Pottery Barn vs Arhaus: Which Should You Buy? (2026)
Key Takeaways
- • These two are in different price tiers. Category for category, Arhaus runs roughly two to three times Pottery Barn, and the middles are about $2,400 against $800
- • Separate companies. Every Pottery Barn page carries the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. copyright line, while Arhaus is independent and says on its own About page that it was founded in 1986
- • There is far more Pottery Barn to choose from here, and the gap is widest in outdoor, coffee tables, beds and bedroom storage
- • Arhaus concentrates on fewer categories. About one in four Arhaus pieces we carry is a console, credenza or sideboard, and it offers a full lighting range
- • Arhaus builds by hand. Nearly half of the Arhaus pieces we carry are handcrafted or made by named artisans, against roughly one in eleven of Pottery Barn's
- • Pottery Barn is where the entry prices are. A large share of its range starts under $500, which Arhaus almost never does
- • DDC membership is free and members take 10% to 40% off retail on both brands, an average of $3,246 a year, which moves what the higher tier costs you
Quick Answer
Buy Pottery Barn if you are furnishing a whole room and want the widest choice at a lower entry price, especially bedroom storage, coffee tables or anything outdoors. Buy Arhaus if you are buying one substantial piece you plan to keep, want handcrafted and reclaimed materials, and are comfortable at roughly two to three times Pottery Barn's price in the same category. These are separate companies with separate design languages, so mixing them takes some planning.
Pottery Barn Overview
Pottery Barn is a Williams-Sonoma, Inc. brand, which its own footer states on every page and links out to williams-sonomainc.com. Its header links across to Pottery Barn Kids, PB Teen, Williams Sonoma, WS Home, West Elm, Rejuvenation, Mark & Graham, GreenRow and Dormify. It sells through its website, a printed catalog you can request and physical stores you can find through its own locator, publishes free interior design services and a room planner, runs a wedding and gift registry, and posts its sustainability commitments on a Responsibly Made page that links shops for FSC, Fair Trade, Greenguard Gold, OEKO-TEX, NEST and Global Recycled Standard products.
Positioning: The classic and transitional end of the market, built around complete rooms. The depth is in dressers, nightstands, consoles, coffee tables, dining chairs, beds and a real outdoor line, with a lot of decor and textiles underneath it all.
Retail range: about $50 to $2,200 for most of what we carry. Current pricing is on each product page.
Signature styles
- Classic and transitional silhouettes
- Complete-room collections rather than single statement pieces
- Deep bedroom storage: dressers, nightstands, consoles
- Slipcovered and performance-fabric upholstery
Arhaus Overview
Arhaus is independent, and its own About page tells the story: founded in 1986 on the idea that furniture and decor should be sustainably sourced, lovingly made and built to last, with John Reed named as co-founder. The same page describes artisan partnerships that span continents, naming rug weavers in India, upholstery workshops in North Carolina and families of master woodworkers in Italy and Mexico, and a Green Initiative under which its partners use sustainably sourced, reclaimed and recycled materials, from mango wood harvested after the trees stop fruiting to repurposed copper. In 2021 it opened a 500,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility in North Carolina for American-made upholstery. It publishes design services, a room planner, a catalog subscription, a store directory, a limited warranty and its own returns, delivery and protection-plan pages.
Positioning: The high end of accessible furniture, sold one piece at a time. The Arhaus selection here is small and focused, weighted toward console tables, lighting, upholstery and case goods, with almost no decor and almost nothing outdoors.
Retail range: about $700 to $6,600 for most of what we carry. Current pricing is on each product page.
Signature styles
- Substantial, materially driven pieces meant to anchor a room
- Handcrafted and artisan-made work the brand describes on the product page
- Reclaimed and recycled materials under its published Green Initiative
- Upholstery made at its own North Carolina facility
Head-to-Head: Key Differences
Price & Value
Arhaus costs more, and the gap is wide enough that it decides the question for most shoppers. Across what we carry, Arhaus centers around $2,400 against roughly $800 for Pottery Barn, and the same ratio holds inside almost every category: sofas and sectionals start around $6,650 at Arhaus against roughly $3,500 at Pottery Barn, dining tables around $3,850 against $1,850, beds around $4,150 against $1,500, dressers around $3,800 against $1,800, and nightstands around $1,950 against $700. Lighting is the widest gap of all, roughly $2,000 against $400. The two ranges are shaped differently as well as priced differently. A large share of Pottery Barn starts under $500, a price Arhaus almost never reaches, and above $5,000 the position reverses. Treat every figure here as a range rather than today's price, and check the product page for the current number.
Quality & Craftsmanship
Neither brand publishes a spec you can hold the other to, so the difference is in how each one is made and what each one certifies. Arhaus builds by hand. Nearly half of the Arhaus pieces we carry are handcrafted or made by named artisans, against roughly one in eleven at Pottery Barn, and Arhaus names the workshops on its About page: rug weavers in India, master woodworkers in Italy and Mexico, and upholstery built at its own North Carolina plant since 2021. It publishes a Green Initiative covering reclaimed and recycled materials, and a limited warranty and protection plan. Pottery Barn works the other way, through certification programs run at the company level: its sustainability page links FSC, Fair Trade, Greenguard Gold, OEKO-TEX, NEST and Global Recycled Standard shops. Where Pottery Barn is more specific is fabric, with performance weaves and removable slipcovers on much of its upholstery. Both are legitimate approaches. If durability is your question, judge the specific piece, because both brands run a wide band.
