It’s rare that one retailer can change an entire industry. Pottery Barn Kids (PBK) scored that coup during the 2000’s when their contemporary nursery décor (accented by vintage motifs and a bright color palette) literally changed the rules. Out went cutesy baby-ish décor; in came a more modern yet still whimsical look, thanks to PBK.
In recent years, PBK lost some of its style leader role to Restoration Hardware, whose RH Baby line has taken PBK’s clean lines and added rustic and antique notes to baby furniture, setting the style trends in the mid 2010’s.
Yet, Pottery Barn Kids still is a factor in today’s nursery furniture game. The chain sells a mixture of name brand and private label furniture from their site. Prices range from a simple $400 crib to more ornate designs (like the Larkin crib, pictured, $900). Occasional sales knock cribs prices as low as the $300’s.
Matching dressers range from $600 to $1500 and run the gamut from simple three-drawer options to extra-wide double dressers. Of course, PBK has all manner of accessories: nightstands, armoires, bookcases, and more.
Watch out for shipping—PBK shipping on expensive items is 10% of the total from $200 to $2999. New in the past year, Pottery Barn rolled out “unlimited flat rate furniture delivery” for $99 to $159. And, yes, there are still shipping “surcharges” for some items if you don’t go with the flat rate. All this makes calculating the shipping on a Pottery Barn Kids order somewhat confusing.
While it looks all nice and pretty online, actually ordering from PBK often turns into a nightmare. And it isn’t confined to one or two stores in the chain. It’s coast to coast. Take a second to read Yelp reviews about customer service problems and delivery snafus. And again here. And here.
Besides the ordering experience, the actual furniture also comes in for complaints: peeling paint on a bookcase, splintering wood on a dresser. As one reader, who told us PBK’s home delivery service miss-assembled her crib, described it, “it’s always a canned apology with a pipe dream solution—we’ll send someone out, but they never show up.”
Quality-wise, you are paying a premium for the PBK look. But take a look under the hood: that $600 crib is cute, but why pay this much for a crib with exposed bolts? The rest of the nursery furniture market long ago caught up to PBK, so you can find the same crib look for $200-$400 less elsewhere. Even PBK’s once unique finishes (two-tones, grey, rustic wood finishes, etc) are easily found both online and offline for less.
Bottom line: Pottery Barns Kids’ price premiums are too much. If you love the PBK look, buy their décor accent items like rugs or lamps only if they are actually in stock at a store . . . and order your nursery furniture elsewhere. Rating (furniture): C
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I recently bought the Kendall crib directly from a PBK & discovered once I received the mattress that it did not fit in the crib. From what I’ve read online this has happened to a bunch of parents who also purchased this crib, despite purchasing a standard size mattress. The measurements are only slightly off, but enough to make the mattress not fit in flat to the crib. Upon calling the corporate PBK customer service they were extremely rude and told me my only option is to return the crib myself to the specific store I purchased it from! I am extremely disappointed and will likely be returning the crib on principle rather than purchasing the PBK mattress.
Not the only one:
Thanks for posting that comment. We’ll look into what is going on with that crib!
That is odd—you are correct that standard crib mattresses should fit into all standard size cribs.
Thanks for writing in,
Alan & Denise
authors, BABY BARGAINS
If a used PBK Larkin crib is for sale ($200), is it worth the purchase then? Trying to gauge if the high price is the rationale for the C rating, or if it’s also a low quality crib. Thanks!
Hi Jen: Good question! In general, we don’t recommend buying a used crib, unless it is a very recent model and you can confirm all the parts are there for assembly, you know it was well cared for, etc. That said, since that crib retails for $700+, I would say $200 is a decent price. You can buy a brand new crib at that price, but I don’t think it will have the same level of finish/wood as the Larkin. Hope that helps!
It’s the quality! We just bought one for our soon-to-be granddaughter and exposed bolts, peeling paint, etc is what my son found when he opened the box! PB seems to have a wide variation of quality and has gone downhill in service these last few years.