West Elm Classic Cafe Dining Chair Unboxing and Assembly

Unboxing and assembly of a West Elm Cafe Dining Chair

[eleanorclark]

I came here for the same reason as everyone else - there were actual tears during the assembly of the first two. But I switched up my strategy for the third and then four, five, and six were slightly less stressful in comparison, so just thought I'd share in case helpful for anyone in future. Screw the first bolts down into the holes all the way down BEFORE you've put the seat in place - just to loosen up the thread a bit, and enjoy the glorious 360° turn. Then unscrew, position the two chair pieces into place, and start screwing them down manually using just your fingers. I found I could get most of the way there, and then only needed to faff about with that allen key for the final tightening. Still pretty tedious, but took a third of the time and I emerged relatively sane at the end.

[paularnold]

I agree with all the comments below. My spouse and I are both handy and have a lot of experience putting together furniture but the assembly on the counter height cafe chairs was engineered by someone who never had to do it themselves. Just put together 4 counter cafe stools. The turn radius for the Allen wrench on the first bolt is barely enough to crank it a single turn. Not a 360 degree turn, a 1/5 turn, and I used a smaller length Allen wrench than was provided. Those 2 screws alone take 20-30 minutes to fasten. And one of them had a misaligned pre-drilled hole. West Elm is sending me a new chair and I have to box up the faulty one and send it back. I like that most of the hardware is concealed but this chair has it so concealed that it is impossible to assemble without scratching the chair in the process or buying some specialized ratchet tool that apparently does not exist in my extensive socket tool set. And they wobble a bit on our level floor. Unfortunately, I really do like the chairs.

[hariiyer]

Going to try the hex key set as someone mentioned and perhaps I will have better luck on the rest of the 3 chairs still to be assembled.

[SlinkyJean]

I actually feel encouraged by these comments, because at least I know it wasn’t just me. Like seriously.... I am beyond disappointed in WE. If I wanted to put crap furniture together myself I would have gone to IKEA. I have never screamed at a chair more than I have at this chair, and we still don’t have it put together. Thanks a lot West Elm.

[tracyreilly]

Would've been helpful if you filmed actually putting screws in.

[mrjourney]

Hey y’all, this is an older video but here’s the solution: a ratcheting hex key set! Makes the job quick and easy. I bought a nice American-made one and now assembly takes 5 minutes.

[kiragarcia]

Hey Brandon, how did you get the bolts in that connect the seat to the legs? (about 4:22) There isn't sufficient room in the niche where the bolts drop in to twist the allen wrench. Totally stumped.

[joycekwon]

I just spent 2.5 hours putting this chair together. The head to one of the "G" screws for the near-impossible recess that everyone is talking about wore out before I could screw it in completely. I'm just going to return this chair. Save yourself the trouble and stay away from this chair!

[hariiyer]

Hi Brandon, I purchased 4 of these chairs, expensive chairs and paid shipping separately (steep); your video glossed over or completely overlooked the part where you have to use the provided allen wrench to place the long screw. It takes hours and still not tight yet. Sometimes it is better to get from costco and at least if defective or poor design they take it back no questions asked.
Crappy design. In addition, the legs one is straight and the other is crooked (in an angle) one has to insert and then screw them to the wood, if done poorly since there are no instructions on which goes where, then one ends up with a wobbly chair as well.

[jackshepherd]

A more detailed step-by-step description would have been nice. Video not much help.

[tomroland]

ok here's the trick on the hard to reach Allen screw. Throw all the Allen wrenches away that comes in the package. Next go to your local hardware store and get a really small channel locks and then you can grab and turn the bolt, albeit a small amount at a time. After the first chair I could assemble each one in 10-12 min . Good luck

[gabbyc]

Trying to put together the counter stool and the "N" screw that goes into the support pieces at angle just falls right out and does not get any tighter.. any experience with how to properly put this screw in...