When furnishing your home, two great options to consider are Castlery and West Elm. But what are the key differences between these popular furniture retailers? This guide examines Castlery versus West Elm across factors like quality, style, pricing, and more.
A Brief Comparison Table
Feature | Castlery | West Elm |
Headquarters | Singapore | New York, USA |
Product Categories | Sofas, beds, tables, storage | Furniture, decor, rugs, lighting |
Furniture Style | Contemporary, minimalist | Eclectic mid-century modern |
Materials | Solid wood, engineered wood, upholstery | Responsibly harvested wood, fabrics |
Pricing | Affordable, lower than competitors | Mid-range, runs frequent sales |
Delivery & Assembly | Ships nationwide, self-assembly required | In-home delivery includes assembly |
Returns | Free returns within 30 days | Free returns within 30 days |
Store Experience | Online only | 100+ retail showrooms |
Selection | Around 500 core products | 2,000+ furniture and accessory SKUs |
Sustainability | Responsible sourcing initiatives | Comprehensive sustainability reports |
Best For | Cost-conscious shoppers, urban minimal style | Broad choice, experiential shopping |
Overview of Castlery
Founded in 2013, Castlery is an online furniture company based in Singapore with U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles. Castlery sells ready-to-assemble furniture across categories like sofas, beds, dining sets, coffee tables, and more.
Castlery aims to offer high-quality furniture at lower prices by selling directly to consumers and utilizing a ready-to-assemble model. Their focus is on contemporary, minimalist designs for modern spaces.
Overview of West Elm
West Elm was launched in Brooklyn, NY in 2002 as a sub-brand of Williams-Sonoma specializing in contemporary, affordable home furnishings. West Elm has over 100 brick-and-mortar stores across the U.S. along with their e-commerce site.
West Elm’s product assortment includes living room seating, bedroom sets, office furniture, kitchen and dining, outdoor, rugs, and home decor. They are best known for their mid-century modern aesthetic.
Also Read: Comparison Between Rove Concepts and West Elm
Key Differences Between Castlery And West Elm
Both castlery and welt elm are reputed furniture brands. Here we’ll explore some differences between them:
- Furniture Quality and Materials
When investing in new furniture, you want pieces made from durable and attractive materials built to last.
Castlery manufactures their furnishings from solid wood slabs and engineered panels like acacia, mango, shearwood, oak, and pine. Thick, kiln-dried woods resist warping. Other materials include leather, metal, velvet, and polyester upholstery.
West Elm sources their furniture from responsibly harvested woods like acacia, mango, sheesham, American oak, walnut, and ash. Other quality materials used include velvet, organic cotton, linen blend, and polyester fabrics.
For both Castlery and West Elm, customers report their wood furniture being sufficiently sturdy and well-constructed. Both use quality textiles and leathers for upholstered items. The level of materials is comparable.
- Furniture Style and Design
Castlery and West Elm have quite distinct design aesthetics:
Castlery focuses on contemporary pieces with clean lines, minimal embellishments, and block-style frames in neutral shades. Their style defines modern, understated elegance.
West Elm has an eclectic mid-century vibe showcasing natural woods, retro tapered legs, button-tufted upholstery, curved silhouettes, and distressed finishes. Their look is more bohemian-chic.
With its neutral palette and simplistic forms, Castlery excels at Scandinavian, urban living room and bedroom sets. West Elm has greater variety for layered, statement-making accents.
- Pricing and Affordability
Part of the appeal of both brands is quality furniture at reasonable price points compared to luxury retailers. However, Castlery pricing is more budget-friendly overall.
Some example price comparisons:
Full-Grain Leather Sofa: $1,500 at Castlery, $2,399 at West Elm
Acacia Wood Dining Table: $429 at Castlery, $549 at West Elm
Upholstered Queen Bed Frame: $699 at Castlery, $999 at West Elm
Price differences largely stem from Castlery’s online-only model allowing them to sell for less. West Elm’s expansive retail presence leads to higher markups.
For the best value, Castlery wins out while still ensuring solid construction. But West Elm runs frequent sales to help close the price gap.
- Delivery, Assembly and Returns
Castlery and West Elm both ship nationwide and offer hassle-free delivery and returns. However, the assembly experience differs.
Castlery sells furniture that requires self-assembly. Instructions are included and most pieces can be put together in under 30 minutes. This helps reduce costs. Returns are free within 30 days.
