost. He's never had "how to build furniture" classes, just has "the knack".
May I borrow your son? There’s a few furniture pieces I’d like 😂
Yes! I had a local carpenter (wood artist imo) build me a shelving unit for my closet as well as bedside tables and they are GORGEOUS solid and will stand the test of time. AND it was less expensive than the popular mdf mass produced products.
When you described the brick, as an someone from the the US southwest, my mind screamed Big Lots!
"Marshmallow couches" 😂 I did not previously have a name for these. Thanks for that. Interior designer in Canada 🇨🇦
There was a family business in Winnipeg called Brick’s Fine Furniture. Because Brick is their last name, and their furniture was good quality. As you can imagine, they constantly had to advertise that they were NOT THE BRICK! The store unfortunately closed in 2018 after the death of the founding couple, but their daughter has relaunched it as Marsha Brick’s Fine Furniture.
I didn’t know the daughter carried it on! That’s pretty cool. WPG represent.
That's awesome! I'll look into her store. Thanks for letting us know, Gerarda!
Loved Brick’s Fine Furniture. Remember it well.
They could stay within the latin based romantic languages and change it to
"El Ladrillo" "Il Mattone" or "La Brique" 🤔
I think you can’t go too wrong if you focus on quality when you buy things for your home. I’ve invested in Amish solid wood furniture ( they make modern options you can custom order) and it was infinitely cheaper than anything I can find at RH and it will last forever. I found a furniture store locally that sells everything off the floor at a discount. I got a designer couch for a great price. I also still have the first sofa I ever bought 15 years ago and it still looks good because I bought the most expensive I could afford at the time. I tend to stay away from many of the mainstream retailers for most of my home decor. I have bought things from Wayfair and the like, but very little. I feel like too I have found many high quality items at antique stores. I am not a huge fan of seasonal decor. I do a few things and plant some flowers, and that’s it. I don’t go crazy because I don’t want to store all that stuff 😅.
I second the Amish furniture recommendation. Some do a Craftsman style or something like that. I grew up like 15 miles away from the most Amish place in the world (Holmes Co., Ohio), my husband is from near another Amish area, and we happen to live in another town with a lot of Amish, including farms surrounding our neighborhood, which was built by the Amish. Above average quality in the woodwork, with solid doors. We have a few items of the furniture, crib that converts to toddler bed and then double bed, glider chair with footstool (kind for rocking a baby), dresser, and a couple end tables. Very solid construction, satin finishes on some. Dresser drawers have metal tracks with rollers, so they come out smoothly and snap closed. A lot of our other furniture, from a store about 2 steps above Ashley, which people are saying is 1 step above the Brick 😄, is more the style I like (I was saying in another comment on this channel that it seems like Jacobean revival), is less plain, but the quality is not quite as high, e.g. some drawer handles are hollow-backed, and one broke off after 10 or so years, and drawers slide out on wooden tracks with no rollers.
I'M HOWLING AT THE BRICK COMMENT! SO TRUE! Also, Ashley is kind of like that too, but not AS bad. (I actually have a couch from Ashley that I love, but it's definitely hit or miss)
The Ashley comment 👍🏻 so hit or miss. Also, heinously expensive. After over a year of looking for a couch, we FINALLY managed to find exactly what we wanted there, but ended up FINANCING the stupid thing (even though we were willing to pay cash) because it got us an additional $250 off. Yeesh. What a strange pricing model.
I always scoff at Ashley, but I think my futon is from there. I bought it from a dude on FB marketplace.
Never been in Ashley but made the mistake of going to Bad Boy once. Only once.
@@42ayla Bad Boys is what you get if you order the Brick from Wish.
@@jrochest4642 Brilliant! 😁😁😁
I just adore your humor, Nick. Just shy of caustic, tempered by a nice person. You're funny.
