Is it a bad idea to order high-end furniture from Home Depot?

When we want new furniture for our office here at Reviewed, we get it online. There’s no way our team would ever have the bandwidth to visit multiple brick-and-mortar stores—we’re all busy testing products, looking for great deals, and writing articles for our readers.

When we recently built a new test kitchen here, it was clear that we could use a sturdy dining table nearby. So we headed online to Home Depot. One of the world’s largest home improvement retailers, Home Depot is also in the business of helping to furnish homes. The company’s Home Decorators Collection offers reasonably-priced furniture and décor in a variety of styles that look comforting and familiar.

Does it work to buy furniture online? It depends on what you want, where you look, and how much you have to spend. Here’s how it went for us.

Choosing Home Depot furniture

After clicking through pictures of tables, we settled on the Aldridge Extendable Dining Table. A rustic, solid-looking table with a pedestal style that was also extendable, it fit our criteria. It’s also a best seller on the Home Depot site, where owners give it 4 out of 5 stars.

For seating, we purchased an Aldridge Washed Wood Dining Bench. We have a conference room near the kitchen with plenty of chairs, so we didn’t order any, but using a bench on one side of a table has many advantages. First, a bench is ideal when your table resides in front of a window because it doesn’t block the view. Second, unlike a chair, which seats one person at a time, seating at a bench is limited only by the number and size of its occupants. One bench probably has room for a group of kids.

Sarah Fishburne, Home Depot’s director of trend and design, gave us more insight into our selections. “Rustic yet sophisticated, the Aldridge Collection dining table and bench are easily some of the most loved pieces from Home Decorators Collection,” she said. “Crafted from solid mango wood, the table’s classic look is enhanced by the sweeping curves on its trestle base. The versatile finishes of the furniture—Antique Grey, Antique Walnut, and Washed Black—help to make it a statement piece in almost any surrounding.”

How easy is Home Depot furniture to assemble?

The Aldridge table is big and heavy, weighing in at over 250 pounds. It arrived in three separate boxes and needed assembly. The bench was packaged in a single box and also needed to be assembled. Our operations manager put them both together and he reported that these pieces were not difficult to assemble, assuming that you lay the pieces out correctly. Given the size and bulkiness of the components, he thinks it’s safe to say that it will take about 30 minutes for assembly, and suggests that you get a friend to assist.

What we like

We invited our colleagues to bring their laptops to the table, sit down, and work for a bit. We left a questionnaire for them to fill out, based on their experience sitting at the table. Here’s what the testers liked:

The bench is pretty comfortable

While our testers didn’t think they would want to sit on the hard bench for a long time, they were comfortable enough to sit there for a short duration, for example, during an average meal. If your style of entertaining includes long dinner parties, your guests might be more comfortable sitting on cushioned chairs.

The table is a comfortable height

It fit most of our staffers comfortably. Still, taller people commented that they couldn’t cross their legs underneath while sitting on the bench.

The furniture appears to be durable

In the short term, they didn’t believe it would scratch or splinter. This is a very solid set. It doesn't have veneers—it's all wood. This table looks like it would last for a long time.

The style is appropriate for a casual home

This set could work with a farmhouse or rustic aesthetic. It's substantial though it is definitely not fancy. You could cover the table with a pretty runner or tablecloth to dress it up but it's definitely for a more casual home.

What we don't like

No piece of furniture is perfect. Here’s what our testers thought:

The color isn’t what we expected

Although it’s called Antique Gray, the color of the pieces is actually closer to taupe. It doesn’t match our kitchen’s blue-gray cabinets. The table and bench come in two other colors, Antique Walnut (brown) and Washed Black, which might have matched our kitchen better.

The wood stain has variations

Most of our testers didn’t like the way that the wood stain was much darker on the pedestals than on the tabletop. But one person said that it made the furniture look more interesting.

The top has a waxy finish on the table's surface

Our testers didn’t love the way the finish looked on the tabletop. One colleague thought it made the piece look like it was made of engineered wood. Testers were split on whether spilled mashed potatoes would be easy to clean up. While we didn't have any potatoes handy, we tried spilling some water on the tabletop, and it didn't sink in or leave a stain. Our concern is that, since the top is textured, it might take some scrubbing to clean up sticky spills. However, several online reviewers wrote that the finish is stain- and heat-resistant.

Should you buy this table and bench from Home Depot?

If your home is farmhouse or rustic in style and you’re looking for a solid wood dining set, you should consider it. Testers thought the table and bench would work for both casual and more formal meals. Remember, you’ll need to get some chairs or another bench to seat the family. And if you buy it, find a strong friend to help you set it up—the sturdy table is very heavy.

Get the Aldridge Extendable Dining Table from Home Depot for $1,499

Get the Aldridge Washed Wood Dining Bench from Home Depot for $342