Joybird is a digitally-native brand specializing in highly customizable, mid-century modern-inspired furniture, while West Elm is a larger retailer offering a broader mix of modern, eclectic, and globally-inspired home furnishings. Joybird's key advantage is its made-to-order model with extensive fabric choices and a distinct retro vibe, whereas West Elm appeals to shoppers looking for on-trend, ready-to-ship decor and a one-stop-shop experience that includes everything from sofas to dinnerware.
Let's compare everything you need to know to choose the right home decor retailer for your space.
Joybird: The Customizable Mid-Century Modern Brand
Joybird has built its reputation on delivering mid-century modern furniture that doesn't force you to compromise. The brand's model centers on personalization, allowing customers to design statement pieces that perfectly fit their style, color palette, and space. For shoppers who love clean lines, tapered legs, and bold colors but need specific dimensions or performance fabrics, Joybird offers a tailored solution with an emphasis on craftsmanship and sustainable practices.
- Product mix: Primarily large furniture pieces like sofas, sectionals, accent chairs, beds, and dining sets. They focus on being a destination for core statement pieces rather than entire home decor.
- Style/vibe: Decidedly mid-century modern with a retro-inspired, playful aesthetic. Expect bold color options, unique silhouettes, and vintage details built for contemporary living.
- Price point: Mid-range. Sofas generally start around $1,200 and can exceed $2,000 with customizations, while dining tables begin in the $800 range.
- Quality: Construction focuses on durability with kiln-dried hardwood frames and high-density foam cushions. Many products feature solid wood, and the brand uses high-quality upholstery, including many eco-friendly and performance fabric options.
- Customization: This is Joybird's main strength. Shoppers can choose from a huge selection of fabrics, colors, sizes, and leg finishes using an intuitive visualization tool on the company's website.
- Return policy: Famous for its generous 365-day in-home trial period, offering a nearly risk-free purchase for online shoppers wary of buying big-ticket items sight unseen.
- Delivery & Assembly: Offers white-glove delivery service, which includes in-home setup and packaging removal, making for a convenient customer experience.
- Sustainability: Joybird is committed to eco-friendly manufacturing, using FSC-certified wood and offering sustainable fabric choices to reduce its environmental impact.
Joybird is the ideal choice for design enthusiasts who are set on a mid-century modern style and want to put a personal touch on their furniture.
Shop Joybird: joybird.com
West Elm: The Modern & Sustainable Home Retailer
As part of the Williams-Sonoma family, West Elm is a major player in the home furnishings market, known for its stylish, of-the-moment designs. The brand successfully blends minimalism, global-inspired patterns, and artisan-made accents to create a warm and approachable modern aesthetic. West Elm is also a leader in sustainability and fair trade practices, making it a go-to for conscious consumers looking to furnish entire homes with pieces that are both trendy and ethically sourced.
- Product mix: A comprehensive home goods retailer offering everything from large furniture like sofas and beds to rugs, lighting, bedding, bath, decor, and even kitchenware. It's a true one-stop-shop.
- Style/vibe: Versatile and modern. The look is generally contemporary but incorporates minimalist, boho, and industrial influences, making their collections adaptable to many different interior styles.
- Price point: Mid-range to upper-mid-range. Sofas begin around $1,000, while larger sectionals and designer collaborations can be over $2,500. Dining tables typically start at the $1,000 mark.
- Quality: Generally good, using kiln-dried hardwood frames for upholstery and high-quality materials like marble, solid wood, and artisan-crafted metals in their casegoods and decor. Much of their furniture is GREENGUARD Gold Certified for low chemical emissions.
- Shopping Experience: An omnichannel model that combines a robust e-commerce site with physical showrooms across the country, allowing customers to test furniture in person before buying.
- Delivery & Assembly: Standard and white-glove delivery options are available, with professional assembly for larger items. Lead times vary, especially for backordered items.
- Sustainability: A core part of their mission. West Elm is a leader in Fair Trade USA certified products, uses sustainably sourced wood (FSC-certified), and offers a growing number of recycled and organic material products.
West Elm is perfect for shoppers who value trendy design, an in-person shopping option, and a company-wide commitment to sustainable and ethical production.
Shop West Elm: westelm.com
Joybird vs. West Elm Comparison
Price Comparison
Both brands operate within a similar mid-range price point, but their value propositions differ. Joybird’s sofas start around $1,200, with West Elm’s beginning slightly lower at $1,000. However, as you add customizations, Joybird's price can quickly rise to match or exceed a comparable West Elm piece.
Joybird's value comes from getting a hyper-specific piece: a unique color or non-standard size tailored to you for a fair price. West Elm's pricing reflects its trendy designs, brand recognition, and frequent sales and promotions that can often make their pieces more budget accessible, especially if personalization isn't a top priority.
Style & Aesthetic
This is the most significant differentiator between the two brands. Joybird is unapologetically devoted to the mid-century modern aesthetic. Its collections are defined by clean lines, tapered wooden legs, and retro silhouettes, with an emphasis on bold, saturated fabrics. It’s a perfect choice for anyone looking to fully lean into a vintage-modern look.
West Elm offers a much broader, more trend-driven aesthetic. While elements of modern and mid-century design are present, they are often blended with boho textures, global patterns, and sleek industrial finishes. This versatile approach means their furniture fits well within a wider array of interiors, from minimalist urban lofts to warm, eclectic family homes.