I’m 42 now and I’m more interested in comfy versus style. I’m not giving up on style but I tell ya I’ve been looking more and more at those bubble couches! 😂 I can do without the cup holders though! The problem with the contemporary couches is that they don’t support my neck or head. I’ve had a Room and Board couch for years and I’m tired of the lack of support,
I'm just here to say, THANK YOU with COSTCO. I lived in Mormonville southern Utah where the families are huge and they absolutely spread out across the aisle. Half the time Mom isn't even pushing the barge sized cart from behind. Because, why would she when she could instead walk beside it and pull it from the front corner. With the kids wandering around beside her. Don't get me started on them clustering around the sample peeps with their cart sitting in the aisle. Gah!
Nailed it! 😂 I get anxiety just thinking of going to Costco and I love to shop.
“If you’re not from Canada…nobody’s perfect, that’s fine.” 😂😂
I'm really with you on all of it. It's refreshing to actually have someone that actually go ahead and say what he thinks even if it's not like what most thinks.
I love Nick and he does it really well but literally all the interior designers on UA-cam have hot takes on trends or popular things they don’t like lol
I am a Costco employee 23 years... DEAD ON in my opinion! I LOVE Costco however, they are catering for the masses and they do keep furniture generic! I have found some wonderful items ( that people have returned from online) that were GREAT finds. Other than that, it's towels, linens and food that I stick to.
Soo glad you talked about RH. I’ve always thought they were extremely over priced and way too lauded by certain interior designers who practically drool over anything from RH.
PS. I absolutely love your humorous inserts! You’re hilarious!
I once had this marvelous old, 1920's-30's Art Deco sofa, that had built-in, brass and steel fold-up ash trays in the arms. It wasn't close to being as tacky as the cup holder-couch, (the sofa was lovely, and made from materials actually found in nature) but, still; this did make me smile... :)
Bob’s Discount Furniture in NJ is definitely our “The Brick.” 🤦🏻♀️ Love your videos and sense of humor! Thank you for sharing!!!👍
As soon as he said a couch with cup holders, I thought of Bob’s Discount Furniture 😂
Ace Hardware comes to mind. I need some marshmallow furniture, a barn door console, and very specific sized screws can't get at a Home Depot or Lowe's 😂
LOL! Not at all familiar w/ The Brick but when I saw the offerings, I immediately thought 'Bob's Discount Furniture'!!
Haha we all have our own version of The Brick... 😂
HI...I'M BAAAB LOL!!!
I live in the NE USA and our version of "The Brick" is Bob's Discount Furniture. You described it to the tee! Not wrong that every region has their own version of this store.
I don’t love the marshmallow couches with the cup holders but have to admit, my mom’s couch with its 2 reclining sections is darned comfortable.
Remember when RH was where you went to RESTORE Victorian HOMES?
I have wrought iron corbels which serves to decorate pass through and I framed doors in 2 NYC apartments. They now hold up my cookbook shelf in my suburban kitchen. I also have botanical Christmas decor from 2004 stored in the original Resto (that’s what it was called) boxes.
When the rebranded to all get walls, they froze all of their looks. Yes. We got it. It’s an aviation chair and a globe bar. And the only things that grew were the price and the SIZE! Honestly, even in Short Hills (the resto that outsells NYC) who the hell has a living room this side of Sonoma that can accommodate this 15 foot sectional?! And what are the property taxes?!?!
For more style and reduced (still high, but reasonable) prices, shop Arhaus. They’re right there down the strip in Short Hills.
"If you're not from Canada, nobody's perfect, that's fine." As a United Statesian... Yeah.
Oh he was kidding, come on
That was great even from a proud American!😁❤.... love the card remarks as well!
@@KLA2789 she was laughing about it... at least that's what I gathered
Glad I'm Canadian then, but I happen to live in rural Spain. Hee hee.
