The mid-century line at West Elm is definitely one of the better things they’ve done in recent history. Every piece we’ve seen is a cut above most West Elm items and this is no exception to that rule.
Firstly, we love the standard X-bracing support the legs offer the cabinet, making for a very sturdy piece of furniture especially given the small cabinets footprint. As usual we’re a fan of the general design and the finish, though it does come with the standard “easy to scratch” issue most mid-century line items have. We do also notice the cornered edges which line the outside of the cabinet, like the rest of the line, can chip easily, and so we might keep it somewhere safe from anything heavy banging into it.
Internally it’s simple, a single shelf offering 2 shelves of space in a fairly standard 14.3″ depth which is good for anything from glassware to knick knacks. The simplicity also adds to the durability as there are no real places or components for this cabinet to go wrong.
One qualm we have which is the same as the other mid-century cabinets is that the doors do not have soft close hinges and the magnets are quite powerful, so as you shut them they kind of slam closed which is a little aggressive and strange. A very cheap and simple upgrade here is just adding soft close hinges which we’d highly recommend.
Overall at $499 we think it’s a good piece of furniture which due to its small size can likely fit in anywhere from a living room to a hallway nook. Simple, sturdy, and pretty. If you can put up with some occasional scratches from normal wear and tear, we say go for it.
