Saturday, August 29, 2009

really, maine cottage?

where do you get off charging these prices for wood and paint and basic design?



2,690 dollars for this??
my dad, who is a self taught carpenter (much like his hero J.C.) could make this in a weekend for half that price. couldn't you dad? and if you aren't as lucky as me to have a dad who builds shit i am sure you could find something in a junk shop very similar.




1,990 dollars...what the?!?!?! really!?!?





are you kidding me blue desk? you cost nearly 3,000 dollars???

check this out maine cottage...
my buffet:

farrow and ball's hague blue paint:
yeah, that's right! that buffet up there is going to get a coat of farrow and ball's hague blue and it will cost a whole lot less than 3,000 dollars.

what's that seafoam green country charmer???..you cost OVER three thousand dollars? well that is fucking ridiculous.

blue wicker writing desk YOU are over three thousand dollars too????! does maine cottage know that you can find a lot of these pieces on craigslist for about 20 bucks in some cases and all they need is some minor repair and paint?

little orange-y red wicker table you ARE cute but at 1,300 dollars you can suck it!



now we're talkin..this is an ADORABLE table...how much?? wait let me guess...ummm....250? no? (table shakes head) hmmm...ok ok....whew...350?? (table smiles uncomfortably) NO?!?! MORE?!??! five hundred??? (silence) OVER FIVEHUNDRED?!?!? (table whispers in embarrassment) 890 dollars. (MFaMB faints)







490 dollars (no words)



590 dollars (just threw up in my mouth)


690 dollars (no pulse)



38 comments:

Dad said...

More like 1/100 the price.

Dad said...

BTW, I haven't quite managed the whole walking on water thing yet but I did cure a leper the other day (although it could have just been acne)

Dumbwit Tellher said...

I love a girl with a potty mouth! Ahhh..to have a carpenter man in your life. I now say I should of taken "shop class" instead of that sucky "home-ec" I'd take a handcrafted buffet over a home made apron any day!

Anonymous said...

Speaking of over-priced:

Farrow & Ball paint

Anonymous said...

MCF has always been off-the-charts, price-wise, IMHO. Good that you're calling them out on it.
I got a table like that last one, the green one (except mine is orig. unpainted oak) for 10 bucks at a second-hand shop recently.
Yeah!

Unknown said...

LOL - finally I read someone's blog who has the same comments as I do when I look at these catalogs - with those crazy prices.

Zelda said...

I came here by chance ,,, and finally someone who speak about price !! this is f,. ridiculous as you said , I have a factory for furniture and trust me this is robbery ... unless it is Bangladeshi dollars , because this is probably made in third world country either

Jackie said...

Ridonkulous.

Sharnel said...

high five

Room Service ~ Decorating 101 said...

They are dreaming... I think it is a front for some other kind of business...lol

Hawleywood said...

I have two words: highway robbery.

i'm B. said...

amen.
my husband likes to build stuff and i like to paint stuff. so our skillz paired with goodwill, craigslist and ebay? we're never buying a new piece of furniture again.
disclaimer: there are plenty of lust-worthy things that he can't build (mirrored dresser please?) and i can't paint, but that stuff from maine crappage is a joke!

luv2discover said...

Hahahahahha! LOVE your posts! We may share a brain. As far as Maine Cottage, total posers, cuz I was born and raised a stone's throw from ME and all of that stuff could be picked up at a yard sale and painted for less than fiddy bucks any weekend! Pshhh.... just picked up an art deco dresser at goodwill and painted it shiny black for a total cost of $55 and using it as my media center. Screw MC.

lady jicky said...

There is a sucker born every day! LOL
Yep, my hubby could do that too!

The Townhouselady said...

I want to see who actually drops that kinda dough on such simplistic unoriginal designs.

Seriously.

Lisa said...

Love your work - You are just gorgeous MFaMB!!!

MFAMB said...

thanks lisa. *blush

Junque Rethunque said...

I added you to my must-read list after I read the post about last week's Design Star, but after reading this one, you're my hero.

Cha Cha said...

Those cubbies at the top just look like typical Ikea shit that's been spraypainted in really horrid shades.

Everything has such atrocious color and finish.

PASS!

mudda3 said...

Hey I don't think you should be so harsh on Maine Cottage. Obviously you LOVE it or you wouldn't try so hard to hate it. If Goodwill is your style, then stick with it. You just won't get the same made in Maine, maple, custom-finished furniture. Yes, wicker is produced in Indonesia, of course, that's were it grows. Lighten up folks. It's only furniture - but it's BEAUTIFUL furniture.

Haven and Home said...

Ha, you make me laugh. Those prices are on the ridiculous side.

Anonymous said...

If it's all about prices, then stick with IKEA & Craig's List... Talk about ridiculous and very disposable furniture.

Anonymous said...

I'm not saying it isn't overpriced--it is!--but I feel like I need to moderate a little of the hatin'. I have one of their bookcases and it's super solid and very well made. And the quality of the paint finish is pretty unique--I certainly couldn't replicate it with a can of spray paint and neither could anyone else.

LindsB said...