Quality & Construction
Both brands prioritize quality with features like kiln-dried hardwood frames for their upholstered goods. Joybird stands out for its extensive use of high-performance fabrics that are stain-resistant and built for high-traffic areas, making it a very practical choice for families or pet owners. The focus is squarely on furniture that lasts through daily life.
West Elm's quality is also strong, but their material diversity is a key highlight. Many collections feature materials like marble tops, reclaimed wood, hand-forged metal accents, and textural woven finishes, reflecting their focus on artisanal craftsmanship and on-trend designs. Both offer solid construction designed for long-term use.
Customization Options
Joybird wins this category uncontested. Their entire business model is built around customization. Shoppers have control over nearly every aspect of their furniture - from a huge library of fabric types and colors to different wood stains for the legs - all presented through an easy-to-use online design tool.
West Elm does offer customization for many of its sofas and chairs, but the selection of fabrics and finishes is more limited by comparison. Custom orders also often carry longer lead times without the same level of day-to-day focus as Joybird.
Shopping Experience
The choice here comes down to your preference for digital versus physical shopping. Joybird's online purchasing process is incredibly smooth and supported by its famously long 365-day trial period that removes hesitation from buying an expensive piece without seeing it first.
West Elm’s key advantage is its nationwide network of showrooms. Many shoppers prefer to see, touch, and sit on furniture before they buy, and West Elm’s brick-and-mortar stores give them that real-world experience. Their website is equally easy to navigate, providing a reliable omnichannel journey.
Sustainability & Ethics
Both Joybird and West Elm are strong contenders for sustainability-minded shoppers. Joybird's initiatives center on planting more trees than they utilize, traceable material sourcing like FSC-certified wood, and limiting production waste.
West Elm’s efforts are broader and more globally focused. The brand is a leader in producing Fair Trade USA certified goods, has commitments to using recycled materials, and features hundreds of handcrafted items made in partnership with artisan collectives. If third-party certifications and global ethical partnerships matter most, West Elm has a slight edge.
Which One Should You Choose?
The right choice depends on your style preferences, budget, and priorities. Both brands offer quality furniture, but they cater to very different tastes and needs.
You should choose Joybird if:
- Your design style is solidly mid-century modern, and you want furniture that fits that aesthetic perfectly.
- Personalization is more critical for you - you want absolute control over the fabric, color, and details.
- You need exceptionally durable performance fabric for a home with kids, pets, or frequent guests.
- You do all your shopping online and value a generous trial period to ensure it's the right fit for your home.
You should choose West Elm if:
- You prefer a more versatile mix of modern, bohemian, and classic styles.
- You're looking to furnish an entire room or home and would prefer a one-stop-shop for furniture, rugs, decor, and lighting.
- Seeing and testing out furniture in person at a physical showroom is a vital part of your decision-making process.
- You value a brand with a strong, company-wide emphasis on Fair Trade Certified products and collaborations with international artisans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Joybird or West Elm cheaper?
Their starting prices are comparable, but can easily diverge. A basic sofa design at West Elm may be initially cheaper, but a heavily customized sofa from Joybird costs more than a standard West Elm model. West Elm also offers more frequent and aggressive sales events, which can lower the cost significantly.
Which furniture brand has better quality?
Both brands offer high-quality furniture with kiln-dried solid wood frames. The "better" one depends on your needs. Joybird has a slight advantage in upholstered furniture durability thanks to its enormous range of tough performance fabrics. West Elm offers great general quality plus a more interesting variety of materials in its casegoods, such as reclaimed wood, marble, and industrial metals.
Can you customize furniture from both brands?
Yes, but Joybird is vastly superior in this regard. Their made-to-order system is the core of their business, offering hundreds of options. West Elm offers some customization on key pieces, but with a far smaller selection of choices.
Which brand is better for a mid-century modern style?
Joybird is the specialist here. While West Elm incorporates plenty of mid-century elements in their designs, Joybird's entire catalog is dedicated to capturing that unique retro sensibility, making them the category expert.
Does Joybird have physical showrooms?
Unlike West Elm, Joybird primarily operates online. This keeps costs lower and is why investing in an extensive trial policy is such an essential customer benefit for them. They have opened a very limited number of physical stores but are nowhere near the same retail footprint that West Elm has.
Which brand is a better choice for small apartment spaces?
Both brands cater well to smaller spaces. West Elm often designs apartment-specific sofa collections and multifunctional pieces. Joybird shines brightly here, though, since their customization allows for exact resizing of pieces to fit odd-dimension rooms without making design sacrifices.
What is Joybird’s return policy for furniture like?
Joybird has one of the best return policies in the industry, offering an exceptional 365-day in-home trial. If you are not completely satisfied within that entire year period, they will arrange to have your piece picked up and issue a full refund, minus the original and return shipping costs.
Are Joybird and West Elm considered sustainable furnishing brands?
Yes, both furniture brands heavily invest in sustainability efforts. Joybird's focus is on reforestation and using FSC-certified wood and other responsibly made materials, while West Elm is notable as one of the first main US retailers to carry a wide selection of fair trade certified products, enabling customers to make more sustainable purchases.
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