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Metamorphosis
Categories: Shopping Home & Garden Furniture Stores Shopping Home & Garden Home Decor Furniture Stores, Home Decor [Edit]
1693 Massachusetts AveCambridge, MA 02138
Neighborhood: Porter Square
(617) 497-1233
- Nearest Transit:
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Massachusetts Ave @ Shepard St (77, 96)
Massachusetts Ave @ Wendell St (77, 83, 96)
Massachusetts Ave @ Garfield St (77, 83, 96)
- Price Range:
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$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
Sam S. said: "I love this place! I ordered a beautiful solid cherry wood writing desk for my son (no veneer, only solid wood). He's tall (6' 3" at 14.5 years of age), so the salesman suggested that we should add an inch to the desk height. He…" read more »
12 reviews for Metamorphosis
12 reviews in English
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Review from Meg S.
Charlestown, MA
4/18/2011
We came here in November of last year and bought a coffee table, 6 dining room chairs and a really funky purple couch from Eddie. He reupholstered one of the chairs, and we painted them ourselves. The coffee table was a cool shape and in good condition, and the couch had just been reupholstered and refinished by Eddie.
He's fantastically talented and has a great eye for furniture and fabrics. He's also a nice guy, and remembered us when we came back today. He asked my boyfriend, who had been on crutches, how his foot was doing.
We knew from the first time around that there was a huge, messy basement full of trash and treasure, and I had spotted a leather chair that I hadn't been able to get out of my head. I thought I found it again, but it was ripped and stained and needed to be completely redone. Eddie dug out another one from under the rubble -- even cooler than the first one. It has a few scratches, and he offered to redo it for us, but we like the character of it and brought it home as is (after Eddie scrubbed it and delivered it to us.)
A word of warning: Eddie is great and his furniture is great, but if you don't like bargaining, you may have a hard time. He is definitely a salesman, and will do what it takes to encourage you to buy -- anything from flattery to reupholstery. I think his prices are quite reasonable, but it's quality furniture, so don't expect it to be cheap. We love all of the furniture we acquired from Eddie, and love the fact that you can almost always walk in and find what you are looking for furniture-wise because he PACKS the place full.
Definitely definitely worth a try if you're in the market for used furniture! -
Review from April Y.
Somerville, MA
11/22/2010
My first experience at Metamorphosis was kind of worrisome. I saw a dresser I loved, asked if they would hold it one day for me, and they said they'd consider it sold. The next day, when I came back, it was in the window! Eddie joked that he thought I wasn't coming back for it. He delivered it and hauled it up the stairs, which was great, except for the paint chips that he made no attempt to fix or avoid. My roommate had bought a couple matching pieces from him earlier in the week, and she noticed peeling paint -- a lot of the furniture doesn't seem to be sanded down before he refinishes it, so the paint has trouble sticking.
My second experience was worse. When I bought my dresser. I asked if he could paint a bookcase and a night stand the same color, and to call me when he had a nightstand in a similar style so that I could come look at it. He said ok. Two days later, he calls to say my furniture is ready. Not ready to look at, but ready for delivery. I was a little taken aback, but I was also traveling for work the whole week--within that week, he called both my roommate and I several times, tried to charge her card for my furniture (which he mysteriously still had on file), and was just generally really pushy. He also quoted her a price over $80 over what the two pieces were worth. When I called and asked about it, he said he had made a mistake -- I'm glad he didn't charge her card for it!
Finally, to preserve the relationship, I agreed to buy the furniture. He delivered them to me that evening, and once he left I noticed that they DON'T match my dresser. And, to boot, he sold me an end table, not a night stand! I'm reselling it all on craigslist, at a loss. And I won't be back. -
Review from Joshua D.
Watertown, MA
8/10/2011
Like all the reviews said, if you need a piece painted from here, just pass on it. Eddie is a salesmen and he will do ANYTHING to get a sale. My girlfriend bought a dresser from here, and it arrived late and the paint job was awful. He tried to say it was a distressed look, I feel he was just lazy. Buyers beware!!!
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Review from Leighann F.
