John Kelly Furniture: The New Bamboo Series

We were over visiting at John Kelly's shop on Franklin Street and he took the time to show us his new bamboo furniture collection called the Tau Series. Very sleek, with a fine bamboo veneer that doesn't look like the cheesy bamboo of yesterday, he told us that he was so excited by the material he wanted to try it.

It may become a national hit for this Tribeca local. The Tau Series is built as beautifully as John's other collections, but is the most affordable because bamboo carries a lower price point (Hey, but this ain't Ikea). It's already been picked up by Drew and Sina over at Design Public, where the bed is $1700-$2600, the mirror is $550 and the low chest is $1900. The entire collection has 8 pieces.

Comments (2)

A warning about buying from John Kelly, I have had a terrible experience with him: On 5/15/07, I ordered furniture for $5948. The shipment arrived on 06/05/07 and was damaged. This was acknowledged by the delivery agents. I took photos and sent them to John. He promised me he would send me new furniture, but that it would be delayed until September as it had to be manufactured. A few months later, an unscheduled delivery arrived. I opened the boxes and found that this furniture was also badly damaged. Comparison to the original photos showed it to be the same furniture. I contacted John again - he denied everything, and told me that Plycon was acting without his knowledge. In mid-October, another delivery arrived in unacceptable condition. I refused delivery. I contacted John again, he insisted that this was the new furniture and that I should re-check all packages. We agreed that if the furniture was not acceptable, he would refund me. A FOURTH delivery was made on 11/08/07. Every item was damaged. The delivery agent agreed and signed a statement to this effect. I took photos and sent them to John. He agreed again to refund me in full but asked to do it in two installments. I agreed. I received the first partial refund of $2,358.40. After a month, I still had not received the second part. I called John, he claimed he had mailed it, but said he would cancel the check and credit my card for the remaining amount. On 02/25, I received a second refund for $2,400, leaving me $1,189.60 short. I asked John about this, he told me it was for a "Restocking fee", which we had never discussed.He had previously told me I would be receiving a full refund. The moral of the story? Unless you want to waste four days on failed deliveries and months on end listening to this guy's excuses, and STILL end up being shafted, don't buy from with this guy. He's completely unprofessional and refuses to take any responsibility for anything that goes wrong.

Interestingly, I just had a fantastic experience with John, albeit in a roundabout way.

Ordered the Tau storage bed (King) I'd learned about on AT, from US-Mattress.com, after not seeing it on John's website and thinking it'd been discontinued.

After nearly two months (although the charge went through to my credit card within the first week), I learned that the delay was due to the bed being shipped from NY to Michigan and back again to Brooklyn. Then four bashed-in boxes arrived, with no instructions on what to do next. Mind you, this wasn't exactly an Ikea purchase, and I was expecting a Room-and-Board-like assembly.

In a panic, I called John Kelly at his studio. He asked me for my address, and showed up at my house - IN PERSON - a few days later. The designer himself put my bed together!

I know how bad the economy is, and how it looks good for him to have helped me out, but John went out of his way to do a good deed.

So the moral of my story? Order directly from the manufacturer, not a web-based seller, and he will probably make you a good deal as well. Thanks.