Poorly machined and difficult to assemble, but lovely (with one adaptation: assemble them backwards)
I ordered 4 of these stools in the atrovirens colour for use at my kitchen island. But lets cut to the chase!
- THE GOOD: These are very lovely, true to the photo, came quickly and with all requisite parts.
- THE BAD: The assembly is nearly impossible due to misaligned holes / poor machining, some scratching on legs, uncomfortable if correctly assembled
Ive assembled many pieces of pre-made furniture and even made my own furniture from scratch, so I tend to have a decent grasp on putting things together. That being said, it took me 2 hours and some help to get the seat attached to the base for just ONE of these stools.
When you follow the instructions and assemble the legs first, it is fully impossible to attach them to the seat. The screws/holes in the seat are extremely unforgiving and will NOT catch at even a slight angle, and the only way we could get them together was to loosen literally all the other screws and have someone else apply heavy pressure to push the hole on the leg base to align it with the hole in the seat while I wrestled with screwing it in. We were able to get things put together that way, but the two sides of the legs/base now do not fully come together as tightly as they did when assembled before attaching. In other words, the stools we received are poorly machined and do not allow for proper alignment when the instructions are followed. I recommend not tightening any of the screws - even on the legs - down much at all until the end so that you can force the seat onto the base more easily.
Now, for the other caveat, and my recommendation for anyone purchasing this product to make it MUCH more comfortable and useful:
Each side (parts B and C) of the legs/base is at a very slight angle. If the instructions are followed, the front of the stool is at the low end, resulting in the seat tilting downward. Even when completely flat, the seat itself is slightly sloped, so when you put it on the slanted base the seat slowly dumps you out as you sit in it. To be fair, the tilt is very slight and Im sure one *could* comfortably sit in them, but you do have to hold yourself in the seat and its just annoying, especially if youre wearing clothing thats even the tiniest bit slick or silky.
The solution to this problem is to disregard the instructions and assemble them backwards, with part B on the LEFT of the seat (as you face it) instead of to the right. This results in the angle being reversed so that you can actually sit back in the chair comfortably without tilting out. You will also have to assemble the square footrest component backwards, as well. The only downside to assembling this way is that the legs now angle slightly backwards (pointing out behind the stool) rather than forwards and it looks maybe a little funny, but youd really have to be looking to notice. However, the significant boost to comfort is worth it! I hope that the company will reconsider this angle and change their production on these legs going forward.
Im pretty happy with these once I figured out that trick. Theyre really beautiful and look very in my home! The seats are pretty comfortable and look very well made, although since the seats are so high up, I wish the velvet continued to the bottom rather than that cheap black upholstery fabric stapled sloppily underneath. At least thats not very visible! I love the look of these, I just wish they were better machined and planned.
So would I recommend these stools? To someone rather good at assembly who has an extra set of hands to help, yes, assuming they follow my backwards assembly trick. Otherwise, I cannot recommend these to anyone looking for easy assembly right out of the box.
Poorly machined and difficult to assemble, but lovely (with one adaptation: assemble them backwards)
I ordered 4 of these stools in the atrovirens colour for use at my kitchen island. But lets cut to the chase! - THE GOOD: These are very lovely, true to the photo, came quickly and with all requisite parts. - THE BAD: The assembly is nearly impossible due to misaligned holes / poor machining, some scratching on legs, uncomfortable if correctly assembled Ive assembled many pieces of pre-made furniture and even made my own furniture from scratch, so I tend to have a decent grasp on putting things together. That being said, it took me 2 hours and some help to get the seat attached to the base for just ONE of these stools. When you follow the instructions and assemble the legs first, it is fully impossible to attach them to the seat. The screws/holes in the seat are extremely unforgiving and will NOT catch at even a slight angle, and the only way we could get them together was to loosen literally all the other screws and have someone else apply heavy pressure to push the hole on the leg base to align it with the hole in the seat while I wrestled with screwing it in. We were able to get things put together that way, but the two sides of the legs/base now do not fully come together as tightly as they did when assembled before attaching. In other words, the stools we received are poorly machined and do not allow for proper alignment when the instructions are followed. I recommend not tightening any of the screws - even on the legs - down much at all until the end so that you can force the seat onto the base more easily. Now, for the other caveat, and my recommendation for anyone purchasing this product to make it MUCH more comfortable and useful: Each side (parts B and C) of the legs/base is at a very slight angle. If the instructions are followed, the front of the stool is at the low end, resulting in the seat tilting downward. Even when completely flat, the seat itself is slightly sloped, so when you put it on the slanted base the seat slowly dumps you out as you sit in it. To be fair, the tilt is very slight and Im sure one *could* comfortably sit in them, but you do have to hold yourself in the seat and its just annoying, especially if youre wearing clothing thats even the tiniest bit slick or silky. The solution to this problem is to disregard the instructions and assemble them backwards, with part B on the LEFT of the seat (as you face it) instead of to the right. This results in the angle being reversed so that you can actually sit back in the chair comfortably without tilting out. You will also have to assemble the square footrest component backwards, as well. The only downside to assembling this way is that the legs now angle slightly backwards (pointing out behind the stool) rather than forwards and it looks maybe a little funny, but youd really have to be looking to notice. However, the significant boost to comfort is worth it! I hope that the company will reconsider this angle and change their production on these legs going forward. Im pretty happy with these once I figured out that trick. Theyre really beautiful and look very in my home! The seats are pretty comfortable and look very well made, although since the seats are so high up, I wish the velvet continued to the bottom rather than that cheap black upholstery fabric stapled sloppily underneath. At least thats not very visible! I love the look of these, I just wish they were better machined and planned. So would I recommend these stools? To someone rather good at assembly who has an extra set of hands to help, yes, assuming they follow my backwards assembly trick. Otherwise, I cannot recommend these to anyone looking for easy assembly right out of the box.