JUMP TO Section Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.- Design process
- Delivery
- Comfort and durability
- Cons to consider
- What are your alternatives?
- The bottom line
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I'm a big proponent of shopping for furniture online; you can easily compare products, prices, and ship times, and it's often cheaper and faster than shopping in a store. Some of the best couches and best bed frames we've tested have been from online-only furniture companies. That said, it's difficult to envision online furniture in your space. Sizes, materials, and colors shown on a screen don't always translate to what you get in real life.
Benchmade Modern is a direct-to-consumer online furniture company that aims to solve some of the pain points of shopping for furniture online by bringing you into the design process. The goal is that you end up with a custom-built piece that looks and feels exactly like you envisioned.
The brand had been on my radar for some time, so when I got the opportunity to design a chair with Benchmade Modern to fill an awkward space in my home, I was excited to test it out. Read on for my thoughts on the design process, delivery, comfort, and durability of my Benchmade Modern chair.
Benchmade Modern Tyler Chair Check price at Benchmade Modern Design process
I was initially overwhelmed by all the customization options, so I ordered the free fabric swatches and a true-to-size printout so I could visualize the chair in my space.
Both proved to be super helpful. While we were initially leaning toward a 35-inch wide chair, the printout made it clear that a 40-inch chair was actually the best size to fill the space. The swatches gave us a great feel for how the texture and color would match with our existing furniture and floors; something that is really hard to visualize by just looking at a swatch on a computer screen. Ultimately we chose to order the 40-inch Tyler Chair in Marfa Caramel leather.
Delivery
Benchmade Modern offers two delivery options: standard ($249) and white glove ($399). For standard delivery, you get your furniture dropped off at your door and you'll have to unbox it (and potentially do a small bit of assembly) on your own. With white glove delivery, two delivery people bring the furniture into your home, do any unboxing and assembly, place the item where you want it, and dispose of any packaging.
I opted for white glove delivery because I had just unboxed and assembled nine giant boxes worth of furniture for our Burrow outdoor furniture review and my garage was overtaken by all the leftover packaging. A few days before my chair was set to be delivered, I got a call confirming the time window.
My two delivery people were kind and pleasant. There was some initial confusion over the leg assembly, but we sorted out which screws went where and they used their own tools to finish attaching the legs. They carted away the boxes and we were left to admire our new leather chair.
Comfort and durability
We immediately fell in love with our Benchmade Modern Tyler Chair. We initially had ordered it to fill an awkward gap in our office, but after receiving the chair, we actually decided we'd rather have it as a statement piece in our living room. The chair is attractive, comfortable, and well made. We get lots of compliments on it whenever we have visitors.
We've only had the chair a few months, but despite extensive use, it still looks brand new. I know that leather can take on a worn look over time, so I'm keeping an eye on how it ages and will report back with any notes.
Cons to consider
This isn't so much a con, but a consideration: the customizations Benchmade Modern offers only go so far. If you're looking to commission something totally different or one-of-a-kind, you'll have to work with an interior designer or tradesperson. (It'll also likely be a more significant investment in both time and money.) Benchmade Modern is a good middle ground between ready-to-ship and true custom — best for when you want to make small personalizations in size or color to an existing furniture design.
What are your alternatives?
These days there is an abundance of online, direct-to-consumer furniture companies to choose from. If you're looking for the best couch for your home, we recommend also checking out Burrow and Article, which offer a similar shopping experience to Benchmade Modern. For the best bed frames, our favorites are Thuma and Floyd, but keep in mind they have significantly fewer customization options than Benchmade.
The bottom line
Benchmade Modern is a great place to shop if you're looking for furniture that feels custom-made to fit your space, but don't want to spend the time or money to commission a design from scratch. It's similarly priced to other direct-to-consumer furniture brands, but offers the most customizations in fabric, color, and size that we've seen from an online furniture store. Pieces are made to order and still ship fast, making Benchmade Modern a great option for outfitting your home stylishly and quickly.
Pros: Can customize size, color, and fabric to fit your space; made to order; ships relatively fast; free swatches and full-size printouts so you can visualize the furniture in your space; high quality and comfortable
Cons: Shipping is a bit pricey, need to use one of their base designs (no option to work with a designer on something truly custom)
Check price at Benchmade Modern
Lauren Savoie Deputy Editor, Reviews & Chair of the Editorial Standards Board Lauren Savoie is deputy editor of Insider Reviews and chair of Business Insider's editorial standards board. Lauren leads the home, kitchen, pets, and travel teams, and is deeply involved in all editorial decision making, with a particular focus in strategic content planning, career growth of reporters and editors, and strong journalistic standards for the Reviews team. In 2022, Lauren attended The Poynter Institute's Leadership Academy for Women in Media, a prestigious program that recognizes leaders in the journalism industry.Lauren joined the Business Insider team in 2020, first as kitchen editor and soon after as senior home & kitchen editor, where she pioneered original testing methodologies for buying guides and built a diverse team of freelancers and reporters with deep expertise in product testing. You can see some of her work in our guides to the best flower delivery services, the best pillows, and the best sous vide machines. Before her time at Business Insider, Lauren was the senior reviews editor at America's Test Kitchen, where she wrote and edited more than 300 in-depth, unbiased buying guides and reviewed more than 1,000 kitchen products. Her work has appeared in Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, in dozens of cookbooks, on two Emmy-nominated TV shows, and on CNN.com, Fodor's, Yahoo, LifeHacker, the Splendid Table, and more.Lauren is currently Kansas-based, but continues to live like a lifelong Bostonian: drinking Dunkin' iced coffee in the winter, spending summers "down" the Cape, and sharing her home with a cat named Chowder. Say hello at lsavoie@businessinsider.com or @el_savvy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider. Read more Read lessYou can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.
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