The Pottery Barn system (work table top, lateral file cabinet, 2 3-drawer file cabinets) I need would cost $1500 - there's gotta be a way to either get it cheaper or get better quality for that kinda money! ******* Looking for higher quality/custom built for less money? That's a bit like looking for the Mercedes S-Class at the Toyota Camry price. Its just not going to happen. A recurring theme here on this forum is "More for Less" and I can tell you that 99.99 % of the time thats an impossibility. Here we are looking at a mass-produced (as in thousands of units) combination done by a mass marketer, made in China (where the hourly rate is .50 per hour) made of composite woods and fibers. Realistically the price is beat down as far as you are ever going to get it. This is what the American consumer has been demanding and Pottery Barn has delivered it to you. Custom built for that kind of money? Raw material alone would almost come to $ 1,500 in solid hardwoods that are stain grade, finishing material, hardware for slides, etc. A well-made custom-built unit is going to be closer to $ 5,000, regardless of what part of the country you are in. Duane Collie The Keeping Room

Thank you for the replies. So I drove an hour and half to a world market store to check out the table in person. Unfortunately where I live, its a smaller metro area and the furniture stores around here cater to the masses which is mostly "safe" and "usual" designs. Anyway, I was disappointed to find out that this particular table at World Market is now considered a special order item. They wont sell displays. Due to the holidays, it will take almost a month to get it. The table in person at World Market is very heavy and sturdy. BUT there are the two large metal pieces that stretch across the top and in two places it is lifted. It is intentional as each photo (consumer and store) show this lift on every table. Im not crazy about that. This is one of the two major differences between the two tables. The legs and these metal straps. Some have complained the table comes with a oil smeared all over the table and requires a good washing before you can even attempt to assemble it. Sounds yucky. The PB table said the table splits but PB sent out release stating the construction of the table has been changed and cracking no longer occurs. The Pottery Barn table I have not seen in person. I have two PB stores within 2 hrs driving distance, each in a different direction. I have been to the one store and they did not have one on display. The store can order it for me and it would take a week. Normally, tables I chose are more traditional but something about this table really caught my eye. Im just concerned that I may tire of it after a couple of years.

I too love Pottery Barn products and so far I have been pleased with the quality. While my style tends towards the modern or vintage (not as much farmhouse or rustic) styles that PB offers, I find that similar designs are very difficult to find elsewhere with similar quality and attention to detail. I suspect that PB's high prices are largely a factor of design. I find myself drawn to many of the simple lines and also unique detailing on PB's products. When I look at replica products from other stores (Target, Pier 1, etc) I am typically very displeased with the quality. No, the quality is not that of furniture made 100 years ago. The items are not always solid wood. But the materials do seem to be of high quality: high quality MDF and veneers, high quality solid wood. The construction seems to be relatively high quality (dovetail drawer joinery, etc) and unlike products I have purchased for less elsewhere (Target, Pier1, etc) they do not just fall apart from normal use. While I love antiques and vintage pieces, I can rarely find them in my region. Most used furniture in my region is of even lower quality than PB furniture. And nearly everything I find is simply not my style (usually very 80s or overly ornate). However, depending on your region, you may find something you like on Craiglist or in used or antique furniture stores. I also like shopping Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, and Anthropologie, but prices are similar to (or worse than) Pottery Barn.

Pammyfay, that exact thing happened to me at Kohls a couple of weeks ago. I was in the store with my daughters and bought a pair of boots for one of them. They were $54 originally, on sale for $27. I bought them. While we were there, I saw a coat my older daughter liked but they didn't have her size. I decided to look for it online when we got home. First thing I noticed was that they were offering a 20% discount on all purchases (I'd had a 15% coupon I used in the store). They had the coat dd liked, so I bought that as well as a couple of other items. For some reason, I looked at the boots I had just bought not two hours earlier in the store. They were selling for $14.99 in the store plus 20% off. I purchased them again planning to return the ones I'd bought in the store which were double the price! I knew I'd be going back to the store anyway as I had another item to return so it wasn't a hassle and worth it to save $15 (actually almost $20 b/c the extra 20% off online vs the 15% off in store). It was pretty off-putting though to find the website was selling the exact same item at the same time for more than half what I'd paid in the store just hours earlier. Incidentally, I had something similar happen in the reverse at Lands End. I was exchanging some uniform shirts in the Lands End store at Sears that I'd ordered online. I'd gotten them on sale online but they didn't fit. I brought them to the store to return, explaining I wanted to exchange them for a different size, thinking they would re-order them for me. I didn't realize they carried the shirts in the store, so the salesclerk told me where they were. They only had one in stock and I needed two. When she rang me up, they came up even cheaper than what I'd paid online. She had to call lands End to order the second one, but they were advertising it online for the price I originally paid, not the in store price. However, the salesclerk told me that Lands End would price match the store price, which was 25% less. Funny how online vs brick and mortar can have such differing prices!