Basket Case: What to Buy at Wayfair, According to Our Editors

Welcome to Basket Case, wherein your trusty VICE editors scour the proverbial aisles of our favorite online retailers to bring you a smorgasbord of the absolute best things to buy. In this installment, we’re playing Supermarket Sweep at the massive furniture and home goods warehouse that is Wayfair, bringing you everything from Togo sofa dupes to Le Creuset cookware.

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Despite being cool, calm, and toootally fun at parties, we have a hard time not talking about the weird, wonderful world of Wayfair at every social function. After all, the brand has given us so many of our favorite pieces from across the design spectrum, from bold Cocaine Decor mirrors—yes, the 80s is back—to minimalist, Japandi furniture. We’re also blinded with love for the brand’s free shipping policy—sans subscription!—and the sheer vastness of its extensive product selection, which rivals Amazon’s home goods section in both price and variety, that we feel it’s our duty to evangelize the retailer and sing its praises to whomever will listen.

Wayfair is, without a doubt, our favorite never-ending goodie bag of eclectic furnishings, home goods, and sexy Scandi-inspired shelves, which is why we’ve complied an extensive list of chic decor, and cross-checked it 69 times to make sure we don’t leave any treats off our fall charcuterie board. So, whether you’re hoping to zhuzh a sad corner into a relaxing WFH zone, or looking for some true furniture wild cards (please see: the cursed crab chair), here are some of the best finds that VICE editors love on Wayfair, from affordable mid-century modern sofas and elegant office chairs to vibey lighting and so much more.

The best couches

We’ve featured Wayfair sectionals in everything from VICE guides to comfortable couches to cat- and scratch-proof sofas, but these are some of the couches we just can’t stop doodling on our arms during Zoom calls. The Geo Sofa is one of the site’s best-sellers, and has accumulated a 4.7-star average rating from over 4,800 reviews. It comes in a variety of colorways and fabrics, including bisexual velvet green (IYKYK) and nails the MCM aesthetic without losing its contemporary feel. Scoop it while it’s 50% off.

The Way Lords rode in hard with this comfy leather sofa, which is a whopping 59% off and boasts a 4.7-star average rating from over 1,400 reviews. As with its Geo couch cousin, this sleek sofa is made by AllModern, one of Wayfair’s best in-house brands for convincing folks that you speak several languages/make annual trips to Copenhagen “just to stay up-to-speed on the postmodern ceramics scene.”

Michel Ducaroy’s iconic 1970s Togo sofa has become one of the most coveted Instagram apartment flexes in recent years. It has been painstakingly pleated and designed to cradle your sweet peach like a champ, and the sling-back form gives it an effortlessly sexy, comfy appeal. An archival Togo sofa can easily cost over $8,000, but this dupe from Viv + Rae is a little over a thousand clams, and will leave none of your design-savvy friends the wiser.

Modular and sectional sofas can get pricy, but they’re worth it. There’s nothing worse than cramming all of your friends on one couch for a movie night, and nothing more lowkey-satisfying than being able to comfortably seat your tuchus, your roommate, and a guest/cat/situationship on a sofa. AllModern’s Miller sectional is one of the most highly-rated on the site with a 4.6-star average rating from over 1,100 reviews praising the deep-set seats, colorway options, and easy-to-clean fabric.

The best statement chairs

Don’t sleep on statement chairs. They’re a secret aesthetic catch-all for your work bag, your errant clothes/laundry, and whatever else the obligatory spare chair of your home needs to handle. This wide-set stunner—call him, “Ronaldo”—has a 4.6-star average rating from over 1,200 reviews on Wayfair.

The Jones armchair is a dupe for one of our favorite West Elm pieces, the Auburn chair—only, the former is far less expensive and comes in a scratch-proof, rusty velvet fabric that will bring warmth into your living room.

… You already know there’s going to be a solid Togo chair dupe on Wayfair as well, and this one is by a brand called Furgle. Very chic, and very Muppet-core of them.

Finally, a recliner that doesn’t feel like it belongs in a nursing home. The Alexiane reading chair has an easy, two-step assembly process, and the kinds of mid-century modern details (Googie legs; woven fabric textures) that make it feel like an authentic vintage piece.

