Great experience! Walked in thinking let's go local and so glad we did! We recently gave our big sectional to our oldest and left without a living room couch. Then we heard how difficult it is to get furniture now (16 month back order yikes!) We honestly loved the vibe of the shop - we were allowed to shop, sit discuss without any pressure. One couch we really liked we were told was available in their warehouse - woohoo! We talked, asked questions and purchased. It was carefully delivered by one of the owners and their son not even a week later. So happy with our purchase- we excellent quality and just what we didn't know we were looking for. Thank You! We will be back! (Soon we need end tables) read more

Neat furniture store in Durham. They have moved from their original location, the address was wrong on Yelp so we originally walked to an empty store front. The new location is just up the street about a block or two. My husband and I like mid-century modern furniture so Area has been on our list to check out for a while. I had been to their Greensboro location before, but never their Durham location. The store is fairly large with a concentration on couches and chairs. We went in look for a desk and they really only had one option so it wasn't a big hit for us. We liked quite a few of the light fixtures so we will probably be heading back in to purchase those. The person working who I am assuming is the owner was friendly, as others have said he was happy to answer questions, but not pushy at all. read more

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I bought a couch here and was not happy at all with the experience. It was pre-COVID and the problems can't be attributed to that. I thought using a local store would be nice and I loved the look of the furniture. Plus Area Modern presents itself as offering custom design that's not available in "box" stores. After buying here, I would definitely recommend buying modern furniture at West Elm or Design Within Reach rather than Area Modern. Here's how Area Modern compares: You can get better prices for comparable furniture at West Elm and Design Within Reach. They have more selection AND their design is just as good if not better. Area Modern claims its "custom made" for you but you can get the same customizable options like fabric choice and furniture configuration at West Elm and Design Within Reach. Often, you can get furniture faster at West Elm and Design Within Reach (how weird is that?)! Quality is much better and more predictable at West Elm and Design Within Reach . This was a real surprise to discover. When my couch was delivered, the bottom cushion was noticeably smaller than the couch itself and the cushions on the back were misshapen. Even guests noticed and commented on it. Ugh - not acceptable at the prices they charge and how long you have to wait. Area Modern was not responsive when I contacted them about fixing the cushions. It took repeated contacts and requests and threats to talk to the owner to get them to agree to correct their problems. Customer service at Area Modern is awful! You aren't allowed to take fabric samples home - strange!! After some persistence, Rafael, the floor manager, granted me a special allowance to take home a couple of samples BUT ONLY if I returned at 5 pm to pick them up and brought them before store opening the next day. If I wanted to borrow more than two, I had to repeat the procedure. How crazy! He was indifferent when I was shopping, not helpful when I asked specific questions, didn't keep me informed about shipping plans, and threw up roadblock after roadblock to avoid fixing the mistakes they had made in the delivered couch. read more

These guys are a real gem in downtown Durham. Their furniture has such great style. Truth is, I just want to move into the showroom. I ended up limiting myself to just a sectional (for now). Just the other day it arrived and it is so awesome. Its one of few couches that looks cool and you can also take a nap on (very rare). Raffaele is great. He's not overbearing and pushy like so many others out there, which I really appreciated. Do yourself a favor and stop into Area Modern home and see what you have been missing. read more

We were looking for furniture since we were getting a room extension (sunroom). We found the perfect sofa and accent chairs here and booked them today. Hoping we will get the furniture as promised and that there won't be any quality issues. Will update the review once We receive our furniture. I agree though the owner needs to smile a little more. But he does answer all the questions you ask regarding their furniture. read more

I have come to this store twice now, or tried to! Both time it had closed 30 minutes before posted closing times. Too bad for them, will not be coming back again. Such disrespect for the customers. read more

We were excited to buy our couch in Durham, support a local business and buy North Carolina made furniture. Unfortunately the couch and experience with Area Modern turned out very disappointing. We bought a Younger couch, spending over $2000 for a small sectional in Fall 2014. The trouble started when the buttons began began popping off the seat and back cushions within the first couple months. The owner had to come by a couple of different times to repair those. Also within two months of buying the couch, both seat cushions had large dents from light usage/wear. It took them several months to send the other owner over to check it out. Once he did see the cushions, he agreed that they seemed to be wearing and indenting much quicker than normal and recommended we get the upgraded cushions and that they would just charge us the difference in cost- $100. Finally, after many months the other owner called today letting us know our cushions had arrived and our total would be almost $500. I told him that we were told $100 by his partner and there's no way that we were paying that outrageous amount. Even paying the extra $100 for new cushions that were basically defective felt generous on our part. The owner corrected me saying that the cushions were not defective but I'm not sure what else you call it when cushions start indenting after just two months, maybe they are simply poor quality. When I said that this was unacceptable customer service and maybe they should consider just not making any profit off our transaction at all (since they clearly made a profit off our purchase to begin), they came back with an offer for us to pay $250. I said that's still 2 1/2 x what you originally told me and I shouldn't really be paying anything for something that was subpar. It is truly disappointing as I like the items in store. But the for the price point, the customer service should be superior. I refused the expensive replacement cushions so now we are just left with a couch with crappy cushions that we're not happy with. It's also not clear why Younger didn't simply replace the couch cushions for us. The whole process took about a year and half from purchase until now. read more

