thepresent.home
DINKWAD life in our cozy 4-room BTO
6-month review of our Taobao buys - is it worth it?
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hello! since it’s been about 6 months since we moved in, we thought it’s time to give our home Taobao buys a long-term review! It was our first time purchasing large items from Taobao and we put a lot of faith into them 😂 but there’s definitely been some hit and misses! I think anyone buying items from Taobao just has to keep in mind that quality may not be as good as branded versions, but it’s a good trade off for the cheaper price tag. We hope our reviews would be useful for you! 
Custom solid wood dining table price excl shipping: ~$500 condition: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a customised dining table as we wanted a pill-shaped table in specific dimensions to fit our narrow dining area. We were pleasantly surprised when the table arrived because of the great solid wood quality and how it turned out exactly like we wanted. The colour of the wood also fits into our home theme perfectly. 6 months later, still no regrets getting this table but the wood has warped just a tiny bit, not noticeable unless you place eg a laptop on the tabletop and then you’ll realise it wobbles slightly. But for a dining table, it’s still 100% useable and we also don’t treat it with too much care since it only cost us about $500 (excluding shipping)! 
Dining chairs price excl shipping: ~$60 condition: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ To match our wood theme, we got these sleek dining chairs with black metal legs and thankfully the wood tones are similar to our dining table! Assembling these chairs took some time (the timelapse video is on our IG page) because of some misalignment with the seat cushion, but it was worth it because these chairs are sooooo comfortable! 
It hasn’t degraded visibly in the last 6 months, apart from small chips in the metal legs which is a result of our robot vacuum trying to roll over the legs daily 🤣 But it’s not noticeable unless you look up close! 
Dining “butt” stools price excl shipping: ~$55 condition: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We loveeee these stools because they’re really built to fit your butt hahaha 😝 But seriously, because of its shape, the stool is really comfy to sit for long hours even without any backing. The stool is made of solid wood and has a good weight to it. It is also very sturdy with rubber soles to prevent scratches. 0 degradation in the last 6 months we’ve been using it, even with our robot vacuum sometimes knocking into it! Tempted to buy more of this stool for additional seating hahaha. 
Muji dupe shelf price excl shipping: ~$60 condition: 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ We couldn’t bear to pay so much for actual Muji shelves and compromised with this set from Taobao. But looking at its condition only 6 months later — the metal legs have tarnished quite a lot and it’s starting to be visible from afar — maybe investing in the Muji shelf would be a good next move. 
The Taobao shelf is still useable and it currently houses our vinyls, vinyl player and robot vacuum — more of a vanity point at the moment seeing the rate that it has degraded 🥲 But then again, this is also something to expect from Taobao furniture especially if there is metal material. It’s a compromise for the cheaper price but we probably won’t purchase this again! 
Study room vertical bookshelf price excl shipping: ~$125 condition: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We bought this bookshelf as a sleek option for our study room that doesn’t take too much space. The shelf has a very heavy metal base to ensure it doesn’t topple. By right this bookshelf is also a design feature and we should be stacking fewer books on it, but we didn’t have anywhere else to store our books for now 🫣 
Anyway even with the shelf being packed with heavy books it still remains sturdy and strong with no warping at all! We’ve also used it to house some fun figurines and memorabilia from our travels. Definitely a good option to consider as a feature for your home!
25 June