Nick is being ironic. He is playing on the stereotype that Canada is perfect. Of course it isn't. And she was joking as well. Oy
I worked at Z Gallerie, and the quality of the furniture and decor was pretty awful...like, unbelievably terrible. Returns galore. You absolutely nailed it on your description. More often than not, the worst, most entitled customers I've ever dealt with on top of it. Then there were the nice customers who got screwed buying furniture that didn't last, and there wasn't much we could do at the store level (as much as we would have liked to help). Chapter 11 shut our store, which was another mess. Actually lol'd when you mentioned them, and agree with you 100%! You triggered me this morning, Nick :)
In Texas our “Brick” is Big Lots!😂 I personally cannot afford the high quality furniture stores but all of my furniture has been bought at estate sales from people who could. Love your channel!❤
Same here.
I love estate sales! Thirty years ago, we bought a solid oak table at a great price. We couldn’t afford quality retail furniture at the time and wanted a table that would stand up to toddlers and teens. We still have our un-stylish oak pedestal table. I’d never think of replacing it. It’s a family member!
Absolutely the best way- save money, find unique stuff, and it's sustainable.
Omg I thought about Bell Furniture when he said the tent sale I died lol
I was thinking Big Lots too. I don’t go in ours often since prices are no better than Target (which is cleaner/better layout) but you’re right about their carrying the cheaply made outdated furniture and decor. 🤮
The Melbourne Victoria Australia equivalent of the brick would be fantastic furniture which is the Sydney based company that is around Australia like modern basic or Marshmellow sofa's
I'm in Australia and never heard of RH but I really liked the new collection you showed lol
I will say for Dollar tree I found it to be amazing for organizers for your pantry or closet. Just to create some separation.
And it’s the only place you can buy Awesome cleaner at!
When my husband and I were first married, our allowances were about $36 a month. I know that’s a lot for some people, but we were pinching pennies to save up for a house. So it was a really low amount compared to what we spent when we were dating. Allowance being basically anything we wanted that wasn’t necessary to live. Anyways, I have so much nostalgia for DollarTree because I tried SO hard to make it work with some of their decor because I really wanted something for our new apartment. It takes me back! I wish I had thrifted more in the past, back then. I wasn’t aware of the neat and unique things you can find there. We have since increased our allowance, but I go to the thrift store often.
I have a throw blanket from RH that I got as a gift and I do like it, but it's not really better than the throw blankets you can get anywhere else. It got a hole in it just like any other old blanket would too. That's my only experience with them 😂
Glad to know I'm not missing out on too much.
I think the Brick equivalent around here (NC, USA) is Badcock Furniture
RH is so over priced. I agree on every retailer you mentioned and a couple of your comments had me tearing up😂. My daughter buys her dog beds at home goods. She has a beautifully decorated home and their dog has great beds.
I will NOT do plastic glasses. I had a wine and cheese party for an engagement celebration tonight. I am 75 and have given all the good stuff to my daughter because I have moved to a tiny beach house. My son came to town for the casual gathering and I mentioned I would need to buy some inexpensive wine glasses. He said he would go to the thrift store because he could pick up glassware for less than a dollar each. And then I could donate them back. It was a hit. We had Champaign flutes, crystal wine and glass wines, margarita and martini glasses and being Florida/beach it is always casual and the glasses were a hit. To see the groom drinking a nice cab out of a martini glass was a picture and I also made a pitcher of bloody Marys and people were drinking them out of wine glasses so it made for a relaxed atmosphere that I never would have dreamed of. Of course Florida is relaxed and a flip flop kind of place so it worked.
Excuse the clumsy wording. It is after 1AM and I watch your videos before I go to sleep because they are so much fun.
I wanted RH cabinet hardware for my kitchen, then I found some very similar on Etsy for less than half! 🎉
The stuff from RH is mostly if not all from China and yes their showroom in Marin County is absolutely beautiful and you are right -- too expensive for my taste. I wanted to buy a sofa and all their fabric was wrinkled and worn out looking so I went to a near-by furniture store and bought just the sofa and accent chair I wanted and even fabric to redo by dinning chairs - looks beautiful.
