We think it’s helpful to understand the scale of our editor reviews, and also to help give context to your own reviews should you leave one. Our reviews are based off of a 5 star scale, where each star represents the following:

1 star: This is a truly horrible item with nothing of value to offer and should be avoided at all costs. A very bad choice for the money, the quality is abyssmal, and/or it’s ugly as sin.

2 stars: A pretty poor choice. There are worse items out there but you could do a whole lot better. It’s a poor value for what it is, The quality is lacking and it might not hold up, and/or the design doesn’t offer anything to write home about.

3 stars: An average item, subjectivity is likely to play a large role here in whether or not this is a good purchase for you. The value is adequate, priced just around where it should be, the quality is good enough that we’d make a recommendation to buy the item (it’ll hold up) but don’t see anything particularly impressive, and/or it has some sort of welcome design elements but isn’t going to win any awards.

4 stars: Above average, this is an item we’d strongly recommend assuming it’s in your budget. It’s a good buy for the money, it’s of better than average quality and should last you many years, and/or it is stylistically superior to similar items in its class or price range.

5 stars: A home run, the holy grail of purchases, you’re unlikely to find better. This highly coveted star rating will only be awarded in cases where the price is exceptional for what you’re getting, the quality is superior to the majority of items in its class and it should last most of your life, and/or the design elements will likely result in you receiving multiple comments from visitors.

Please note that receiving 5 stars in a single category (Value, Quality, or Style) does not mean we think that’s a great item. We’ve noticed today a lot of mid-level furniture brands spend quite a bit on design and sacrifice when it comes to materials or construction quality, and so it’ll be more common to see something with high style scores and lower value or quality scores. Try to keep all three in mind when making any purchasing decisions.