Style & Design
Pottery Barn is classic and transitional. Arhaus is heavier, more material-forward and built around a single strong piece. That difference shows up in what each brand is actually deep in. Pottery Barn runs many times deeper in coffee tables, dressers, nightstands, dining chairs, beds and outdoor, so if you want a full room from one brand, it is the one to start with. Arhaus puts its depth into fewer categories: consoles, credenzas and sideboards, and lighting, where its short list still beats Pottery Barn's. Since the two companies never designed against each other, mixing works best when Arhaus supplies the one piece the room is built around and Pottery Barn fills in the rest, matched on wood tone rather than on style.
Customer Service & Warranty
Both run a similar shape of service from their own sites. Each publishes free design help, Pottery Barn through its design services and room planner, Arhaus through its design services and its own room planner, and each has a store directory, a catalog you can subscribe to, and its own shipping, returns and exchange policies. Arhaus adds a published limited warranty and an optional protection plan from its footer. Pottery Barn adds a wedding and gift registry. On a DDC order you are buying the retailer's own product, so their delivery and returns terms are the ones that apply, and made-to-order upholstery is handled differently from stocked items at both. Check the policy on the retailer's page before a large upholstery order, which matters more here than on most comparisons because Arhaus upholstery costs more. If one does go wrong, you message your member success contact rather than a call center. We work directly with the support teams at both brands every day, so the fix starts with someone who has a direct line to them.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Pottery Barn if:
- You are furnishing a whole room and want the pieces to match. We carry several times as many Pottery Barn dressers, nightstands, coffee tables, beds and dining chairs as Arhaus's
- Your budget starts under $1,000 a piece. Much of Pottery Barn starts under $500, which is rare territory for Arhaus
- You are buying for a patio or a porch. Pottery Barn has a real outdoor line, and it is the natural first stop for outdoor pieces
- You want a washable slipcover or a performance weave for a room with kids or pets, which Pottery Barn puts on far more of its upholstery
Choose Arhaus if:
- You are buying one substantial piece you expect to keep, and you want the room built around it
- You want to know who made it. Nearly half of the Arhaus pieces we carry are handcrafted or made by named artisans, and the brand names the workshops on its About page
- You are shopping a console, a credenza or a statement light, which is where Arhaus's small range runs deep
- Reclaimed and recycled materials matter to you and you want them described on the product page, which is what its published Green Initiative covers
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Arhaus more expensive than Pottery Barn?
Yes, substantially, and it holds up category by category. Arhaus centers around $2,400 against roughly $800 for Pottery Barn. Sofas and sectionals start around $6,650 at Arhaus against roughly $3,500 at Pottery Barn, dining tables around $3,850 against $1,850, beds around $4,150 against $1,500, and nightstands around $1,950 against $700. Much of Pottery Barn starts under $500, which Arhaus almost never does. Treat all of these as ranges, and open the product page for today's price.
Is Arhaus better quality than Pottery Barn?
Neither brand publishes a standard that settles it. Arhaus builds by hand: nearly half of the Arhaus pieces we carry are handcrafted or made by named artisans, against roughly one in eleven of Pottery Barn's, and its About page names the artisan partners and the North Carolina upholstery plant it opened in 2021. Pottery Barn handles it at the company level, linking FSC, Fair Trade, Greenguard Gold, OEKO-TEX, NEST and Global Recycled Standard shops from its sustainability page, and puts performance fabric and removable slipcovers on much of its upholstery. Compare the specific piece rather than the logo.
Are Pottery Barn and Arhaus the same company?
No. Pottery Barn is a Williams-Sonoma, Inc. brand, stated in the copyright line on every page and linked to williams-sonomainc.com, and its header connects to Pottery Barn Kids, PB Teen, Williams Sonoma, WS Home, West Elm, Rejuvenation, Mark & Graham, GreenRow and Dormify. Arhaus is independent and says on its own About page that it was founded in 1986. Plan accordingly if you are buying from both. Two brands under one parent company are usually designed to coordinate, and these two are not.
Can you mix Pottery Barn and Arhaus furniture?
Yes, and the price gap makes it a sensible plan. Let Arhaus supply the piece the room is built around, a console, a dining table or the sofa, and let Pottery Barn fill in around it, where its depth and lower entry prices do the most work. Match on wood tone and finish rather than on style, since the two companies never designed against each other. What does not work as well is splitting a single category between them, because the weight and scale of the two brands look different side by side.
Which brand is better for a full bedroom?
Pottery Barn, in most cases. Its dressers, nightstands and beds run several times deeper than Arhaus's, so matching a bed, a dresser and two nightstands is a much shorter search, and each of those pieces costs roughly half as much. Arhaus is the better answer when you want one bed or one dresser to be the piece you notice in the room and are filling in around it.
Can I get any Arhaus piece through Designer Discount Club?
If you can find it on the Arhaus site, send us the link and we will get you a member price on it. What is already listed here leans toward consoles and credenzas, lighting, upholstery and beds, with almost nothing outdoors, so the piece you have in mind may not be on the site yet. One message is all it takes, and your member success rep runs it from there.
Does Designer Discount Club carry both Pottery Barn and Arhaus?
Yes, both, covering sofas and sectionals, dining and coffee tables, consoles, beds, dressers, nightstands and lighting, alongside over 400 top brands. Membership is free, and members take 10% to 40% off retail on the retailer's own product, an average of $3,246 a year. On a page where one brand runs two to three times the other, that is often what puts the piece you actually wanted back in range. Real designers come with the membership, and a member success rep places the order and stays on it until it is in the house.
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