7 Best Online Stores for Modern Furniture & Decor

Discover our seven favorite online shops for modern furniture.

When we moved into our split-level home in last summer, it was really dated. Most of the lighting and fixtures were from the mid-90s or early 2000s. And even though we had plans to make big design changes, that was going to take a year at least.

In the interim, we decided to do what we could - change a few fixtures and bring in the essential furnishings - but functionally live with the house as-is.

At that time, we were deep in pandemic lockdown here in Charlotte, so we did most of our initial shopping online.

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Here are our favorite online shops for modern furniture.

Modern and contemporary furniture can be pricey. Since we were furnishing a whole house (albeit sparingly), budget mattered.

These affordable stores provide minimalistic, functional, and not to mention beautiful furniture and decor. Best of all, we’ve tried all of them!

Article

Driven by their “Great style is easy” slogan, Article offers a great range of expertly curated furniture and décor pieces that won’t break your budget. Shop their online store for modern sofas, chairs, tables, storage, or décor items. You can also shop items by room type or get inspiration from their room ideas or special collections.

We purchased this Ripa bench for our living room, and the quality is incredible:

Image via Article. — *Image via* *Article*.

In addition, Article’s online store for modern furniture and décor includes a selection of unique outdoor pieces for your garden. Once we’ve redone the back patio, I can’t wait to explore their outdoor pieces.

Apart from great styles and quality furniture, Article also offers superior customer support and delivery services.

Allmodern

Allmodern is a super-accessible source of modern furniture and décor. They offer quality indoor and outdoor furniture pieces, lighting fixtures, rugs, pillows, and other décor elements that can take your home design to the next level.

To narrow down your options, you can shop their online store by style. Options include mid-century, minimalist, Scandinavian, and modern farmhouse.

So far, we’ve mostly purchased lights on Allmodern (more on that later). Most have been great, though we did have one that arrived and was just not great quality. Fortunately, their return process is easy.

Allmodern offers affordable styles, plus a large selection of products. The downside is that there’s very little visibility into material or product sourcing and production.

Shop Allmodern here.

Floyd

Floyd’s vision is to deliver high-quality and practical modern furniture at affordable prices. Their furniture and décor selection includes mid-century and minimalist pieces like sofas, tables, and bed frames made of real wood or plywood.

Image via Curbed. — *Image via* *Curbed*.

The brand is also environmentally conscious. This is something we particularly liked about them. Many of their products use FSC® certified woods that are sourced from responsibly managed forests.

We purchased their sofa with chaise combo for downstairs, and we do love how comfortable it is. That said, it’s a little small for our primary hangout sofa, particularly as the cushions are overstuffed. Once the remodel is done, we’ll likely be moving this piece to a guest bedroom.

Their customer support and delivery services are excellent, and their prices are reasonable. Shop Floyd here.

Poly & Bark

Poly & Bark promises to deliver “Premium furniture that won’t break the bank”. And they seem to be doing a great job at it. Poly & Bark customers rave about the quality of their products and our own experience has matched expectations.

We purchased a really neat leather sofa that has held up beautifully over the last year. We have a dog who loves to jump on the sofa, and even her little scratch marks give the couch a patina.

Poly & Bark has a wide selection of modern furniture made of quality materials that matches any contemporary style. They also offer specially curated collections for different designs or rooms. However, their shipping services are not always on point and delays may occur. Shop at Poly & Bark here.

CB2

CB2 is Crate & Barrel’s affordable brand offering great styles with a modern twist. Their online store for furniture and décor includes minimalist and contemporary pieces for a wide range of budgets, as well as décor elements like mirrors or pillows and throws.

We bought a couple of pieces of furniture and two light fixtures; the quality of all of them is exceptional. That said, it took double or triple the time originally anticipated to get anything. We actually cancelled one order because it took so long to arrive. One of the lights is below:

*Volakas White Marble Pendant Light from CB2.*

If you’re looking to get your home design going quickly, you may want to order in advance or skip CB2 altogether. Shop at CB2 here.

Craigslist

Craigslist is a good source of great, affordable finds, but it takes some looking. There are great pieces, but they’re not always easy to uncover. Craigslist brings the phrase “diamond in the rough” new meaning.

The secret to shopping on Craigslist for modern furniture pieces at amazing prices is to put in some work. Just start browsing and be ready to jump when you see something good. (I find it’s best to have a budget in mind before starting to shop.)

That said, we’ve managed to score some amazingly unique antique furniture there. So, we encourage you to give it a try and see where the journey takes you. Shop on Craigslist here.

IKEA

What could we say about IKEA that you haven’t already heard? Their brand is almost synonymous with modern-inspired, contemporary furniture at this point.

Still, we are going to say that IKEA is often a great source for affordable modern furniture and décor. Plus, they offer good quality over time and reliable customer service. Shop at IKEA here.

Unfortunately, there is one online modern furniture store that we wouldn’t recommend:

West Elm

Although West Elm is a very popular modern furniture store with high-quality products, their delivery and customer support services leave much to be desired. For this reason, we would not recommend their online store for modern furniture and décor. You’re better off going into the store.

We purchased a rug from West Elm, and it took forever to arrive. Once it did, we realized it had huge scuff marks all across the surface, due to the packaging having torn. (Big thanks to the delivery person who pointed it out to us!)

This wasn’t the only iffy experience we’ve had with West Elm, just one of the most obvious. That said, they do sell lots of pretty things. If you do decide to buy, we wish you luck!

No matter what you are looking for in terms of modern furniture and décor, you can find it online. Hopefully this list points you in the right direction.

Best of luck on your modern decorating journey!

A sneak peek of our before-and-after modern home decor:

The first thing we changed was the heavy, Italianate lighting throughout the house (pictured below).

When we finally got those swapped, it felt like an enormous relief visually and physically. Having such bulky things overhead, particularly with our average-height ceilings - made the whole house feel oppressive.

We went with affordable, simple lighting from stores including IKEA, AllModern, and CB2.

Here are a few “after” pictures I snapped: