Forever Interiors

Totally unimpressed. I came to them with a really creative project and they flat out told me it was impossible. It’s in fact possible and becoming a trend. What a joke these guys are. Rude and mean.

Martin the owner really needs to think about hiring someone with sales experience, personality, and consistent knowledge of products and pricing. It’s pretty unbelievable that he runs this business given his lack of all 3 of those qualities.
Like all other reviews mention, the stuff in there looks amazing and I really would like to recommend it but the guy has a major communication disorder, and won’t give straight answers on pricing, stock, or customization possibilities. Customer service and return policy is basically nonexistent. I suggest taking a photo of what you like there and finding a decent carpenter on homestars or by word of mouth.

I bought something here, and now regret it.
Walking around the junction, my wife and I found this cute little store and were immediately drawn to a small church pew. How cool would it be for our house guests to have a place to sit while they remove their shoes, we thought. He offered the pews in various sizes, from about 3′ to 5′ or so, and in two colours, natural or stained.
The stained unit looked decent overall, and would match well with our existing furniture; however it didn’t appear to be done very well. It looked rather blotchy. The natural wood looked pretty good, kind of what you would expect the actual church pew to look like, so we decided on that.
He promised it would be ready in 6 weeks, and we paid a $ 200 deposit and walked out.
Afterwards, we headed over to Metropolis Living, where we purchased an original metal Catholic offering box as well as a metal «Funeral Parking Only» sign that used to belong to a funeral home in Ohio. Yeah, we’re a bit weird, but we thought they would be a nice addition to the pew.
Six weeks go by, and no call from the owner. I called and was told they were behind and that it would be another week. Another week goes by now they say t’ll be ready in 5 more days.
One of the most important part of sales and running a business is the process of setting customer expectations. If you say you will deliver in 6 weeks, delivery in NO LESS than 6 weeks. Delivery in 4 weeks and we’ll be overjoyed. Under promise and over deliver. This isn’t rocket science.
It was his second brutal failure in setting my expectations which led to my disappointment with his product and service and ultimately the reason for this review.
Today we walked in to pick up the pew.
Check out the finish product.
This only shows a few of these marks. They are where the screws went to attach the bench, filled with what appears to be some kind of wood putty. There are 6 on both sides. Since this isn’t going in my garage, I asked «What is this? How is this even… I wanted to put this in our HOUSE. How is this even finished??»

Why is there a gigantic gash in the left side? And how is this acceptable? I walked out to grab my wife so she could see it. I said nothing to her, so I could get an unbiased opinion. «Well, we could sand that and make it darker no?» She said. «Isn’t that what they’re supposed to do? How is this presentable?» Then I showed her the deep gash and she said «Um, no…»
At this point the owner is highly agitated with me. «This is how it’s supposed to look. Nobody ever complains. Starbucks buys these all the time, and we have sold over 100. Everyone loves them. You just don’t know what rustic looks like.»
Then he says he doesn’t want to work with me and wants to refund my money. I’m pretty on board with this, but I’m pissed because I really wanted a pew (I’ve always wanted a pew, haven’t you?), and here we’ve waited 8 weeks and are back to square one.
I asked if we could take the dark, varnished one they have in stock instead. He agrees and sells it to me. Nearly 2 feet shorter and has also been splashed with epoxy, so there were drip marks. While he pointed these out to me, and DID offer to re-​varnish it for us, I accepted it as is. I didn’t want to wait another 8 weeks and figured I could just do it as a project at home down the road. I really just wanted to get the hell out of there and never talk to him again.
He didn’t offer to give us a lower price, so I paid the full amount and walked out, another satisfied customer.
This could have all been avoided had he said something like: «If you go with the natural colour, you’ll have big splotchy marks on both sides, and they’ll be a big ugly and really noticeable gash on the inside.» Obviously, we’d have said no.
As a side note, while somewhat of a likeable guy initially, he’s rather unprofessional and unhelpful. As the owner, that’s his prerogative, but it’s a bit strange. The first time we came in there, he never asked if we needed any help and his female assistant was equally uncongenial and standoffish.
If you end up buying here, make sure you ask a lot of questions since you won’t get a lot of information up front.

I really want to like this store. I like what he makes and I like that he’s recycling old furniture into cool new pieces. However, I had a similar experience to sua m. in that owner is so off-​putting I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

A little shabby chic furniture shop in the Junction. I was drawn to it the day it opened when I saw the faded paint and wooden patina on the furniture items in the windows.
The furniture is all made by the owner and apprentices in the back of the shop. They use wood from local demolitions, such as the old bowling alley east of Keele on Dundas. Then they incorporate recycled hardware to give all the pieces that used or industrial look.
Furniture items include dining tables, side boards, end tables, french provincial cupboards and islands for kitchens, coat racks, mirrors, desks and they do custom jobs as well. Each piece is unique.
I wanted to like this place but after a few visits I have had a change of heart. A lot of the items have an obvious faux-​finish look to them, which I am not a fan of. I like most rustic looking, antique-​ish items and things here look way too ‘assembled’ to me.
I find the prices are inflated, especially considering we’re dealing with recycled materials here. The price for certain types of not especially interesting or scarce pieces of wood for table tops is ridiculous. I’d sooner drive out to a country auction and buy my own barn wood.
I’ve also found dealing with the owner to be trying, as mentioned in all the other reviews. He doesn’t have good customer manner and hasn’t hired anyone to deal with the front of the house for him (he really should). Him and his one staff member usual just ignore you as you shop unless you demand their attention.
On one occasion, when I was in the market for a custom harvest table, he fought me in just a discussion about the style and design I was looking for. I wanted turned, recycled wooden table legs and he thought this was odd and traditional sounding, trying to sell me on straight metal or wood legs. It seems like he just wants to make his own furniture to his own taste.
I left without ordering or buying anything. I would prefer to give my business to someone who wants to make the table I want!