Amish Furniture Haus

We visited Amish Furniture Haus on a snowy Saturday in April — springtime in Duluth, you are thinking? Haha… this IS springtime in Duluth. We almost canceled our plans to go, as the morning rain had turned to freezing rain, then sleet, and then heavy snow. But, my husband and I really need a new bedroom set, were in Duluth just for the weekend, and have been oh-​so-​disapointed with the «big box» furniture stores (I don’t even know what that term means, but I hear it used for Hom, Becker, Slumberland etc… so that is what I am referring to). Apparently my grandparents bought their last couch at AFH, and per my father, it is built like a brick s*** house. Another term for which I am unfamiliar with the origin. But its definitely a good thing.
So, Mom, Dad, DH and I braved the snow and made the trek up the shore (its about 15 minutes from downtown Duluth, not at all a trek for those of us from the Minneapolis area, but a trek for my parents for sure). The owner, Tim, and his two young boys greeted us a few minutes after we came in. The store is filled wall to wall with beautiful solid wood furniture in all types, sizes, colors and price points. We browsed a bit, then told Tim what we were looking for (king bedroom set, six pieces, platform bed, high footboard, quiet grain –no oak– and dark stain). He works with about 100 different Amish furniture building families, many located in Indiana, and he knows many of them personally. We talked about a few bedroom sets he had on display, and he said things like «John uses maple drawer boxes, but on this set Michael uses pine, which is one place where the cost difference is» or something like that. Point being, he really knows the products he sells and the people who make them. At no point at all during our visit did we feel pressured to make a decision, buy something, etc. In fact, he was the one who said «You probably won’t make a decision today; take some time to think about it and call me with questions — I’m not a big fan of email.»
After we got an idea of what he had in the store, we went to the front desk and Tim pulled out the catalogs for us. The website has about 10% of what they are able to offer. As we said things like, «We really like this one, but its not a platform,» Tim would say that he could contact the builder for a quote on what it would be to make this bed a platform. Completely customized furniture, you say? They can make the footboard higher, lower the headboard, add underbed storage… all for a price, of course, but a relatively reasonable one in our opinion. Not to mention you choose the wood, stain, and hardware.
Two hours later, we had narrowed it down to five bedroom sets that we would be very happy with — all 6 piece sets ranging from $ 4700 to $ 6200. Tim’s associate Ethan gave us quotes on everything we were interested in, and was extremely friendly and helpful. In comparison to Becker, the sets at AFH were very nearly the same price, and some even less; Becker’s Kincaid brand, for instance, is also solid wood but has wood-​on-​wood drawer glides, and was over $ 7000 for a 6 piece set that we liked. Another selling point for going the Amish route was that Tim told us that even if a particular set was discontinued in the future, he has previously been able to contact the family and ask for an additional piece to be built for a customer. Talk about customer service!!! Lastly, we discussed time frame and shipping. It takes approximately 3 months to receive the furniture (Becker told us 12 – 14 weeks and Hom said 6 – 8 so relatively comparable). The set would ship to the store in Duluth, and pick up there would be free — but for us, picking up a huge set and then transporting it to good ol’ Chanhassen would be quite a lot of work. I don’t know what I thought shipping to our house would be, but when he said $ 250 – 300, I was sold. I’m definitely willing to pay someone else to transport it, carry it in to our house (solid wood is HEAVY, in case you didn’t know), and take the responsibility of any damage while in transit.
We haven’t ordered yet and completed the full experience of working with Amish Furniture Haus, so I haven’t given it five stars — but as soon as it arrives, I’ll be updating the review with more details, and most likely, that elusive fifth star. Huge thanks to Tim and Ethan for what has been, by far, our best furniture shopping experience ever.