Astoria, Queens, NY
4/7/2009 2 photos
As one door closes, another opens! History locked up shop last year, leaving a big, sad gaping hole on Massachusetts where a beloved vintage clothing store once sat.
But behold, vintage and second-hand lovers! The silver lining on your cloud has finally appeared! Metamorphosis, the sister store of Eddie's Furniture on Elm Street, is stocked with reworked vintage furniture. Everything from bookshelves and china cabinets, to framed posters, a working seltzer bottle from the '40s and completely reupholstered chairs in toile.
Though the items are a bit pricey, you're paying for the craftsmanship and the opportunity to own something completely unique.
In addition to the furniture in the store, you can even bring them stuff you currently own and they will jazz it all up for you. I met with one of the owner's today and he was helpful but not pushy, informative and excited to be in business on Mass Ave.
I'll be saving my pennies for a certain poster of a certain pop artist, among many other cool pieces in the store. -
Review from Lauren E.
Mid-Cambridge, MA
Updated - 9/15/2009
Yes, this is my second review of the place, but it just keeps getting better! I just found out that Eddie, the owner, does all of the re-finishing and the re-upholstering for the furniture he sells. He does a great job, and really puts thought and intention into his design choices. He even offered to give me some materials to re-finish something on my own that I was interested in.
I really think that it makes a big difference when the people running a place are kind to you. Eddie does a great job of it. This time when I went in, he introduced me to his mother, and showed me pictures of his daughters. He seems like a good family guy, doing his best with this business. It's worth supporting what he's doing, and you get beautiful furniture in the process. He's interested in telling you the stories behind the pieces, but he's not overly sales-man-ly pushy about it.
Also, I always love a place where people are willing to let you bargain with them, and prices at Metamorphosis always seem to be negotiable. :) Big 5 stars from me, and many return trips!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/11/2009
This place was great! I stumbled upon it while I was walking along Mass Ave, and was intrigued by… Read more »
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Review from Lore S.
Brookline, MA
9/25/2011
Ditto on several of the comments already made. Eddie's work was very good and fast, but he showed up and said it was going to be $50 more than I was quoted at the store. Took advantage of the fact that it was my mother in law and not me receiving and paying for the bureaus, especially since I had spoken to him twice on the phone about the delivery. I didn't care about the extra money, quite frankly, but the last minute add on was not right.
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Review from Virginia su m.
Boston, MA
i refuse to decorate my house in manner of crate and fug or west elm . ok i like crate and fug actually, but everything there is just so neutered and scared. where is your ball sac crate and barrel? what about yours west elm?? i like you both but where is the life???? the edge?? the personality???????
i'll tell you where.
it's at metamorphosis, where dressers that aren't afraid to be turquoise come to hang out- have a cigy. at metamorphosis, a purple arm chair can hook up with a lesbian bookcase and no one will judge (don't feel weird, i don't know what that means either). blue side tables can romp around freely and unfinished chests with glass knobs are loved for who they are!! century old desks aren't crap! they're refinished treasures!
come! come and adopt a cool piece of furniture! and don't complain that it's 400 dollars! someone put a lot of work into that lesbian bookcase. just look at her go!Listed in: the time machine, a fun furniture guide!
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Review from Marlene S.
Somerville, MA
8/6/2010
I have always loved this type of store: stuffed to the brim with unique, old pieces of furniture in varying conditions. For my first purchase a few weeks ago, I fell in love with a little cabinet/buffet/sideboard to use in my new kitchen. I had great plans for it: fix the door, sand it down, paint it green. Eddie, the shop owner, told me he'd do it for $230. I felt like it was expensive, but liked the piece so much that I decided to go with it.
This is where the trouble began. About 2 weeks after I had ordered the piece, Eddie left me a message telling me that it was ready. I called the store back and left a message saying I would come pick the piece up that Thursday between 6 and 7 with a ZipCar. I arrived to the store at 6:30---to find Eddie's employee still painting it out back! The piece looked like absolute crap. Completely unprofessional paint job, reminiscent of a child splattering paint here and there. The employee told me he would drop it off at my place for free the next day after he had touched it up. I pointed out several places on the cabinet that were unacceptable and he said he would fix them. He was also kind enough to reimburse me for the cost of renting the ZipCar ($20).
