Martha Stewart Everyday Montecito Collection

Pros: Looked nice & was a good price, Martha Stewart SEEMED like a good name.
Cons: Buy if you can afford to toss after two seasons.

I bought this set for the same reasons everyone else did - good price, color, shape, pretty fern design in the glass table, and I thought that Martha Stewart products would be of good quality. We enjoyed the set for the first 2 summers, always putting it away in the winter. Then we noticed rust around the screws that held the chairs together, and that was just the start. The paint on the chairs began to chip and discolor, the ring around the hole in the table where the umbrella comes through became brittle & broke, and then the chair fabric began to shred. Yep, just like the others who wrote in - I am very disappointed.
I looked at that site that someone mentioned about replacement fabric, but if it is the same stuff, I'll just be buying more trouble, and at $36 a shot (x 6) that is no bargain, plus all the work involved in doing the replacing. Even on that website they warned that it is a big job. It was a frustrating job to assemble it in the first place.

Pros: The product was pretty
Cons: Cheaply made, See Above for cons

We purchased the Dining Set and The Bar Collection, and thought we loved them until one evening while having a party, 3 different dining chairs ripped apart. K Mart, while sympathetic, could not help, as the chairs are no longer made by the company. We were given place to call to order new material for chairs, but the material was very expensive and any work to re do the chairs would be either very expensive or even impossible. I would not recommend this product

Pros: seats dry quickly; seat screws rusted. Comfy seats, easy to clean, nice size for 6.
Cons: chair screws rusted quickly; edges of glass top collect water and mold, clean carefully

We bought the set in 2000, it looked nice and contemporary, was comfy and a decent price. It has held up pretty well in Northern Ohio weather — we leave it out year-round except for bringing in the umbrella in inclement weather. We tip the chairs up against the table in the wintertime so they don't collect snow, that works fine. Seat fabric has held up well in UV exposure and is still comfy and flexible (see below).

I will say that the screws which hold together all the pieces, while listed as 'stainless' steel, rusted within a few months and look terrible. Only recently did one of the chair slings rip, and that was due to someone sitting down with a sharp object in their back pocket — now I am seeking a replacement sling (fabric) for that chair.

Overall, we've been happy with this purchase.

Pros: Nice appearance, comfortable chairs with no cushions to worry about.
Cons: Began to rust. Table top exploded into a million pieces for no reason.

Purchased the complete set of table, 6 chairs, umbrella, lounge chair and conversation set in 2001. Didn't have many problems immediately but then the "rust free" frames began to show signs of rust. Then the table top shattered for no reason into a million tiny pieces, making the table unuseable and how do you use a patio set with no table? I was online trying to track down a replacement table and came across ConsumerAffairs.com where there are literally a hundred complaints of this exact same thing happening. This is an everyday occurance for this product line apparently, and the manufacturer, Kmart (where I purchased it) and Martha Stewart take no responsibility and offer no solution. Save your money and buy something else!

Pros: Martha Stewart's name implied a stable backed product and it had an attractive design.
Cons: Stewart stung an already troubled K-Mart by selling inferior products her company doesn't back.

Martha Stewart's Montecito patio furniture self-destructs, in our case in two short years. The webbed seats began to ripple then each subsequently split and shredded as unsuspecting sitters caught their weight as they heard the ominous ripping of fabric. Martha Stewart does not operate an on-line "consumer complaint" service (a suspicious omen) and after much ado we were routed through K-Mart to a distant supplier to attempt to purchase replacement seat webbing. The material is sold the the unwary consumer, with a simple page of instructions (only to find that the chairs are machine constructed and replacement of the webbing is IMPOSSIBLE without heavy machinery forcing the track apart for insertion). The mogul homemaker should continue her stock improprieties - they less troubling than her product quality fraud.

Pros: Held up with proper care and covered in the winter -- see edit below
Cons: 3 weeks after writing this initial review - shattered for no reason at all!

