Shopping AT HOME–the good, the bad and the messy!

Over the weekend I made a shopping trip to a new to me store, At Home.  If you’re not familiar with At Home, it’s the old Garden Ridge brand that has been completely revamped and rebranded.  Garden Ridge carried a small offering of home decor items  but the main offering was mostly a craft, seasonal and faux floral items.  When the store rebranded to At Home, the product mix changed to all home decor including outdoor furniture and garden decor.

Before I get into what I liked about At Home, let me tell you about some of the drawbacks…

♦  If you’re looking for investment pieces, you won’t find them At Home.  What you’ll find are decorative pieces that are will last years but not a lifetime.  Take for instant rugs.  The store carries hundreds of styles and sizes but the quality isn’t the best on the market, meaning mostly synthetic fibers.  And they have a massive selection counter and bar stools but if they’d be used on a daily basis, I don’t think most of the styles have a lifespan beyond 5 to 6 years.

♦  They don’t offer the best prices in town.  Many of the items in the store you can also find in HomeGoods/TJMaxx, Target, Wal-Mart and other big box stores and in many cases the big box stores have better prices.

♦ Selections are limited in some categories of product. The dinnerware and tabletop category was one of the weakest areas of the store.  There wasn’t a lot of variety and when you did come across a style you liked, they didn’t have quantity on hand that would allow for multiple place setting.

♦  The store is a bit messy.  I’m going to give them the benefit of doubt and blame it on post-Christmas business or a busy shopping weekend but some areas of the store were a total disaster.  Pillows were all over the floor in the pillow aisle and in the bath department things were a hot mess.

Here’s the things I liked about ‘At Home’…

♦  They carry a huge selection of items and At Home is a great source of basic pieces.  If you’re needing decor like baskets and containers, decorative accessories or mirrors you should definitely check out At Home.  The mirror department was impressive with a wide range of styles and sizes (lots of oversized mirrors).  I spotted several (0k, many) mirrors I wanted for myself or for clients.  And I thought the prices were good, especially for the larger mirrors.

♦  You’ll see the latest product trends and colors.  At Home is definitely up to date on the latest product and style trends so if something is HOT, you’re likely to see it (or a version of the trend) in the store.

♦  They have a great lampshade selection.  One of the reasons I made the trip to At Home was to look for a black lampshade.  I haven’t been to Scott Antique market in months to hit up my usual source and when HomeGoods has them, they sell out pretty quick so I’ve been on the hunt for one.  At Home has hundreds of lampshades in every sizes, color and shape you can imagine.  Their prices are pretty good with a basic black drum shade prices between $14.99 and $29.99.

♦  Lots of fun, whimsical and themed seasonal decor.  If you like to decorate for each season you’re sure to find some cute stuff like these adorable bunnies with gold ears.  These bunnies were about 12″ to 14″ tall and I think these were either $12.99 or $14.99.  Also, if you have a need for faux flowers or greenery they have a selection that rival Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or JoAnn.

♦  Lots and lots and lots and lots of wall decor and artwork.  When it comes to artwork, think HomeGoods on steroid.  There must have been 15 or more aisles of wall decor and artwork so if you need inexpensive wall decor this is your place.

I think that’s enough about what I liked about At Home so let’s take a look at a few items that caught my eye when I was shopping.

The cutest darn ceramic bunnies.  I think there were $12.99 or $14.99.

Great wood crates for flowers, a kitchen caddy or for organizing magazines and such.

Loved these ceramic horse head bookends.  They had lots of styles to choose from but many are some separately which resulted in lots of solo pieces on the shelf.

Here’s just one row of their mirror offering–I think there were about 9 or 10 rows in total.

Here’s a classic starburst mirror that could be used in a gallery wall arrangement or layered on top of a larger mirror.  Notice the price.

I feel in love with this mirror below, both the style and the $129.99 price.

This Pagoda style mirror below was another fave and priced at $199.99 which was good given its size.

Here’s some Pagoda inspiration for you…

  Laura Tutun via La Dolce Vita

A pretty scalloped edge mirror.

Sunflower mirror below…$99.99

Quatrefoil Mirror below…$199.99

There are lots of oversized (and regular sized) clocks.

The store carries baskets in all shapes and sizes but I think you can find better prices at HomeGoods/TJMaxx.

I didn’t love this open end basket but if was the only one and it didn’t have a price on it.

p.s.  At Home is the size of warehouse so going to ask for a price is like walking the length of a football field (not really, but almost)

Here’s an on trend gold fretwork table with a glass top.  $49.99 if I remember correctly.

Cute and colorful accent tables.

Ok, let’s talk chairs and bar stools.  At Home has a large selection of accent/side chairs and overall the styling and fabrics are nice.  The only thing I didn’t  like was the construction details of the legs.  A lot of the legs were wobbly and just didn’t seem solid.  The hubs and I did tighten a few legs and it made the chairs better but I question how long these chairs would really last.  As a side chair that doesn’t get used often, I do think there were some good options.

I loved the design of this wood and chrome chair.

And these bar stools were very Ballard Design without the price (or the quality).

Great oversized ottomans–a nice size for a coffee table or at the end of a bed.

Bench with acrylic legs. I think this was priced at $129.99.

The lucite ghost chair priced at $99.00.

and also available in black.

You’ll also find upholstered headboards.

I did run across this tartan plaid dinnerware and almost bought it.  There were dinner plates, salad plates, bowls and cups.

This table runner was pretty and would make a great backdrop of a summer tablescape.

At Home has a ton of different typography letters to choose from but all of the really common letters like S, L , M were sold out.  This rope design was pretty cute.

Probably my favorite items in all of the store were their garden stools.  Prices similar to what you can find at HomeGoods but with more variety to choose from.

I loved this elephant stool.

And really, really loved these blue and white stools.  They were all $49.99.

What else I’d buy At Home?

♦  Outdoor umbrella–great prices and great selection

♦  Garden planters–definitely something for everyone

♦  Picture Frames–From large to small and I spotted some lots of uncommon sizes which I’m often on the hunt for

♦  Glassware–great selection of glassware and at great prices.

So there you have it, a mini tour and scoop on At Home.  Despite some of my drawbacks, I will definitely be shopping at the store again and look forward to checking them out around Christmas.

If you’ve shopped at At Home, what do you like most about what the store has to offer?  I’d love to know.