Custom 'heirlooms' to fit any home

Furniture has been selling like hot cakes during this pandemic as people try to make their homes more comfortable while they spend both work time and leisure time within their personal walls. O'Reilly's Furniture and Amish Gallery at 1151 S. Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville has filled the furniture needs of many of those increasingly homebound local residents.

Opening in 1977, O'Reilly's Furniture carved out a niche in the Lake County furniture market, mixing custom, American-made, solid wood furniture with upholstered and leather furniture.

"Most of our competitors are big box, low-end furniture stores, and a few very expensive high-end stores," said owner Mike Walsh. "O'Reilly's is in the middle and offers a degree of customization that no one else is offering - certainly at the price point."

O'Reilly's Furniture is unlike most furniture stores because its 15,000-square-foot space is literally packed tight with furniture of all descriptions: 40 dining table and chair sets, 50 entertainment centers, 15 bedroom sets, 35 occasional table sets, 20 desks (including an Amish-made, motorized lift desk), 120 sofas, chairs, sectionals and so forth. All are displayed in an effort to let customers touch, see and feel as much as possible while making a decision. Seeing finishes, legs, tops and edges on a full-sized piece of furniture is much easier than trying to envision something based on a small sample or a photo in a book, Walsh said.

All of the wood furniture in O'Reilly's is Amish-made and, according to Walsh, the longtime connection between the store and the talented craftsmen who hand-make the "family heirlooms" it sells is O'Reilly's biggest strength.

"The benefit of working with such skilled artisans is not only that their quality is unmatched, but that the customer has a chance to customize their furniture to get exactly what they want," he said. "We facilitate a relationship that allows customers and craftsmen to work together to create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that fit perfectly in people's homes, pieces they will pass on to future generations."

This customization is what truly sets O'Reilly's apart from other furniture stores, as customers can choose their style, size, wood, color, edges, hardware and more for all solid wood Amish-made furniture. For upholstery pieces, customers can choose from hundreds of sectional, sofa, love seat and chair styles, and more than 1,200 fabrics and leathers.

Walsh says he will continue to keep the furniture on the showroom floor updated to reflect modern trends and styles, all while keeping the traditional quality and customer service that O'Reilly's has prided itself on for 43 years.

"We haul away old furniture for free, and if the customer ever calls with an issue, one of us goes right over to the home to solve the problem. That's something we'll never change," he said.

Walsh believes that as long as O'Reilly's continues to focus on always putting the customer first, though its service, quality and customization, there's no reason to believe it won't still be serving Lake County for another 40 years or more. As he said with a smile, "We're not going anywhere."

For more information, visit www.oreillysfurniture.com or call (847) 367-6550.