My personal opinion is that you can find manufacturers of furniture made in the US for close to the same prices. Everything C&B, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware make is made in Asia. Even some Stickley stuff is being made in Vietnam. Check out Chatham Furniture Inc. All solid Cherry made in Massachussetts. It might not be your style, but you can get the idea of some really good craftsmanship. I bought an end table for $649 and it's hand made solid cherry. I would pay $100 less for one that's not solid hardwood, made in Asia. The difference to me is that when I die, that tables going to still be around and someone's going to want it.

I agree that reupholstering your EA sofas may be the way to go. I have a pair of hand-me-down 60 yo EA Bergere chairs and they're in wonderful condition. They're well-made, comfortable and came back to life with new upholstery. Of course, if you don't care for the lines of your old EA sofa, then there's nothing to be done for it. I bought a vintage sofa on Craigslist for $25, found 13 yards of fabric at an outlet for $37 and had an old country preacher reupholster it for $350. All told, I got a new-to-me sofa for just over $400. I wouldn't rule out EA, Thomasville, Drexel today. Their reputation is that they're pricey, but they've really had to drop their prices to stay in business. I was in EA this spring and they had a slipcovered sofa for $1200 or so that I looked at long and hard before going my vintage-cheap route. I've never heard a bad word about PB, et al, so I dug up the article lovesummer mentioned. I'd be very interested in these same folks looking at their furniture today. That article is now a full 3 years old and I've seen plenty of blurbs in the PB/C&B catalogs touting improved quality and value. Interesting findings. Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Unstuffed

I noticed that the mineral blue Alvarez that kBob has is made of a different material - 73 % wool , 24% rayon and 3% nylon . The garden Alvarez that I was looking at is- 65% wool and 35% viscose . I have a photo attached of both samples with my leather colors . It does seem like the blue Alvarez material is more durable but I think the garden looks better with my samples . Can you tell I am reaching to salvage this rug ? Lol! Is rayon substantially better than viscose ?

Thank you, it seems texture hides scratches if they don't go nuts and shred the whole thing. I have some velvet samples. I tried to shred both the velvet and the Douglas samples with needle nose tweezers. The Douglas was holding up better to my tests, does Crate and barrel have different qualities of velvet? I have seen more than one person saying that cats aren't interest in scratching velvet. Maybe that's the secret to cat proof furniture since it would seem that NOTHING can hold up to their claws if they decide it's a scratching post.