I found this thread because I just got off the phone with my wife who informed me that replacement slings for our set of six Telescope chairs will be $780.00! That is a very tough pill to swallow, and like many here we weighed this heavily against just getting a cheaper set from HD, Costco, or any number of stores. Our set is about 10 years old to date (purchased summer of 2010) and the aluminum frames, table, and umbrella have held up extremely well (we do store them inside for winter though). Ultimately, I decided to stick with these and pay the exorbitant price for a few reasons: - The rest of the set is extremely high quality. I feel good each year when I pull it out of storage - heavy duty powder coated aluminum construction that has lasted well and still looks 9/10 after a spring wipe-down. - It does bother me how much importation has changed - pushing us toward a throw-away-away-and-buy-another culture. I do feel like we enjoy additional quality on these American made items (not always the case). - Less and less stuff is American made any more. As an engineer and a maker, I miss the days when we made most of the best stuff here. This set still exemplifies that quality. It's a little thing, but something I rarely get to enjoy these days. - After 10 years, with very little degradation (other than the fabric slings), I know what to expect from this set, and feel confident that they will last another 10 years easily with new fabric. The convenience of going 10-12 years between having to think about this, or take a gamble on something potentially less durable is worth something to me. Surely, I'll be feeling the sting of this bill in about a month (so good thing I'm writing this now!), but I thought I'd share what tipped us to reinvesting in this very expensive set. Pic when new April 2010:

I understand we need security but some of the crap they take liberties with amazes me. Get to Ireland if you can! Sooo beautiful. Its a real bummer. I haven't found any photos yet. I would really appreciate any shots someone might wish to share. TIA Grancru

Most "counter height stools" are 24" which is too short for us. We tried a box on a step stool that came to 24" and we all felt like little kids. Our island is 37.5" high. I tried one that was 29.5" but it was just a little to high. I was hoping to have round and padded. I will sit at the island alot and want to be comfortable. If I get one without a pad I would have to add one. Haven't had much luck finding reasonably priced thick pads. Would a pad work on a swivel? I like that one posted from overstock but I checked and its 24". I will check world market. Below I linked my post on the kitchen forum which explains a little more. Thanks for all the help. Here is a link that might be useful: why is 26

Awww on that photo. Lynn, I'm ready for spring, so I can only imaging how all of you in NE feel. Incredible amounts of snow! We thought Punxsutawney Phil must not know anything about Texas weather since we were in the 70s, may have even hit 80, back in early Feb, but it's been colder ever since. I have one peach tree and some calla lilies in bloom and everything else wondering what to do -- grass is still brown and it's been too cold and/or too wet to do much work outdoors. Well I can't help you with a store, but since I'm looking at their website this morning, I'll add the link and you can see a bunch of style choices. I'm double checking my thoughts about a sofa we saw yesterday (DH did a switch on me -- I thought we were going to do a velvet in the LR, but he loves this leather) -- the leather is really nice and down in the cushions. All the cushions can be opened up and refilled if the inserts loose their plump -- addressing one of the worst things about aging leather upholstery. And the woman there is one of the nicest salespeople I've dealt with in a long time. Anyway, I need to make sure the style DH wants works with two chairs I already have, so I'm flipping between photos. And getting side-tracked here. I'd better get back to it and go get those paint samples. Good luck with your shopping.