The next day, the employee called me to say he had arrived with the piece, so I walked out into the street to meet him. He was STILL painting the cabinet, right there in the road. Apparently he had again "just noticed" some other spots where the paint was globbed on too thickly and was trying to touch them up. I was so surprised and flustered that I stupidly let him bring the cabinet into my house. The wet paint streaked all over the curtain in my entryway. The employee's "fixes"--which really consisted of him dabbing on paint over certain already thick areas--had done nothing to correct for the initial bad paint job. It is quite clear that the piece had not been stripped of its original layers of paint. There were thick drips of dried paint on the legs and door. They painted over the door hinges, and the paint is peeling right off of them. When the door is opened, it reveals a crooked, thin, wobbly line of paint just covering the outer threshold--no clean line to separate the outside from the inside.
I called the store again the next day and politely expressed my disappointment and said that I wanted the cabinet stripped so that I could repaint it myself. He said he would come by, and also said that Eddie was mad at him for having refunded me any money. He said he would bring paint thinner to clean up my curtain. When he arrived, he had forgotten the paint thinner, and did not bring enough pieces of sandpaper to finish the sanding job. Since then, we have not been able to sync our schedules for him to come by again, and he is now on vacation for two weeks, and I am moving.
So after $210, I have a half-sanded cabinet, no tools to finish sanding it myself, and a ruined curtain. I will have to buy a belt sander, paint, brushes, and paint thinner in order to fix all the mess, in addition to what I've already spent.
The $20 I got back for the ZipCar in no way compensates for the hassle that I now have on my hands. I will never shop here again. Eddie is a fun guy who has an awesome selection of furniture, and perhaps it would be safe if you aren't planning on having them do any work on the pieces, but don't trust their handiwork. It's hit or miss, and the misses will not be fixed. -
Review from Haviva P.
East Arlington, MA
10/9/2009
I was immediately drawn into Metamorphosis, with all the funky colors and fabrics, and, on initial meeting, really excited about all the potential this place has. I bought a dresser that was in the window and a couple night stands that they painted to match, for a good price and I was happy, happy, happy. Unfortunately that is where the good part of the story ends.
Their customer service was abysmal. Long story short, I had some paint issues with the dresser I bought and despite it turning out to be completely their fault, I was strung along and essentially blamed for their shotty paint job. After MUCH arguing and way too many calls back and forth where one minute I was told one thing and then called back 30 minutes later only to hear something else, I was able to return everything (it was a matching set) and get my money back. It took way too long and was way too painful.
I am a pretty understanding person, if they had just admitted they made a mistake and fixed it, I most likely would have gone back and bought more stuff, but that was just not the case. Maybe it was a one off thing, maybe Eddie and I just could not get along, but I could not let the experience go without some warning to those coming after me... -
Review from k w.
Boston, MA
3/9/2010
This place is as good as it gets for second hand furniture. The selection constantly changes, prices are unbeatable for unique wooden furniture, and the shop owners will paint or upholster anything for you if you are self-aware enough to acknowledge that you'll never get out the sandpaper and paint yourself. I don't need any new furniture right now, but the next time I move I'm coming here first for chairs, dressers, or a cool table. Now that I think about it, maybe I DO need that teal blue china cabinet that I saw today...
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Review from Jamie K.
2/19/2011
this store makes me want to move for the sole reason of having additional rooms to decorate. each piece, stacked floor to ceiling, has its own personality, and the prices are reasonable! moving, however, not so reasonable. some day...
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Review from Rebecca V.
Somerville, MA
9/25/2010
It seems like a great store. However, it would be helpful for the customer to be able to get into the store. If you're going to be open at 11am, and you have your hours posted on your door, then open at 11am. That way people don't waste their time waiting around to go to your store, and then go back to your store at 11:45 to find out that the store still isn't open and they've wasted their time completely.
