What's New at HomeSense/HomeGoods | The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Hi everyone, it's Nick. Welcome or welcome back to my channel. Okay, in this video today, we're gonna be talking about what's new at HomeSense, the good, the bad, and the ugly. So I did a video a little while ago on HomeSense called I Could Buy This, Not That, where I really just looked at what was great and what was not so great at the HomeSense home goods and shared it with you all. And I think you guys really liked that. And the good news is with HomeSense is they're constantly shoveling a bunch of new stuff into that store every 45 minutes approximately. So that means there's no shortage of things for me to sift through for you all and share here on my YouTube channel. So there's, you know, I really tried hard to kind of find some diamonds in the rough here. Not gonna lie, there was a lot of rough, but we did find some diamonds and I wanna share them with you here in this video. Okay, so first let's get to some good items from HomeSense that I found. First of all, I found three, count them, three nice patio chairs that I thought were really cool. First of all, there is this kind of simple chair, except it's got this really beautiful two-tone color thing going on of like a green and pink. I quite like this, I think this is cute. I think you can definitely work this into a salmon green sort of patio space. I mean, obviously there's gonna be a lot of green cause it's a patio and there's probably gonna be grass and trees and flowers and all sorts of things. So green is a really popular color to use in outdoor patio furniture. But I like this little salmon peachy color thing. I mean, I don't like pink for starters, but I would say that this is actually kind of cute. I really like this little pop of color here, very simple, basic chair. But overall, I think this is quite nice. And of course we also have this white chair here, which I really love this style. It's a little bit more modern than I kind of expect from HomeSense, which we all know loves the farmhouse and the glam. But this feels a little bit more sophisticated to me. And I really liked that little side table as well. I think it's a cute little set. They had it in a couple of different colors. They also had this minty green, which I thought was kind of cool. So overall, I think that this is a nice chair. It looks reasonably comfortable. I enjoy this one. I think this isn't bad. This is a nice pickup from HomeSense. Good job. And actually the one that I really liked the most is this yellow chair. I think for me, I don't know if you agree, but I find that with patio furniture, I love brighter colors in a patio or in outdoor than I do for indoor. I find that in an indoor space, I'm usually really craving either neutrals or sort of desaturated colors. Things are a little bit more toned down. I just find that it gives more welcoming, relaxed, comfortable space, which is where you're going to kind of rest at night and whatever. And I just find it also doesn't get as tired as quickly as some of the really big, bold, saturated colors. Just my personal taste. You can design your color palette however you please. But when it comes to outdoor, I really love those pops of colors because I'm usually gonna be on that patio in spring, summer. I'm usually looking for colors that really are gonna be interesting and shiny and fun and bold and work with the rest of the flowers. And it's just such a easy, a bright, gorgeous environment out there. But I think you can kind of get away with some really interesting and bold colors, right? Like it's kind of like, I don't know. It reminds me of when you go skiing and you see all those skiing outfits and everyone's wearing like bright hot pink in their like ski suit. And you're like, you know, that would never fly back in the city, but it seems to work on the mountain. I don't know. Like sometimes, you know, people, when it's outdoors, people seem to get away with crazier things out there. So this chair, I think is actually really cool. I love big pops of bright color and outdoor. And I think this chair does it. I like this one. Okay, but in the bad category, and I've said this about Home Sense before, just in general is the fake marble. Like, I think we're over the fake marble and I'm talking things that were never marble. You know what I mean? Like, it's one thing if you're kind of going to maybe fake something here and there, like I'm not opposed to, well, I actually kind of am, but strictly speaking, I would say there are some ways that you can sort of fake a real, even veneer, like a wood veneer is a good example of something that I'm totally fine with, because you're using sort of a real wood layer, but you're saving on cost by using MDF or something underneath, right? So I'm not strictly opposed with some fake things, even some fake flowers. Fake marble is tricky for me, because no one believes that you have like a marble spatula, unless you do, in which case, fantastic, good for you. But these marble items, like the marble garbage cans that are made of, like you could, honestly, if you're gonna, if you really love this, just get