About House Staples

How we make a guide

Every guide starts with a narrow question, the kind people actually type into a search bar, like which kitchen tables have storage or which luggage racks fold flat. We gather the products that answer it, then compare them side by side on size against the space they go in, materials and construction, weight limits, what comes in the box, assembly, and price.

Products that skip the details a buyer needs, or turn out to be a different kind of product, do not make the cut. What is left gets ranked and written up one by one, with the tradeoffs called out plainly. Each guide has its own "How we made this list" section explaining what mattered most for that product type.

The House Staples Score

The House Staples Score is our editorial rating, out of 5, of how well a product suits the guide it appears in. It weighs build, materials, size, and value against the other products in that guide, and it sets the order of the picks on the page. A product can score well in one guide and lower in another, because the needs differ.

It is not an average of customer star ratings. The notes on each card explain where a product landed and why.

How the site makes money

Buy buttons link to the retailer, and we may earn a commission when you make a qualifying purchase. That commission never changes which products appear or how they are ordered. Prices and availability change often, so the price shown on a card may differ from what you see at checkout.

Corrections and questions

If a spec on a page is wrong or a product has changed, let us know and we will update the guide. Questions about House Staples or any guide: [email protected].