Houston's Best Furniture Stores

Houston's Best Furniture Stores: From high-end luxury to budget bargains, these 10 spots deliver

Buying furniture is a subjective, time-consuming and ultimately, an expensive adventure, especially if you want your purchase to last.

I remember taking home my first couch from a local department store long ago. The oversized bat-wing back pillows drew me in. Years and a divorce later, I don't even know where the piece is.

I realize now it truly wasn't that special. Heck, I could have 20-plus cushions of the same styling and be enjoying them today.

With that in mind, CultureMap scoured Houston for the best furniture destinations for pieces that will leave an impression on you and your home. Some recommendations are for the budget-restricted; some are for those people ready to make lifetime investments. All the stores on this list have that extra appeal that makes them stand out, subtlety or sensationally, whether that "wow" factor comes in design, quality or service — or even location.

In any situation, I hope these selections will help you discover Houston's best furniture stores — and not leave you with vague memories of a bad purchase.

19th Street in the Heights — Best shopping destination
 Budget to expensive 
Take an afternoon — or entire day — to peruse the many stores that line this funky little historic district. Shop Eclectic Home for shiny, new objects to brighten your abode. Jubilee, mainly a chic clothing spot, sells some of its display units of antique French country design, including buffets, wardrobes and dressers.

A.G. Antiques is chock-full of Mid-Century modern, early American and Italian furniture mixed in with accent pieces such as vases, lamps, porcelain and even ladies' vintage hats. At Gen's Antiques, find the full gamut of collectible furnishings, from juke boxes to art deco to classic European and more Mid-Century modern — plus work by local artists. Don your best linens for White Linen Night each August for a celebration of it all, with stores open for perusing, street music and dance for entertaining and restaurants for indulging.

Carl Moore Antiques — Best antique store 
1610 Bissonnet St. 
713.524.2502
 Moderate to expensive
In a white, two-story clapboard house in Rice Village, Carl Moore Antiques quietly sits as not only a treasure trove of antiques, vintage finds, art work and accessories, but also a source of 30 years of knowledge in the industry — thanks to owner Geoffrey Westergaard.

"The best antique professionals are those who are willing to take the time to explain and share their understanding of what makes something an antique," Westergaard says. "Frankly, most clients want to know and conversely, we also want them to know. Sometimes a small clue is able to open a whole world."

Westergaard encourages shoppers to look for what he exactly does on his extensive buying trips to Europe: Magic, or that combination of creative imagination and superior skill that makes you fall under a spell. Some "magic" Westergaard recently brought back to his shop includes a very rare find: A Regence/Louis XV-period painted corner cabinet or buffet from France, c. 1740. And there's much more at Carl Moore.

 High Fashion Home — Best eclectic conglomeration
3100 Travis St.
713.528.3838
Moderate to expensive
With four stories, 125,000 square feet and more than 60,000 products, High Fashion Home really can't be beat for its selection of eclectic stock - plus home accents, gift ideas and even clothing. Think classic contemporary, vintage European, casual shabby chic and exotic Asian flair — and more. HFH's online catalog does offer about 4,000 products, but it's the downtown destination building — the only location — where you'll find all the goods.

You also can customize the fabric on much of the furnishings. And it's no secret: HFH's store across the street, High Fashion Fabrics at 3101 Louisiana St., is filled with bolts holding miles of textiles in the 30,000-square-foot showroom. Truly a Texas-sized selection.

IKEA — Best assembly 101 for cheap
 7810 Katy Freeway
 713.688.7867 
Budget-minded 
Who hasn't made their way through the three-storied maze to furnish a college dorm or apartment or even a first home? You may get lost in this adventure (I do, every single time), but everyone walks away with budget-conscious furniture pieces.

These are not even hand-me-downs, much less heirlooms. Who cares, at these prices?

IKEA is also a great place to shop for seasonal flair, such as fun, plastic outdoor dinnerware and home accents. With Allen wrench in hand, everyone can be a "builder." Reward yourself in the cafe with some meatballs. But remember: These are not even hand-me-downs, much less heirlooms.

Who cares, at these prices? You get what you paid for, and for temporary furnishings, IKEA can't be beat.

Kuhl-Linscomb — Best contemporary complex in town — with a dash of old 
2424 W. Alabama St. 
713.526.6000 
Moderate to expensive
 In addition to housing in the 70,000-square-foot retail mecca some of the most classic contemporary brands to be found, such as Herman Miller, Eames and Kartell, owners Pam Kuhl-Linscomb and Dan Linscomb offer for sale prized antiques they have collected through the years, going back to even before store opened in 1984. Stop by again for the latest green editions from Cisco Brothers and Gus Modern, as well as outdoor favorites from Dedon.

While most of the large furniture pieces are located in Building 3, you'll discover the inventory overflows into Buildings 1 and 2. A suggestion for the store? Add a tea room with the planned expansion to the adjacent space that Cierra Furniture formerly occupied (a Houston loss). Customers will enjoy getting a bite to eat and a refreshing drink, regrouping and then continuing to shop. 