The best bar carts

We’ve written a guide to building a bar cart from scratch, and a slick rolling cart is a great place to start. Both the Celese and Sarish have two shelves for storage, and handles that make it way easier to slide your margarita station wherever it needs to go.

The best cookware and appliances

When it comes to the kitchen, Wayfair has curated a beautiful ecosystem of cult-fave brands, off-brand appliances, and futuristic egg separators. There are always deals on Lodge cast-iron, Cuisinart appliances, Le Creuset bakeware, and other kitchen staples.

Kitchen accessories for looking like a cultured, worldly person

There are also plenty of designer wares to flex around your home, such as Alessi. The iconic (and very Frasurbane) Italian brand was behind some of the best designs of the 1980s and 90s, including the legendary dragon whistle kettle, and it’s all over Wayfair. Nothing says “I’m a seasoned little coffee snob” more than licking the cinnamon off the brand’s oddly shaped demitasse spoons, or pouring espresso out of a coffee maker that looks like it came from the Bauhaus ballet.

The best lighting

Lighting is everything. The difference between us looking like a hot, relaxed person and a dehydrated goblin always comes down to warm lighting, and these Japandi lamps bring in that coveted amber glow and natural wood feel.

Off-set the softer pieces of decor in your home with a few chrome lighting fixtures. The Brainard globe lamp reminds us of the massive circular lamp in Emma Chamberlain’s (suprisingly epic) Architectural Digest home video tour, while the Perlis arched floor lamp is a MCM classic.

The best shelving

I fell bum over noggin for these 4.7-star rated shelves, because they’re the perfect dupe for the über spensi, hella sexy Nordic mid-century modern floating shelves by Vitsœ. They’re almost addicting—like LEGOs for adults, because they’re totally fool-proof, and have not moved an inch since we installed them four months ago. We’ll walk you through the entire installation process in the VICE review of the shelves, but just know that they’re hella leightweight and easy to install.

Steelside is another in-house Wayfair brand to watch, because it’s the perfect blend of mid-century modern, industrial decor, and JB Blunk-minimalism. We’ve rounded-up out favorites from the line in this article, but this shelf deserves a special splotlight for its versatility and the fact that it’s 17% off.

The best rugs

Outdoor rugs are a game changer when it comes to zhuzhing your backyard. All it takes is one geometric rug to cover up that weird crack in the concrete/questionable ground stain, such as this one by Wrought Studio. It has a 4.7-star average rating on Wayfair, and it’s currently 50% off. Just don’t stare at the design too long when you’re microdosing shroomies.

Steelside sweeps us off of our [redacted] yet again with the line’s Leonardo rug. It’s the perfect blend of a geometric Moroccan and retro shag, and it has a 4.5-star rating on the site.

The best mattresses and bedding

A darker-colored duvet in a subtle windowpane print offers a nice contrast to classic linen sheets—yes, they’re worth it—that have been everywhere lately, while this inter-seasonal comforter is one of the best-selling bedding items on Wayfair; it has a 4.7-star average rating from over 12,700 reviews.

You can also find brands such as Casper and Sealy on Wayfair during your quest to (finally) get a new mattress and make sure that it gets off the floor with a solid bed frame.

The best office furniture

Building out a swole WFH zone can change the whole vibe of your home and seriously help with your workflow, so put that forgotten corner of your home to use with a writing desk that has extra built-in storage. This 17 Stories desk not only has shelving above and below the writing zone, but it doesn’t take up that much visual space with its steel and wood-finish materials.

You know what we want in a WFH chair? All the comfort of an ergonomic gaming chair with all the rustic appeal of a supple leather lounger that’s been passed down in a single, ornery British family for generations—and that’s where this swanky swivel by Williston Forge comes in. It features an adjustable backrest, integrated lumbar support, and a center tilt lever. (It’s also on sale right now!)

The best Wayfair wild cards

We wouldn’t dream of leaving out the *chef’s kiss* wild card range of Wayfair products, where you can find not only beauteous MCM pieces by brands including Latitude Run and Mercury Row, but unique furniture picks that will make it very clear who’s the cult leader. (It’s you.) Perhaps your living space could benefit from a massive skull throne by the one and only Design Toscano? How about a fuzzy alien lamp that lets everyone know you’re into butt stuff?

Wayfair, you get me.

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The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.