Old school with a new guy. Walking by John Kelly's shop on Franklin street your eye will be caught by the warm wood and comfortable look of new furniture that seems to hail from an earlier era. No slick Soho shop or trendy Tribeca modern, Kelly is an architect who steeped himself in mid century classics before building his own... which is what makes him interesting.
With a modern eye and a love of Stickley, Lloyd Wright, Eames and Le Corbusier, John Kelly's furniture is incredibly versatile and appealing to a number of personal styles.
If you are looking for unique, beautifully crafted wood furniture that shows off its find craftsmanship but isn't STUFFY, Kelly is for you.
Kelly has five collections (J1, K2, Nu, Zeta, Tau), consisting of beds, desks, chairs, tables, chests, wardrobes, and sofas. The J1 is the earliest and the Tau the most recent. Each one represents a later stage of his own design evolution with a continuual boiling down of the elements and simplifying of design. While the J1 looks old world with its cherry and walnut accents, the Zeta is bamboo veneer and cutting edge 2004.
I ordered the J-1 series on line. It is beautiful, very well made with scrupulous attention to great craftsmanship. I think it is made without any metal pieces and drawers are made to close easily with right hand, no slider hardware. Amazing. Expensive but gorgeous.
A warning about dealing with John Kelly, I have had a terrible experience with him:
On 5/15/07, I ordered furniture valued at $5948 from John Kelly. The shipment arrived on 06/05/2007 and was badly damaged. This was acknowledged by the delivery agents.
I took digital photos and sent them to John. He promised me that he would send me new furniture, but that it would be delayed until September as it had to be made. He promised to use a different delivery service.
A few months later, an unscheduled delivery arrived from Plycon. This time the furniture was boxed. 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 any knowledge of this delivery, and told me that Plycon was acting without his knowledge.
In mid-October, another Plycon delivery arrived, again 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 in full.
A FOURTH delivery attempt was made on 11/08/07. I examined all of the furniture and found it to be 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 if he could 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 installment. I contacted John, he claimed he had mailed it, but that he would cancel the check and credit my card for the remaining amount. On Feb 25th, I received a second refund for $2,400.00, leaving me $1,189.60 short of the initial $5948.
I asked John about this, and he told me the difference 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 working days dealing with broken furniture and months on end chasing after John for explanations and excuses, and STILL end up being shafted, don't deal with this guy. He's completely unprofessional and refuses to take any responsibility for anything that goes wrong.
view David A Gee's profile
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.
view juniormint's profile