some contact paper and put it over a stainless steel garbage can, because then at least you can take the contact paper off. But a lot of these like fake marble-y stuff, I'm just really over, and Home Sense, Home Goods had so many of them. By the way, I know they're not the same store, but like, who cares? They're basically the same store. Anyway, I do think that the fake marble-y stuff, I'm really super tired of it. And just, it's, I think that we're all really moving past the fake marble, and, but Home Sense has not yet. So hopefully they will soon. Okay, next up. In the good category, we have this cute little ottoman that I found. And I think this is a good example of sort of a little bit more of a glam style. It's a little bit in the silvery gray camp, which is just, as a color palette, I'm a little bit tired of at this point. I think a lot of people are. Some people are not, which is why they're obviously still buying it from Home Sense. But I think this really is a little cute ottoman that I think would fit into that style. And again, this is, to me, an example of using a fabric that might appear as being in the glamorous glam sort of style, but isn't trying to be something that it's not, right? It's kind of like if something's in a velvet, it's not necessarily an incredibly expensive material. It's not hard to find items in a velvet that actually will work for your space, but it's not faking it, trying to be something that it's not, like say a rhinestone or marble contact paper or a marble garbage can would. And I think, if you know me, you know that that's kind of my divider line, right? Which is like, I don't mind the glam style, or of course I love an art deco space, when it's like real authentic luxury, it doesn't necessarily have to always be super, super expensive. Like this ottoman, how much is this ottoman? Is this ottoman $280? No, that's the thing underneath it. I don't know how much this ottoman is, but if that ottoman underneath is $280, come on, like that seems, come on, I thought HomeSense was supposed to be cheap. You guys, by the way, can you just all stop telling me too, that like, oh Nick, you go to the wrong HomeSense. My home goods is absolutely amazing. Yours just sucks. I'm not sure I believe you. I've been to many and they all seem the same to me, but you know, whatever. And next up in the bad category is going to be labeling rooms with these cheesy signs, but I'm gonna change it up because you know I make fun of the signs, but I really don't like when the signs are also in different languages. I think it's just really funny that now we've moved beyond just labeling things as eat and now we've moved into labeling them in different languages, which I'm assuming is supposed to appear maybe fancier and maybe more worldly than just putting them in English. So don't love them in English. Don't even really love them in different languages than English as well. If you speak Spanish or Italian or French or whatever, and you want to go and find signs in your own native language, I still don't recommend it. I just think we need to be over all the signs in general, but you already know that. Okay, the next up is going to be this cute little sort of bench. I don't think it's a dining bench. I don't like dining benches, but I really like this. I think it's really cool. It's in this really beautiful sort of royal blue velvet, which I thought was really, really cool. And I was quite surprised to see this. I thought, you know, again, it can sort of work in that art deco. This to me, kind of like the poof that we talked about earlier is an example of where Home Sense Home Goods, I think can be really good at what they do, which is they clearly, whatever buyer is out there loves glam style and they really, really, really enjoy it. But I think sometimes what they will stumble upon and they will put in their stores, which is great, is this stuff that doesn't really lean mirrored, rhinestone-y and tacky like they oftentimes do. And instead they sort of get it right because they lean into using real quality fabrics and real quality items that are in that style, but they're not faking it. And I think this is a successful version of some of the glam style that you sometimes do see at Home Sense Home Goods. So big fan of this one. I think this is really cool. I think this is probably one of the favorite items that I saw at the store. Actually, probably maybe like third place. There's a couple of good ones that I found, but I think this one is really cool. Okay, but in the not so good category is these Lady Justice scales that we have here that is a decor piece. Okay, I don't know who the market is for this. It's on clearance, so obviously nobody, but somebody is eventually going to buy this. How low can that price go? I do not know. But ooh, this one. Okay, the scales. Maybe if you're a lawyer, maybe if you're a judge, maybe if you're a Supreme Court justice, this might make sense for you in your front hall. No, honestly, I don't know anybody that really wants it. It's not a functioning scale, I don't think. Well, I mean, maybe it is, but I don't think you probably will use this for say cooking or anything