Lam Bespoke — Best custom upholstery (with a Heim Lam seal of approval) 
2032 W. Alabama St. 
713.523.1558
 Moderate to expensive 
This gem is an extension of the masters of upholstery at Hein Lam, where I watched not too long ago an "apprentice" of 20 years perfectly match a diagonal pattern on the front and back of a chair — in fine fabric, of course. On the floor are neutral couches, chairs, headboard, ottomans and more in clean, timeless designs from a North Carolina vendor plus Lam Bespoke handmade creations just waiting to be expertly upholstered in your choice of textile.

Hein Lam's woodworkers and metalsmiths also can construct custom pieces that are then finished by the local upholstery artists. The store is packed with a great selection of accent pillows, too.

Ligne Roset — Best comfy, cool, contemporary and French
 2800 Kirby Drive, Suite A-210 in West Ave 
713.630.6500 
Expensive
 Sit in any of Ligne Roset's luxury foam-filled (not stuffy) chairs and couches and you won't want to get up. Ligne Roset enthusiasts already know this, and they — and you — will come back for more with the a chaise lounge in the popular Togo collection by Michel Ducaroy now available and deliverable by order within days.

 Sit in any of the luxury foam-filled (not stuffy) chairs and couches and you won't want to get up.

Designer Philippe Nigro expands on his Confluences line with more puzzle-like configurations for seats and couches. And don't forget to check the new armchair for Ruché by Oliver Sievers, complete with one shorter arm rest to throw a lady-like leg over. 

Made at New Living — Best artisan furniture
 6111 Kirby Drive 
713.521.1921
 Prices depending on project 
What began just four years ago as owner Jeff Kaplan's passionate vision as a paint store for nontoxic, environmentally friendly finishes grew to an organic mattress center (headquartered now at New Living Bedroom on 19th Street in the Heights) and has branched out like a fast-growing tree into a furniture store with a one-of-a-kind concept. Customers partner with local artisans in creating custom furniture made of locally sourced materials. All with the goal of improving the quality of life at home with healthy products.

Look for Made at New Living furniture examples at Oxheart and Punk's Simple Southern Food, not to forget a recent commission for a huge conference table for the new JW Marriott Houston Downtown's $81 million renovation of an old building. Sign up for finishing school classes to learn how to bring personal treasures back to life — in the greenest of ways.

Meredith O'Donnell — Best soft contemporary to fine traditional 
1751 Post Oak Blvd. 
713.526.7332 
Moderate to expensive 
With Houston's largest inventory of Baker Furniture, the respected furniture design company headed by a tremendous team of designers including Barbara Barry (I still swoon over her glamorous creations), Thomas Pheasant and Jacques Garcia, Meredith O'Donnell is the place to go for soft contemporary to elegant traditional. Find Trosby Furniture's fine reproduction pieces, 100-year-old Hickory Chair's handmade treasures and Stickley, maker of America's premium hardwood furniture.

Maitland-Smith creations are destined to become family heirlooms and quite possibly valuable antiques for future generations.

Note: Baker Furniture in Uptown Park is moving to Decorative Center Houston late this year, as the building is to be destroyed in the $1.2 billion renovation of Uptown Park. Their offerings at the new location are to include retail and to-the-trade pieces. The question is: Will they still charge for shipping and freight? Meredith O'Donnell doesn't. 

Roche Bobois — Best in European designs
 4810 San Felipe St.
 713.629.0442
 Expensive 
With most of Roche Bobois' furniture designers being architects first and furniture designers next, the store is a playground for innovative design — and relishes in the Europe-based company's motto, l’art de vivre (the art of living). Sit at the Astrolab and let a design expert press a button to set shiny, visible gears in the middle of the large glass table in motion to seamlely drop two extensions in place at either end of the dining room piece. We think an engineer must have been involved in the development.

Mah Jong modular sofas and pillows from designer Hans Hopfer in Bohemian-influenced Missoni Home upholstery and endless configurations continue to be a popular choice. And new to the Houston showroom floor: An indoor/outdoor collection, Escapade, featuring three-seat armless couches and adjustable back rests covered in bright solids and floral patterns in a waterproof material by Papavero Outdoor.

Mah Jong sofas and pillows by Hans Hopfer, only at Roche Bobois, $4,000-$5,000 per sectional, depending on fabric; single seat cushions, about $3,000.

Roche Bubois Mah Jong sofas and pillows by Hans Hopfer 1970

Roche-Bubois.com

Mah Jong sofas and pillows by Hans Hopfer, only at Roche Bobois, $4,000-$5,000 per sectional, depending on fabric; single seat cushions, about $3,000.

unspecified

give me shelter

Meet the Houston architects teaching refugees to build permanent homes

Photo by Moses Sawasawa

Every Shelter educates communities on how to build homes using brick molds and local, organic materials.

Two Rice architecture alums, and former Gensler Houston interns, Sam Brisendine and Scott Key are utilizing their top-tier education and expertise to make serious waves on a global level — and Gensler wants everyone to know about it. June is Global Giveback Month at the international design and architecture firm, and Every Shelter, the charitable organization founded by Brisendine and Key, is getting the spotlight with a new exhibit in the lobby of Gensler’s office in downtown Houston titled “Why We Flee.”