I absolutely LOVE how spicy you are in this video. Your roasts are some of my favourite things ever 🤣🤣🤣 I agree about the gaudy glam stuff and marshmallow couches. In the UK we have a chain store called "The Range" which is kind of reminiscent of The Brick. It has some cute smaller items and soft furnishings but the actual furniture items are a HARD no for me lol.
I worked for a construction management company that served only the astronomical rich. EVERYTHING interior was sourced from RH. I was just an assistant to a few project manager, but I was always dumbfounded by the cost and quality of that stuff.
Estate auctions are a great place to get real wood furniture for a steal. We got an antique hardwood maple bed for $10 at one and it is gorgeous! Nobody seems to want older furniture and it sells for a song.
Not making fun of IKEA because they have some affordable, decent stuff. But once somebody told me IKEA is the Swedish word for "particle board." This was one of your best videos. Loved it!
IKEA does not mean anything in Swedish. Just had to check, even if I knew it wouldn't be correct. But IKEA has the company's founder's first and last names' as well as his home village's initials in it (Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnary). It's a made up name, that doesn’t mean a thing.
Hurricane Harvey 2017. All particle board furniture dissolved in the flood. All solid wood furniture I was able to restore.
I honestly don't mind particleboard furniture. If I want a beautiful coffee table made of solid wood that's one thing. But the little storage cabinet in the bathroom doesn't need to be solid wood.
A couple quick thoughts: Costco's actual business model was always geared toward small businesses, not families.
Not that I'd buy anything there either, but if you're ever in Boston, you MUST see RH's flagship store there. The building, which they completely renovated, was the Historic Museum of Natural History. When I was a kid it was Bonwit Teller and then it was Louis of Boston. Amazing.
Hilarious! I swear I thought you were going to call ZGallerie the “clear heels” of the design world! 😂😂😂
Oh, that is good!!
Oh my god🤣
I've heard the term "escort style" be used to describe someone's personal look, that's another great way to call it out!
So, if I understand you correctly, the "gentleman's club" of the design world? lol
The Prada surfboard in the corner in one room........ kinda says it all, doesn't it ? LOL !
Nick, I like to watch your vids, not only because of the great content, but because I enjoy how you talk with your hands! 😊😊😊😊
OMG, the cup holder sofas! I was in Big Lots hoping to find a cheap desk for my 8 yr old and he excitedly pointed at a sofa with cup holders. "We should get THIS ONE! It has cup holders!!!" I gently told him that it really was not my style but didn't want to sound like an absolute snob because I'm sure there were plenty of people shopping there who had similar sofas in their homes. "Oh, you just don't get it." Oh no, I get it sweetie. Cup holders at your fingertips so you don't have to look away from your show or gaming screen is a great priority to a certain demographic. However, on top of just how ugly I think those sofas are, the mold growing on the sticky residue in those holders that would develop in a house with kids is cringe inducing. That's why we have end tables and coasters.
OMG...right. I am so with you.
Ditto
The US Upper Midwest version of The Brick is Slumberland
I'm in MN and I'm thinking our The Brick would be Slumberland or Ashley's. I haven't been to either in ages, but that's the type of decor I visualize when thinking of these chains.
Ashley is the best I came up too, it’s slightly nicer stuff than the brick but same vibe. Honestly, even non-retailers in Midwest, almost everything outside the city is kinda Brick-ish
I’m in the US and would love to shop a Nick Lewis line at Target!!
Nick's rant about Christmas and Halloween decor is the best and I am all for it!😂
Z Gallerie is the 19 year old that just got her own place and does all the things they couldn't do while living with their parents. I think us ladies all had this phase of some sort because we got overexcited to decorate. After awhile it gets old and we eventually mature out of it
😂🎯
Regarding Costco home decor/fixtures, I largely agree, but it is worth taking a look. They intermittently carry a Kohler one bowl stainless kitchen sink and faucet combo for $300, it is a truly excellent value because purchased separately it would cost at least $500, possibly 6. And I purchased 2 beautiful merino wool fine weight sweaters last year after Christmas for $15. You simply can’t beat that. I am not that uniquely built, a medium usually fits. But yes, Costco tries to find the one thing that is the best thing at a given price point. Their Kirkland brand is also nearly always reliable. I purchased one food item, I no longer remember what, but it was , in my opinion, awful. But that is over thirty years of shopping.