Seriously, that is just redic- how do they get away with that? I mean is the wood some exotic semi extinct wood that they harvest from the bottom of the sea or something?? Ummm, I think not

MFAMB said...

anon 2:19- all i am saying is it's overpriced for any quality. and actually maine cottage sells their paint in spray cans so that you CAN replicate thier look.

corine said...

The world seems full of suckers who love to pay retail.

Fargerike Dagny said...

Heehheehehehe... I started with last weeks Design star post, and now this?? LOVE it! This is SUCH a great way to start my day :D (I'm visiting all the way from Norway :))

Anonymous said...

overpriced for "any" quality?? have you really looked around at prices on American made fine furniture? handmade, not mass-produced in American printed fabrics? using renewable American grown resources? using strong water-based paint - not that oil-based toxic crap in the spray cans. That's just a stop gap for people trying to get Maine Cottage color or finish without paying for it! yep, Maine Cottage is definitely an investment - one most of us can't afford! but you won't be running out to get any new furniture in your lifetime. have a little respect. they're not trying to gouge you. They're trying to sell exceptional products AND be in business. Not so easy today.

Anonymous said...

how about showing us some budget friendly alternatives and where to buy them!

Anonymous said...

I like their furniture very much. I have a dresser. It was delivered--2nd floor and put in place for free. It's a solid piece of furniture. It opens and closes beautifully.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately way out of my budget, but a friend of mine has about 6 or 7 pieces (sofa, chairs, table, end table and a dresser) and they are all incredibly gorgeous. The finish is flawless, the colors are much more beautiful in person and you could have an elephant tap dance on that chair for hours, it's so sturdy. Overpriced as it may be, their furniture is simply gorgeous and flawless. Dreamy sigh.

Anonymous said...

you wouldn't want an elephant to tap dance on those yard sale, spray painted charmers - that's for sure. maine cottage is still standing after 2 years of the worst recession in our lifetime. must be doing something right... forget the wooden tables anyway. have you seen their fabrics??

Anonymous said...

Maine Cottage abruptly closed their doors a couple of weeks ago. I guess people googled "Maine Cottage" got this blog and said "WTF - am I F-ing crazy to buy blue spray painted wood for 3k!" Oh, and they still have their website up. Probably still taking people's money but not shipping stuff out. Now that is really a rip off!!

Anonymous said...

Lighten up, Anonymous. The economy s@cks - in case you had not noticed. People LOVE that $3K blue furniture.

Anonymous said...

Order a paint chart from them. Take it to home depot and have samples made for 3.00. It does an entire side table. Ben moore paint outlets have almost all the recipes on file and will make it, too. Anne sloan chalkpaints charts now comein real paint chips. Home depot scans those and makes that paint, too.

Anonymous said...

WHAT are YOU ON *mudda3*? Omg! Lol!!!!!!!! I puchase at antiques auctions and several pickers across new england every single DAY the highest quality furniture MADE in new england, one hunded times better then this complete shit Maine cottage is throwing out. Today I packed my weekly collection. Everything is solid hardwood, in my buisness solid maple is thrown away. Hardly anyone wants it. I have two stands for example from mayflower furniture, solid mahogany, I will paint them cottage white, distressed them, wax them til they glisten an glow and feel like silk, and sell them for 90$ for the pair. By maine cottage prices, they'd cost 1400. I handle everyday vintage made in maine, MA, NH NY & MI furniture. The most outsanding construction, its always shocking to me the amazing quality ignored by stupid ignorant people, who then go and buy new from places like maine cottage. I started doing what I do because I discovered furniture of outstanding quality being ignored and bypassed and I began buying it to give it away to help people I knew have *stuff*. Over time I realised people have some werid thing where they think they have to pay aloot of money for something for it to have value. I've slowly learned the antiques buisness, I've been blessed by mentors and long timers helping me understand furniture. I belive strongly in edcating people about waste, about using what's already here, about supporting small local buisness and reusing materials instead of buying new. My furniture sells in high end edgy and stylish shops, to smart edcaed woman and men who are savy with a sense of value and appreciate fine things. My furniture goes into seaside cottages, and huge historic homes. There is an endless supply of beautiful funture both vintage, brand new, and antique at thrift stores, auctions, consignment shops, flea markets, antique stores, craigs, ebay, etsy, and the like. Smarten up mudda3.

Anonymous said...

I actually got into high end designer fabrics because I saw all these amazing chairs, carved, cherry, mahogany, walnut, etc at auctions going for nothing and needed historic repoductionss to redo them. I ended up creating a hugely successful interior design fabric shop online which had a cult like following for 3 years. I purchased fabic that was to the trade only from interior designers nd floor cuters in NC and resold them for bout 30$ a yard. My fabrics typically had cost about 120 to 350 a yard on average. I made them available to everyone. Between purchasing high end antiques and fine vintage furniture and having the finest quality fabrics made, and then even sourcing low cost upholstr services, I was able to have finer furniture then people with farfar more income then I. Don't buy the lies, the illusion of comercialization, and for gods sakes, stop spreading the myth it costs big money for big style. A lack of imagination is really really expensive. You got it backwards.

Lushlife said...

Maine Cottage is a total ripoff this month HGTV mag MC nightstand $750. Overstock very similar $68.00...how do they stay in business?????