like that. I don't really know who wants this. I think if you are really into vintage-y scales and that's your thing, then there are better places than clearance at Home Sense Home Goods to pick up this item. I'm sure you can stumble upon some 50, 100-year-old scale, maybe somewhere at Goodwill, and you can give that brand new life as a antique or a found find in your beautiful home, but I don't think this is a successful interpretation of that, and so I think this should stay on the shelf like it has for a while, obviously collecting dust there on the Home Sense shelf, and yeah, it should probably stay there. Leave that one for somebody else too. Okay, next on the good, I'm gonna have to give a couple of shout-outs to these baskets. I do think, I've said this in my last video, but I do think this is like Home Sense's bread and butter. I do think they really have the basket nailed down. I really liked this white one with the black trim on top. I also like this one, which was sort of like a black, but it was kind of a cork, which I thought was really kind of cool because you're getting a different material there, and I really like that it just sort of is a nice blended in, sort of neutral. You could use this for organizing things in your home. I really like the baskets from Home Sense. Some are not so great, but these ones I think are the really cute ones that I personally picked and thought that they were really neat. So if you are looking for something to buy from Home Sense, then I would say this is really a great basket to consider. Having said that, H&M Home has great baskets, Zara Home has great baskets, IKEA has great baskets. It's not hard to find great baskets, but add Home Sense to the list as a place to get some really good baskets. Okay, next up on my good list is going to be all this really cool flatware that they have. Home Sense has some really nice flatware that I think is really, really cool. I liked this. They have an interesting brass. They sort of had one in a bit of a champagne. They had like a glossy black. They have lots of different style. It's very plain, and I like that because that's kind of what I'm looking for, to be honest, in a lot of my flatware, personally. So, you know, this isn't your grandma's silverware. If you love that, that's cool, but this is not really what this is trying to be. This is, what's the, they have some here that's in like a brass, but it's like in a hammered finish, which I think is really cool. Honestly, if this wasn't in Home Sense and you just, if I found this in another retail that I actually liked, I probably would also throw it on my recommend list because sometimes when I'm doing the Home Sense videos, I feel like I'm grasping for things to really like because I don't like very much of it. And I don't want you all to think that I'm just like really hating on Home Sense all the time, even though obviously I do. I like the hammered finish on these ones. It is by a Rachel Ashwell. Rachel, you did a great job. I'm a big fan. Well, I don't know if I'm a big fan, but I'm a fan of this particular piece that you've done here with this flatware. And I think these are well done. I quite like these. I like this flatware. Okay, and then the next, what's new at Home Sense? I'm gonna talk about, you know, we talked about the wine decor before, but I just, it was out of control this time. Girls just wanna have wine, honey. You know, I just think that it's, you know what, if you need, get help if you need it. As I said, I think in the last video as well, and if you didn't then, then you should now. And I just, don't display this stuff. It's beyond, I don't think it's really funny. I think it's a little bit tacky. Maybe it is funny. It's funny because people put it in their homes. It's not funny because I found it in someone's home and think it's cute. Like it's the act of that you still think it's funny that's funny to me. Do you know what I mean? Okay, but let's get back to some good ones here because there are a couple. First of all, my favorite item. My favorite item that I found at Home Sense is this mirror. I really love this mirror. I think it's really, really cool. It's this black trim around this really beautiful arch and it's got this really interesting caning detail going around it. I loved it. I thought that was really, really cool. I really liked this mirror. I think it's really, really fun. I was really surprised it stood out to me like a diamond in the rough. And I just thought, you know, cause again, this is in the science section. Like if you know Home Sense Home Goods, like the mirror section and the wine section, the wine decor section and the like, the signs are all in the same area. And this just like radiated out to me. Like it had a glow around it. It was just like, pick me Nick, I'm amazing. And it's true. That mirror I thought was really, really cool. Loved the detailing of all the interesting caning. Loved the interesting, cool archway there. Loved the black. Like I just really loved that mirror. I thought someone who's really cool is gonna take this home. It's not me cause I don't have a place for it, but this one's a good one. If you