Design Within Reach

As part of a recent home remodel we went to DWR for our dining chairs. Polly was a great help and really rolled up her sleeves to make sure we got what we wanted. We wanted Knoll Spark side chairs but with a non-​standard variety of upholstered seat pads. It was a complicated order, but Polly worked with us to make sure we got everything we were looking for, in the time frame she outlined. Truly professional.

The wifey and I have been shopping around for some home and office furniture and decided to give Design Within Reach a try. The store has some very nice modern and retro modern pieces spread through out a decent sized show room. Prices seemed very fair for the quality and design of the pieces. In the back right hand corner of the store was a section 4 – 6 high end ergonomic office chairs. We were in the market for some new office chairs… while the quantity to check out was somewhat low the quality was very high. The chairs were all lines up next to each other with the brand and make clearly labeled. Service was well above average with a sales associate introducing herself and handing us bottles of water as we entered. She periodically checked in with us, just enough to answer our questions but daintily not enough to make us feel smothered. Overall great experience.

Nice place — did not realize they were owned by Herman Miller. Nice products with an eye opening price point to match.

Now that I have a mid-​century style house I have all the excuses to shop at this place.
Here are couple things that set DWR away from others.
— Unlike other furniture stores where you walk in and not knowing what to expect, this place is for those knows exactly what they are looking for. To me, its a modern furniture art galleries. Everything I learned about art history reflects in this place. From the classic Noguchi coffee table to George Nelson Sunflower clock, if you have a ranch style/​mid century style home, they can never go wrong.
— Sales rep at this place LOVE what they do. They are not there to sell you anything. They share the same passion as you do on modern furnitures. You can have a pleasant long conversation with them without buying anything.
— Save up and watch for special discounts and floor sample sales. If you know the rep well enough, they will send you discount notices and notify you on floor sample sales. Don’t buy cheap imitation out there. I know its intimidating, but trust me — they are not the same.

Hi, this is going to sound a little weird but I’m rating this store without even buying anything. See, I was looking for a new office chair because my back has been just killing me lately and I thought maybe I should look into getting a new one. I had my eye on the Humanscale Freedom chair and they had one. I made an appointment with Ty to come in and take it for a test drive so-​to-​speak. I walked in and he immediately greeted me and took me in the back of the showroom where the office chairs were. I sat down on the chair in question (a $ 2300 chair BTW) and it felt pretty good. As I was sitting there Ty had asked my why I was looking for a chair. I told him that my back was hurting a lot and he looked at me in the chair and said «I can sell you a chair, but that’s not the problem. It’s your posture. I can show you how you should look in a chair and I’llbet that takes away most of your problems.» Wow, what? You are actually trying NOT to sell me?!! I couldn’t believe it. How cool is that? So, he did exactly that. Sat with me for like 15 mins and showed me how to adjust my Aeron Chair at home to give it a try. Offered me a water and sent me on my way.
Folks, this just doesn’t happen these days with so many people and establishments hard selling you, upgrading you, super-​sizing you. He impressed me and gained me as a referral source if I should ever hear of someone needing some modern/​office furniture. Thanks Ty, nice to know there are still people like you the world!
You Da Man!

Visited to try out office chairs and subsequently ordered an Aeron chair. Extremely friendly and helpful service. There was an issue with the delivery company, but the lovely woman who sold me the chair jumped right in to solve the problem. I was having a bad day, so that was very much appreciated.

Very good place to buy furniture which is practical and modern. The guys in this show room are very friendly and explain things very well. I went in to check Herman Miller office chairs, They explained everything including the warranty and support you get from a Brick and Mortar store.

As one other review noted, the people at DWR give you the space & time to look around, sit, twirl, and bounce. Ty helped me choose an office chair & he was patient, kind, and knowledgeable. For those reasons I would shop here again, that and the fact that the atmosphere is so opposed, in a good way, to the big box stores. The delivery, too, was faultless; the guy even took away our old office chair & smiled while doing it. Amazing.
We love our Setu chair and would highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you have back problems or move from office to office: it is light as a feather and hugs your back like no other chair. I also appreciate that much of their stuff is made in the USA; if not here then in a developed country where it is not being made by 12 year olds for peanuts.

Bought our two Eames chairs here.
Very lovely staff. They give you enough space when you first arrive, but when you have questions, they are very thorough with their answers.
They had to order the specific Eames chairs that we had wanted, which took considerably longer than we were quoted, (hence the docked star) but once they arrived, they called us immediately and made pick up a breeze. In and out in just a few minutes.
My favorite part of this DWR… My fiancé and I work in the arts industry. Sometimes we dress quite nice, and sometimes (mostly) we dress in Converse, jeans, and tshirts. We’ve been here several times and regardless of how we looked, we were always treated with respect. I appreciate that.
Park in the DeLacey lot, 90 minutes free parking.