Photographed by 26-year-old war photojournalist Moses Sawasawa, “Why We Flee” shines a light on one of the world’s largest drivers of human displacement today: an endless conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. Also on display are the common goods that Every Shelter helps to repurpose into supplies and tools that refugees can then use to design and build their own permanent homes themselves.

Every Shelter focuses on designing, building, and supplying permanent shelter solutions for homeless and displaced war and natural disaster refugees. Based in Houston, TX, and Kampala, Uganda, Every Shelter works directly with newly-arriving refugees from the DRC in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in the southwest of the country.

Every Shelter is unique in that they are “community led, expert supported,” and teach communities how to design and build for their own communities. Megan Mark, director of advancement at Every Shelter, tells CultureMap about a design studio that they are currently piloting at their Ugandan office.

“We have a humanitarian aid architect there and a program manager. They work with the social innovation leads, who are typically refugees who we’ve employed to help us navigate refugees’ needs in the context of the environment that they are in,” she says. “A refugee who is in Turkey doesn’t have the same needs as a refugee in Uganda. Right now we have three architects who are still in school.”

Humanitarian aid architects spend nine weeks leading an architecture and design curriculum for refugees between the ages of 18-30 years old. At the end of the nine weeks, the students will have designed a solution, or “intervention” as Every Shelter calls it, for a need that they have in the community.

“We are really excited to see what they come up with,” says Lauren Hanson, community manager at Every Shelter. “We teach refugees how to make things, then certify them to be the teachers. Then they can go make their own, they can sell their own, they can even start their own business teaching others how to make these things. We want to give the power to them to take whatever intervention we come up with and utilize it. They can take any idea and scale it, and that’s what we want to happen.”

The most coveted shelter solution by far has been the brick molds that Every Shelter supplies to the communities. While brick molds are nothing new, availability has been scarce. With high demand and low supply, local rental fees for these tools skyrocketed. The UN and the Ugandan government supply refugees with land, a UN tarp, a few poles, and a small amount of money to get settled. Refugees tend to spend 10-26 years in these settlements, far longer than the 3-6 month lifespan of a UN-supplied tarp.

By supplying brick molds and an invaluable education in building and design — especially lessons on making bricks from local organic matter — Every Shelter can get families from living under a tarp to living in a brick home in about a year. The brick molds cost under $10 to make, and the savings from potential rental fees ($130) is the equivalent of three months of food per household, which is a huge savings for families who are trying to get their children into schools.

Communities band together to share molds and can work together to allocate bricks in an efficient manner. One house requires approximately 1,500 bricks, and with lessons from Every Shelter, families can design and build homes that best fit their individual needs. Skylights are designed and built using recycled water bottles, and decommissioned billboards are treated and up-cycled into roofing and floor tiles, which have a lifespan of about eight years. Lessons in home repair are also instrumental for those who may need them down the line.

The focus that Every Shelter places on design, architecture, and construction in underserved communities is something that resonates deeply with Gensler. Stephanie Burritt, managing director and principal at Gensler Houston, certainly feels a connection to the organization’s ethos.

“When they came to us and told us what they are doing, it was just hand-in-glove in terms of how it fit with our global giveback and our focus on homelessness, and it just made a lot of sense,” Burritt tells CultureMap. “We have happy hours here with contractors, employees, vendors, and everyone who walks through here all the time asks us what this is that we are showcasing and how they can help.”

Gensler’s summer intern class arrived the same week as the “Why We Flee” installation, and Burritt thinks it has been a good thing for them to see. “I think, for them, it was super exciting to see somebody who had been an intern — 12 years ago, or whatever it was — and go ‘Oh, wow! This is the kind of impact I can have at some point in my career that’s beyond what you see in our day-to-day work at Gensler.’ And I think that’s really special.”

Every Shelter co-founder Scott Key enlisted college friend and curator Ben Rasmussen to oversee the installation of the exhibition. As for the subject matter, Rasmussen wants the show to be experienced in a fluid way. “Wherever you enter is how you experience it,” he says. “It can be moved through in whatever way people choose, and that sort of personal way of moving through the work kind of echoes the sort of chaotic way that people experience it on the ground. So we wanted for that to exist in a way that people can see it, without trying to force an education on a really long-running and complex conflict.”

One benefit of the exhibition is the amount of exposure that Every Shelter is receiving from Gensler’s local contractors and vendors, with labor and materials contributions for the organization’s new Heights-area office already pouring in. “Why We Flee” hopes to find a new home after its time at Gensler comes to a close at the end of the summer, so check in with Every Shelter if a trip to Gensler this summer isn’t in the cards.

-----

See “Why We Flee" Monday-Friday from 9 am-5 pm at Gensler’s Houston office in 2 Houston Center (909 Fannin Street, Suite 200).

Photo by Moses Sawasawa

Every Shelter educates communities on how to build homes using brick molds and local, organic materials.

home-design architecture every shelter gensler