You have exactly described recliners as I do-giant colored, sometimes collapsed, marshmallows. A few do have good style, but hard to find under $3,000-$4,000.
Every time I search for “recliners” I get results for days that are the marshmallows. If I just look for armchairs that recline, I tend to have better luck. It’s a very fine distinction but for some ungodly reason it makes a difference. Also Crate & Barrel have some nice reclining armchairs for less than US$2k.
I laughed when you mentioned The Brick and your next comment "If you're not from Canada, nobody's perfect, that's fine" had me on the floor. Another great video. Love the fast pace and the number of pictures you always include to support your points. Perhaps a follow up video of your favorite stores and what in particular you like about them. You have mentioned names in your videos but I don't recall a video where you comment about the design strengths of one vs another.
Trying to remember what my life was like before Nick Lewis videos. Thanks for the tips and the laughs.
I live in Redding, CA. Thats in far northern Ca. Far away from Los Angeles, which is like another planet to us. Those people are nuts. And, yes we have several stores that sell the marshmallow furniture. I despise those oversized sofas and chairs. I just recently found you and I am busy watching all your older videos so I can catch up to the current ones. Love your snide remarks.
There is actually a store in Atlanta called “The Dump”. Purveyor of marshmellow sofas and other furniture disasters.
The Costco here in Puerto Rico is nice and so are the employees and customers! Should a customer’s kids dare to run around, you will hear a message on the loud speakers ( 😂 equivalent to put a leash on your kids). Something that makes the rest of the customers smile, and yes I use to take my kids to Costco and they knew better than to run around or act up.
I just wanted to add that I love that BlueLand is your sponsor 😊 I am obsessed with their laundry detergent and booster
Nick you make me laugh so hard that I almost pee a little..
Thanks for the shout out about Craigslist, FB Marketplace and Estate and garage Sales. I've been killing it at these sales and it makes the hunt for home decor sooo fun also because usually you can negotiate prices, which I'm learning to do:)
I loved the dollar store for the weekly craft night I held every Thursday for my grandkids who were 3 &5 lol. Seriously I was able to stock up markers , diy Christmas, Valentines etc…. I tried Michaels but it became so pricey especially when they had more than one item to color etc..
I diy a bunch of stuff to save money 10/10 I would recommend a simple rag rug as a beginner project. But it’s important to appreciate little flaws & see them as character that shows what you did was a labor of love
I replaced (almost) all the floors in my builder basic home with some really nice stuff I got from Costco at a great price. However, it took me a while to get the job done, and by the time I realized I hadn’t bought enough they were no longer carrying it. So I guess the last room will have to be finished with floors from the Dollartree or The Brick.
I got my flooring at Costco, too. I just happened to like it and the price. But there were only 3 selections in total.
Nick, I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one put into a foul mood by people’s behavior in warehouse stores. Every time!
Great video! I relate to having strong opinions about style/taste but not judging people for theirs. I always think if I share what I think (tacky, gaudy, metallic like wow that's fake) it will not be taken well (I would not say it to the owner). I love hearing your take because you're saying what I want to say.
I live in the Detroit area, and I worked in Detroit downtown for 30 years. Had view of Windsor Ontario from my cubicle (3 blocks from the river). The Brick reminds me of Gardiner White. A Detroit area discount furniture store. Weekly ads with sectionals that recline and cup holders. You reminded me of that, and it made me laugh.
In New Zealand the one big box store for everything is The Warehouse, but their furniture is very limited. I think our version of RH would be "Early Settler". The names of these stores tell you everything you need to know about their furniture.