I say screw the unfinished pieces and go garage sale-ing and thrift shopping. You might need to dig, but you can usually find nice items that need no work, or minimal work to be amazing.

I found a great couch at the Goodwill on a "50% off sale!" Saturday (they do them 1-2 times a month) for $35. I also got the most perfect desk in the world from Goodwill, same type of sale, for $7.50. There's no way you could buy even an unfinished piece at that price! :)

I agree with ashy. Unfinished furniture can be pretty pricey, and unless you've done some finishing before, not always that "finished" looking when done. Go garage sale-ing, check out estate auctions and thrift stores. You can get some great pieces for very little, refinish them if you like. You might find you enjoy the activity as well.

I say don't buy unfinished unless it suits your style. If you like the unfinished look, then go for it. If you are willing to put in the work of staining or painting, you could do that as well.

But to answer your question of how it "looks" - unfinished furniture looks like what it is: unfinished furniture. In my opinion it would work for a rustic or country look, but little else (especially if you are filling a room with it).

If you are willing to do things gradually, scout craigslist, thrift stores and yard sales. You never know what you can find! Vintage treasures that people just want to get rid of, and almost-new pieces being sold by people who have to move unexpectedly are all our there just waiting to be found :-)

I agree also...I wouldn't recommend unfinished furniture as a "thrifty" alternative. Finishing, especially if you're new to it, can be surprisingly expensive and extremely time consuming.

I generally agree with the rest of the comments; I do like buying used and have done well with it. That said, I also bought an unfinished coffee table that was just the size and style I wanted, and I painted it black, which wasn't difficult, and it looks unobtrusive, which is what I wanted.

(Actually, the coffee table I bought looks very much like the one in the picture, except with no drawer.)

Oh, heck, I buy used furniture and then refinish it. The difficulty depends on the job. Painting something is fairly easy: sand, prime, paint. ask your diy person for something that will take some wear.

Varnishing is trickier. An easier alternative for a natural finish is an oil or wax finish. You can make your own by melting about equal portions of olive oil and beeswax (which you can get at craft stores with the candlemaking supplies) and rubbing it in with a soft cloth. This gives it some water protection but not a lot; you will still need to use coasters on it to prevent beverage rings. (as you will if you leave it bare.) It's very pretty but not low maintenance; you may want a glass top to cover the wood.

Being that I wouldn't consider really great finished furniture at this point in my life (I'm not where I'm going to stay), I haven't noticed huge differences between unfinished pieces and low-to-mid-ranged finished pieces, which are frequently stained and varnished pine anyway. It helps to be able to examine the piece, though, an option you probably don't have with the web site. If you really love the coffee table, you may try to see if you can get any customer reviews on that site.

while i wouldn't fill a house with it, i have used unfinished furniture (always with paint) several times and always been pleased. i think unobtrusive is what these pieces do best--not flashy, but filling a need. i've been especially happy with the unfinished bookcases i have. i prefer solid wood furniture, and unfinished makes it financially feasible. the shop i went to was able to order the size i needed, and set it up with the shelf configuration i liked. highly recommended.

The most affordable unfinished furniture is probably pine, and you may have problems applying an even finish to it. I have a pine dresser that I gave a very light finish to, and it looks like a brown and tan zebra. I put a runner over the top of it and stuck it in my bedroom.

While not pretty, the dresser has held up very well for the past 15 years. It's well constructed, and I haven't had a single problem with the drawers. I was planning on replacing it but decided I am going to refinish it this fall in a darker tone or maybe paint.

Not all unfinished furniture is rustic or country--though much of it is. My dresser actually has a rather modern look to it (or would if the finish were nicer). Very clean lines, no drawer pulls, etc.

I too am considering purchasing a couple of pieces of unfinished furniture. Frankly, I'm tired of garage-saling and fixing up pieces of furniture that aren't made particularly well made in the first place. And...and I know this is a sin....I'm growing weary of MCN as well as the shabby Anthropologie aesthetic. And it's not like I can afford Prouve. I'm just stuck with stuff my aunt sally might have sold ten years ago. I just want something simple and well made. If I could time travel, I might get some G or L&JG Stickley pieces. But since I'm stuck in 2008, the unfinished furniture option seems attractive to me...at least now...at 5:32 on Tuesday evening.

I just made the decision to buy an unfinished bookcase from Stumasa, a cute shop in my neighborhood. Their stuff is modern with clean lines and handmade by the owner in his Oakland workshop. The staff was helpful and took time to walk me through my options.

I custom ordered my piece (33 inches wide by 72 inches tall) in pine which came to under $180... delivered!

Now I'm looking for tips for easy finishing... the previous post on wax/oil sounds interesting.

http://www.stumasa.com/