Area has nice furniture, but the customer service is awful. The first time we went there to see the sofa we wanted, but the salesman was more interested in his laptop than answering our questions. That's ok, some salesman aren't great. The second time, a couple days later, we went with the intention of ordering, we took off work early, bundled up the baby, and drove 30 min....only to find out that they decided that day to close an hour early with no warning. The next day we called to make sure they were open, showed up again, and ordered a sofa we liked. We asked about discounts, and were arrogantly told "they don't do that." So we paid full price, BUT only wanted to order if we could get it soon, since we were having family for the holidays. We were assured it would be delivered no later than NYE. We called NYE morning for them to rudely inform us that we would not get our sofa that day, denied that he ever said we would get it by NYE, and he would not even be calling to check on it until after Jan. 2. By the time of delivery it will have been approximately 3 weeks. Pretty disappointing experience. Every time we talked to the guy at the store, he got defensive and just interrupted and said "well what do you want me to do??" over and over. If we had known how condescendingly we would have been treated, we'd have gone somewhere else. read more

Really, really good experience with this store. Ordered some couches a few weeks back. The person in store was the ideal salesman. With absolutely no pressure to buy, he gave us ample time and space to consider furniture and fabrics on our own, but was available with friendly, informative help and advice when we needed it. And I very much appreciated the suggestions he made, because the love seats that were delivered today are just right for the space. (The other couches we ordered will be ready in 6 weeks.) Also, an added, unanticipated plus: The owner of the store made the delivery, so nice surprise to have a smart, competent guy show up to carefully unload our new purchases. (His helper was just as careful and nice.) Honestly, with all the crummy workmen we've had in our house this past year, today's experience was a refreshing change. read more

We recently relocated to Durham, and after my wife spied the store the other day, were very excited to have a local business that sells modern furniture. We'd rather support local than shop DWR or Room & Board. Prepared to like Area, we stopped by and were rather dismayed by the inhospitable reception from the proprietor. Unsmiling and cold, he couldn't be bothered to look up from his internet car shopping to answer simple and sociable questions. We love the idea of businesses in downtown Durham but would rather reward our business to those who welcome it. We're bummed to report this. Hope others have better experiences. read more

Highest recommendation for Area Modern Home. Prices are the best in the Triangle. Best customer service, inviting atmosphere, LOTS of styles on the floor to try. Rafaelle has impeccable design sense which helped make my decision with no pressure whatsoever. I just moved to the area and will be buying more furniture him. If you want shopping made easy from an ethical store where customer satisfaction is paramount, Area Modern is the place. If there were more stars, I'd give them! read more

We are so impressed with Area Modern Home! We had previously purchased a couch from West Elm on August 7th. It was due to arrive in early November, perfect for family coming into town for an early Thanksgiving celebration. The date of arrival got pushed back twice (they didn't tell us; we had to look it up on their website), until eventually it wasn't due to arrive until December 28th. We called and cancelled our order and went to Area Modern. We thought that it would be too expensive for us, but it was comparable to West Elm prices while being a higher quality product! We got a "quick ship" fabric that was due to arrive in two weeks. It was going to be delivered a few days before the due date (yay!), when the owner went to pick it up and noticed that the upholstery wasn't to his satisfaction. He called us immediately, and he had the furniture makers reupholster part of it the same day. Although the owner was due to take Friday off, he delivered the couch in his own truck by himself just so we would have the couch in time for our family to arrive (still arriving a couple days before the two week quick ship date!). We were SO impressed. The couch is beautiful and so comfortable. We will definitely be shopping here again. The customer service was above and beyond, and we are so happy with Area Modern! read more

I take pride and make a conscious effort to support local businesses, but Area Modern Home (Located in downtown Durham, NC is NOT a store I will visit again. I purchased a table runner from the store on 12/27. Came back to return it on 12/28 as the color did not match and the plan was to also purchase another item. They refuse (same associate was there when I purchased and returned) to not only return it, but they refuse to give me store credit. I am still amazed at the poor service I received. This is one of the prime reasons, most people are driven to online shopping. When will some retail places ever learn that service is key. Retail stores may not be able to compete with the convenience of on-line shopping, but I assure you good customer service builds loyalty and will keep the customers back. I will never return to this store or do business with them in any capacity. I will also make a conscious effort to share my experiences with all whom I come in contact with. Just poor service all around. read more

Area Modern in Durham is such an awesome store. I recently dropped in looking to buy a new sectional sofa and fell in love with the place. The man working there was so friendly and knowledgeable as well. I will definitely be going back soon and give the store my highest recommendation for anyone looking to buy cool mid-century modern furniture. Pretty soon I will have that cool "Mad Men" look I have been dreaming of. This place rocks! read more