West Elm offers optional In-Home Delivery for $149 that includes professional assembly of furniture. For regular delivery, simple assembly is required. Returns are accepted for refund within 30 days of receipt.
So with Castlery, you save by assembling items yourself. West Elm offers an assembly service for a surcharge. Both pickup returns at no extra charge.
- Size and Selection Range
West Elm maintains a much broader furniture selection than Castlery which just launched in the U.S. in 2018.
West Elm has over 2,000 furniture SKUs across living room, bedroom, dining, office, outdoor, more. Options range from sofas and entertainment centers to headboards, desks, dining chairs, bar carts, shelving units, and just about any other home furnishing imaginable.
Castlery’s lean digital model limits their range to curated collections of sofas, sectionals, beds, dining tables, coffee tables, consoles, and other essentials, totaling around 500 SKUs. Their focus stays on core furnishings rather than accessories.
West Elm dominates with vast choice. Castlery keeps selection purposefully tight but covers main categories.
Watch this review video:
- In-Store Vs. Online Brand Experience
A major difference is Castlery’s online-only experience versus West Elm’s brick-and-mortar showrooms.
Castlery operates only through their website. This allows lower pricing but you cannot see and test products in person before purchasing. They provide extensive photos, videos, and measurements for virtual shopping.
West Elm has over 100 physical stores to showcase products in room settings. You can evaluate furniture quality and comfort in the showroom. Their site provides an equivalent visual shopping experience.
If seeing and feeling items in person is important, West Elm retail locations provide that tactile experience. Castlery sacrifices showrooms to lower costs.
- Environmental Sustainability
Eco-conscious consumers should know both brands aim to reduce their environmental footprints through initiatives like:
- Responsibly sourced woods certified by the FSC, Rainforest Alliance, etc.
- Use of renewable bamboo and water-based adhesives.
- Reduced packaging waste by using recycled materials.
- Donating unused inventory materials to habitat charities.
- Carbon offset programs to neutralize greenhouse emissions.
However, West Elm offers more transparency through annual sustainability reports on their progress meeting green standards across their business and supply chain.
Also Read: For Outdoor, You May Choose Yardbird Or Outer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Yes, Castlery is a legitimate and fairly well-established furniture company. Founded in 2013 in Singapore, Castlery has grown to serve customers across Asia and more recently North America. Castlery sells original, high-quality furniture that is competitively priced by utilizing a direct-to-consumer online model. They are backed by investors and maintain good customer service ratings.
Generally West Elm furniture is priced lower and considered more affordable than Pottery Barn. As a brand under the Williams-Sonoma umbrella, Pottery Barn is positioned at a higher price point, offering luxury furnishings often made from solid exotic woods. West Elm targets younger budgets with eclectic pieces made from less expensive woods like acacia and mango. Pottery Barn caters to more traditional tastes while West Elm has modern and transitional styles.
CB2 and West Elm both offer contemporary furniture at similar mid-range price points. Which is “better” comes down to personal style preferences. CB2 has more industrial and retro mid-century modern designs with sleek lines. West Elm skews toward bohemian and natural styles with eclectic shapes and organic materials. Quality is comparable, so look at the aesthetic of each brand’s assortment to see which fits your taste.
Yes, West Elm is a sub-brand owned by the parent company Williams-Sonoma which also owns Pottery Barn. Williams-Sonoma launched West Elm in 2002 to target a younger audience with more affordable pricing. The company envisioned West Elm’s aesthetic as an edgier, urban version of Pottery Barn’s casual elegance and traditional silhouettes. The brands share some overlap but each maintains distinct styles.
Conclusion
To summarize key considerations:
- Castlery wins for lower prices but requires self-assembly. West Elm offers assembly for a fee.
- West Elm has a wider range of furniture and home accessories both online and in showrooms.
- Castlery focuses on contemporary living room, bedroom and dining sets with minimalist style.
- West Elm excels at mid-century modern, eclectic statement pieces.
- Both brands use high-quality materials and responsible production standards.
- West Elm leads in sustainability transparency and near-term availability of stock.
Take into account your budget, aesthetic tastes, patience for assembly, and desire for an in-store experience to decide if Castlery or West Elm is the better fit for your home furnishings needs. Both deliver stylish, durable furniture at reasonable prices.