find this one in your Home Sense, I would say go pick this one up. And I've also got this little terrazzo lamp here, which I thought was really, really cute. It's got this little brass cage that is around the light bulb. I feel like it's like really like small and unassuming. It was just sort of found at the bottom shelf. It was just so sad and lonely in the corner, but I thought it was really, really cool. I really liked it. It's next to this vintage fan thing, which you know, you might really be into, but I thought this particular little cutie was definitely, someone should take him home because I think he's a really cute little table lamp, especially if you're in the terrazzo thing. I know some people think it was a really quick trend and maybe it's not so trendy anymore. Who cares? I think it's really cool and I really like it. I think it's a really neat little lamp. So definitely one to consider. Okay, my next in the bad category is going to be this really cheap brass. I don't think a photo does it justice to show like the cheapness of the brass. You gotta really be careful because brass has obviously been very popular for a while. I really like brass. I like brush gold. You guys know that, but some of them really are super yellowy and just really, really cheap. And I don't know if a photo does it justice of just how cheap this sort of really looked. And it's such a shame because like I just said with the whole like fake marble trend, this is on a real piece of marble. Like it was actually, it could be really cool. In fact, if you just like took those handles off, honestly, it would be a really cute little cheese tray or whatever. You could have this as a little cheese board or something. I think it's a really, really cool tray because it's on some real Carrera marble. And I think that's really cool because you can actually buy some nice Carrera marble trays at HomeSense. This one's not it. I really don't love this sort of cheap brass and I don't love this sort of ornate curly detailing on this handle. That's a little bit just my taste, but I'm more really wanting to talk about just how sort of cheap this brass felt. It's such a miss. It's like, honestly, if you just took off those cheap brass handles, it would be so much better. Okay, and then in the good category here, we have these white marble coasters. So I really love coasters because I find they're a really great way to tie in with a material that you may be using in other areas. Like if you use a lot of wood, for example, wooden coasters can be really cool. Stone coasters, maybe you've got stone in other areas of the room and you wanna tie it in. Coasters are cool. Brass, black, like you can, it comes in any material. There are so many different cool coasters out there. And these are really great ones. I love them because at HomeSense, I do think they're probably gonna be more affordable. I've seen some really neat ones from other stores that are going to, you know, be maybe a little bit more interesting rather than just sort of a plain square slab of marble there. But these are really cool if you're looking for really basic marble coasters. Again, by the way, this is real marble. This is not trying to fake anything and be something that it's not. This is real marble. And I really, really like that. By the way, bonus, I don't really care for the, like, what is happening with that distressed wood underneath? I guess maybe if you're into coastal, sorry, the subject was the marble coasters, but you know, I just can't, like, what is that? Maybe if you're going for that like Diane Lane coastal grandma, sort of Grace and Frankie sort of look that seems to be really popular right now, then maybe, but like, anyway, the point is, is the white marble coasters are cool and you should check those out. Okay, and then the last one I'm gonna do as an ugly, and then, you know, I don't want to feel like I'm repeating myself, even though I kind of feel like I do when it comes to Home Sense because it's just such a consistent look that I obviously don't care for. But I picked this one as my finale because it has three things that bother me. Number one, it is a word sign. Number two, it looks like it has distressed wood, fake distressed wood. And number three, it's got rhinestones. So I really just think this sign is the capstone of all things I don't like at Home Sense, right? It's got, it's just that triple threat. And I just really don't love this peace sign. It's cheesy, it's glammy, and it's rustic at the same time, which is even less successful than when you do them independently. I don't know who this is for. How many, oh, Dream. They've also got a Dream sign behind. Oh, that's just, it's honestly, like the whole thing is just, it's a little bit too much of all those things wrapped in one sign. Ooh, I really don't like that one. Okay, so with that last less than awesome piece from Home Sense, I wanna thank you all for watching this video. And if you'd like to see my, Buy This, Not That Home Sense, where I talk about other things that I like and don't like at Home Sense, you can go check out that video here and I will see you all the next one. Thanks a lot, bye.