We live in southern New Jersey and purchased our set (we did not purchase the umbrella) about three years ago. We are very pleased with this set. I think one of the important factors about our set is that we COVER it every winter. We use those heavy plastic covers made for patio furniture. Also, our set is under our Gazebo so it does not get full sun exposure.

Update - Father's Day weekend 2007 - We are in the kitchen cooking for my son's graduation from high school party - then all of a sudden I hear this huge BOOM -I look upstairs to find nothing - when I get to the kitchen sink and look out the window - horrified - my patio table is GONE! A zillion little balls of glass are piled up into a hill at the bottom of the base!! I can't believe this! Just wrote three weeks ago about how well this patio has held up!! The weather was not extreme - overcast day 70 degrees! protected under a gazebo - thank God no injuries - but I lost ceramic plates I had on the table !!

Pros: looks great
Cons: seat mesh did not last long.

The frames is still in excellent shape. However, the seats were ripped and I could not find mesh seats to replace them.

Pros: The chairs are great. They still look new. They handle the weather well.
Cons: The table spontaneously shattered into thousands of pieces!

We purchased the Martha Stewart Montecito patio set in the summer of 2003. Up until now (June 2005) we thought we had a great set of furniture. The chairs are in great condition. In fact, they look new. The table was intact, no peeling of the paint had occured. However, one afternoon it spontaneoulsy shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. I've never seen such a thing! There was nothing on the table at the time and no one sitting around it. (thankfully) Needless to say, we are very disappointed that this happened.

Pros: Attractive, well built, comfortable, easy to clean
Cons: Heavy to move

We have had the table, chairs and chaise lounges from this set on our deck on Lake Ontario for 5 years. We do not store it in the winter. It has weathered some significant storms and still looks brand new. There are no scratches on the table and the chair fabric is not faded or loosening. My sister has the same set and has had the same experience. Both have had significant use. I was very surprised to see the other comments on here regarding poor quality. I would buy this set again in a heartbeat. Love it!

Pros: The furniture is pretty
Cons: Metal rusts after only two years of use and the fabric tears and fades

I will never buy another Martha Stewart product particularly her outdoor furniture. The furniture is pretty and seems at first to be well made but after only 2yrs of use the fabric tears and the paint peels and rust begins. This is on furniture that is covered and stored in the winter. Outdoor fabric and metal should be made to withstand uv rays and rain for a reasonable number of years. It would be understandable if the furniture was priced to be 2yr and throw away but it is not. Worst of all there is no help from K-Mart, Martha Stewart or the manufacturer for refunds or replacement parts.

Pros: Pretty leaf design
Spacious
Comfortable
Hexagon shape promotes whole table conversation
Easy clean
Fast drying
Cons: replacement slings for chairs appear pricey

Purchased the table and six chairs in Feb. 2001.  I Have been very satisfied with overall performance.  Dismayed when the material in one chair seat ripped down the center in the fall of 2008.  Otherwise no complaints.  I feel fortunate it has lasted this long after reading many of the reviews.  I took no special care with mine.  I live in Southern California in a hot, dry summer climate, mild winters.  My furniture stayed under a lattice patio cover year round.  It was exposed to weather, although my backyard is very shady so it wasn't really exposed to direct sun.  Just heat, occasional frost, rain and periodic hosing for cleaning.

I was looking to replace the torn seat but after checking two replacement sites and determining after reading the reviews that I will have to eventually replace all six chairs, it seems like it isn't worth the cost and effort to replace the fabric.  I might just keep the table and see if I can find chairs that look okay with it.

Pros: The chairs are very comfortable and the table top is easy to clean and decorative.
Cons: Faulty table top or table engineering.

Have owned this patio set for 4 years. We love the set. We had to replace the chair fabric after three years. We keep the set outdoors all year, unprotected. This is about the length of service we can expect due to the climate and the UV damage. We were fortunate to find a design that matched the table top. Both the chairs and the table top had the fern design. In the fourth year, the table top shattered into a million pieces. Where can I get a replacement top?