Great design, great customer service.

Although their furniture is first rate, the whole experience of shopping at Design Beyond Reach left us cold. The sales staff act as though they are doing you a favor by selling you their precious furniture. For certain they are pleasant, but in a condescending manner. They have nothing in LA so you pay extra for delivery from Kentucky. On top of that they charge extra if you want «White Glove» delivery. Don’t bother, these guys just dump the furniture and leave. We would never go back to this store.

Came here about a year ago, sort of looking to buy an Eames Lounge Chair. I love walking into DWR and just looking at their chairs and lamps. I mean it’s so damn expensive, but they’re all a work of art. While there, I was helped out by Kelly, who was pretty nice. Shoot, I’d be nice too if every potential customer would be spending close to at least $ 1000 on each item.
I told her that I was interested in the Eames LCW, and she informed me that there was a 15% sales on Eames things a week from the day I stopped by. The nice thing was that even though I was early, she would take down my order and charge me a week later, so that I’d be able to take advantage of the sale price.
As far as this particular location goes, it’s on one of the side streets of old town Pasadena. Not a huge store, but also not a closet sized shop like some of the other ones I’ve been to.
The after service that I was provided was pretty exceptional. I was followed up with some calls and emails that checked up on me to make sure my chair worked out perfectly. Great store, great staff, awesome products.

Don’t do it! I spent years looking at DWR and the great brands/​designers they carry, wishing that I could become a customer. I even met and spoke with their founder and followed his blog for a while. Finally reaching a point when I could justify their high prices and after a lot of research, I purchased many items from them.
I am not certain if it was the change of DWR ownership or their brand partners, however these items did not live up to their cost nor the DWR brand expectations. Most arrived with damage or defect. As I paid for the «White Glove» service I expected that there would be no issues. When I reported these problems DWR customer service was non-​existant and it wasn’t till I fought my way to their regional manager that anything was done.
My favorite memory of this experince is after three months of waiting on a replacement to $ 3k couch which arrived defective, I went in to complain. Their solution was to give me two cotton bags as an apology. These were left over promotional material which they found in the back room.
My point is simple. DWR brings great design to awareness and charges a high price for them. My expectations I am paying this cost for the ease of finding these items and the support that DWR will provide. This was not the case, leading me to beleive that we are all better off doing the research and finding this type of furinture from other sources. After all LA has a great market of smaller stores which fill this need and the online resources for Mid-​century modern are gettign better all the time.

Fantastic Furniture That Lasts & Lasts.
This is the greatest Furniture Store Eva!
This Place may seem Expensive But
If you ever decide to sell your Furniture
Later It will be Worth at Least 50% of
What you paid for it Years Later.
Some Funiture Bought Here May Actually Go Up In Value.
They have Fantastical Chairs,
Outdoor Planters & Lighting here.
Much of it is Mid Century Modern Style.
All By Major Designers Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Herman Miller, Aeron, Ron Rezik,
Eames, Noguchi & many More.
Check out the Website it Rocks.
I want to get all my Furniture Here.
Easy 5 Stars

I went there 2 days ago while i was in Old Town Pasadena. Everything in there are so nicely designed and ‘without reach’. The staffs there are really friendly and helpful. The don’t bug you around and just let you cruise around the store unless you needed help. The lady that was helping me out was so nice that she even told me that there is going to be a sale of 15% off on November 27 on couple pieces of furniture in the store. Great store plus great staff, deserve 5 stars!

I might not ever afford a sofa or sleeper from this store but I like to visit to try the modern sectionals after I eat at Gyu-​kaku. My father used to keep all of my DWR catalogs and I tried to study environmental design at school but my architecture instructors weren’t supportive. The chairs are not within reach but I’ve been procrastinating on buying a Sapien bookcase. The staff keeps their distance while you browse. This is the stuff Ikea tries to rip off.

twirling around in expensive chair fun.
These designs are not within my reach but then again I am a jobless bum. After an hour of hanging out, twirling, and chatting with an art teacher of mine and helpful staff. I decided I’m going to save up for an Aeron chair. back support is a must.
small store specializing in new and classic modern furniture, lighting, rugs, fixtures, and more.

It’s modern, it’s designed & some of it actually is within reach!
I know you can get all this stuff online, but the store is actually pretty nice and the staff are always helpful & friendly.
We;ve bought a few things there and the one time we had a delivery issue we called back to the store and our sales person handled it and made the delivery company come back out and properly complete the job.
So I’ll be back.