Flexsteel sofas, chairs, recliners with their own amazing fabrics called Kashmira. Furniture for a lifetime.

Well this thread didnt take off as hoped

Stickley, still make furniture in upstate NY.

Unfortunately Karastan has stopped making it's high quality wool rugs

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/style/oriental-rugs-carpet-karastan-where-made.html

@No Thanks : If your question is about furniture, replacing "goods" in the title with "furniture" may get more responses. You can edit the title for some period of time after the initial post before Houzz software disables changes.

Berkeley Mills in Berkeley, California.

Carter

Bump

I am also quite fond of Room and Board and have a recliner and two bucket chairs of theirs. All are quite comfortable, but the recliner is leather, and it really never recovered its shape from my sitting in it for the better part of two months after having my knee replaced. However, the bucket chairs (which are commercial grade; the recliner is not) have held up beautifully. These are our sit in front of the fireplace with your coffee chairs, so they get used a lot. TL;DR I’d recommend their commercial grade stuf w/o reservation, and their non-commercial stuff if you’d be using it in a lower traffic/use area.

Thos. Moser is nice but has a very specific style.

Same could be said of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. Our sofa is from there - not sure which model, because we bought it used - but it looks to be the Dexter, and it’s held up quite well. We’ve had it for six years, no idea how old it was when I found it at a consignment shop.

You realize that it’s been horrible trying to get furniture these past two years, due to price and long delays,so many people are waiting it out to buy new?

I wouldn't say your post didn't take off; more that furniture purchases for the last while have been through the internet. Not much to recommend. American made has become dear.

Growing up, Boston area, furniture/carpet brands wore the crown...Henredon, Kittinger, Baker, Karastan, and moms knew what they wanted. No credit cards then, and saving for a piece was a big deal. They were buying for a lifetime. For us, Paines of Boston was THE place to shop. Stores are gone, gone.

If I were a bride now, my goal would be to get pieces from the 1940's, 50's, 60's...marked with the names of premier companies. Recover/refinish the treasures of old. Furniture will never be the same.

I could start a new convo about art... and I'm not trashing greatbigcanvas, etc, Why do we spend hundreds of dollars on a stretched canvas when it will be out in the trash in a couple of years?

It's a sign of the times. How many young folk still live where they grew up? Not many. Grow up, go to college in another state, meet the love of your life, or find the perfect job. Putting down roots with that quality sofa isn't happening. Buy it, live with it for a year or two, and sell it on Craig's List.

Jeff Meeks, what a shame about Karastan.

@elcieg Yes indeed, I bought several wool Karastan rugs and runners and had my stairs done in Karastan Cambridge carpet a few years ago. I was recently looking for another Cambridge runner, but they have stopped making them and no one has any stock. The classic machine made Karastan wool rugs look and feel fantastic and I think they really earned their reputation as a high quality machine made rug for the aspirational middle class. I love the ones I have, they make me feel sort of nostalgic, and I know they will last a lifetime...I'm hunting ebay for that Cambridge runner.

I buy all vintage and antique furniture. Not sure where I would go if I had to buy something new. Disappointed that Henredon and Baker have been bought out. It all seems like crap. I do appreciate that much of Room and Board continues to be made in the USA.

I live on Cape Cod...mid century furniture is not on the top of the list for anyone. So, when I go to local antique shops, voila!, there are many pieces, probably brought from another part of the country when owners decided to retire here. Finding the furniture didn't fit the style of their home, it goes on consignment. It will sit there forever, unless a summer visitor realizes the found gold mine and has it shipped home.

I grew up in Eden, home of Karastan and Fieldcrest Mills. The closing of these mills over the last 20-30 years decimated the economy. My mom saved for years for a Karastan rug and runner. She still uses them today, and they look brand new. Here’s a great article about the history

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/style/oriental-rugs-carpet-karastan-where-made.html

@User Yes I read the article. Karastan has now gone more down market and is making a lot of polyester rugs. I just managed to get the tail end of the wool rug production. It's the age old story of manufacturing being closed down, the same thing happened in Massachusetts when all the mills closed down. They are now art galleries, condos and small business spaces. Here is my Karastan Cambridge stair runner that must have be made just before the looms stopped.

When my dad sold the house I grew up in, we were all settled enough or close to being settled enough that very few pieces of furniture were sold and all of us, either children or grandchildren have something, and there was some regret about some of the pieces that sold within a short period of time after. A lot of the furniture did need to be put in (climate controlled) storage for a few years, but it was worth it.

I have most of the receipts. They used a decorator from a major department store and my dad, who was a doctor, took a job at another hospital just to pay for the furniture. Considering that it virtually all survives somewhere after 50 + years it was a good investment.

I live in an area with several major university hospitals and graduate programs, and when I first moved here, I would see some really interesting vintage furniture moving in and out of grad students' apartments: obviously the high quality but "dated" furniture from their (fairly affluent probably) parents' houses and then a few years later some of the same really interesting stuff would end up in the local used furniture store if they did not take it with them again. (Random Paul Evans, and Edward Wormley even)

Well that has changed, now the residents move in and a furniture truck pulls up and delivers new furniture and after they have done their time it gets dragged out to the street and abandoned, and if the sofa is lucky, someone grabs it before the cushions get stolen, after which it is worthless, or if it is unlucky it sits there deteriorating until it gets hauled away, or if it's *really* unlucky it gets set on fire (very rare but not unheard of). It's just very wasteful but it's all so cheap now its not even worth moving.

I had similar regrets about selling my Mum and Dad's furniture when they had both passed on. None of the grandkids or my brothers wanted it or had any space for it. I live in a different country so it was not practical for me to ship it. So it was all sold and speed was more important than price. A lot of it was not great, but there were some late 40s wardrobes which were nice...but not really in fashion now and a nice Kofod Larsen sideboard and dinning room set by G-plan that I really wanted to keep.

This thread is helpful. What are thoughts on: Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Arhaus furniture? Good quality, or just expensive for name?

What about going to NC and getting it shipped? Is that a reasonable option?

@ANC J With large catalog/retail companies you have to be careful as they buy from all over the world. Some stuff is made in the US and other stuff will be contracted out overseas. You have to ask questions and understand the construction methods and materials...you can get good, or bad, furniture from anywhere. If you want to know what you are buying I think it's a bit easier to deal with smaller companies. I bought a bedroom set from Vermont Furniture Designs almost 30 years ago and it still looks great and I have a lot of new Stickley made in upstate NY that will out live me by hundreds of years. There are lots of smaller US furniture makers that design, build and sell furniture in their own factories and I'd use them rather than the large catalog companies. Look in local furniture stores that stock many different manufacturers. Or if you really want to know what you are getting you could order from a one person shop.

I buy almost all my furniture made in Italy IMO still the best leather furniture with no springs to wear out and awesome leather. I also like their design aesthetic simpler , not over sized and puffy and the lighting is pretty hard to beat. I like Gepform, Cattelan are Artemide . Yes they cost more but IMO you get what you pay for.

@JeffMeeks, (sorry- new to this app and not sure how to tag and reply) Thank you for your response. That’s helpful info! I’ve been to a Stickley store; I can see value in saving up for such high quality and long lasting pieces! Agree … would be good to inquire and know how the piece is made and where sourced. Will look into this and smaller stores around me. Thank you!!

@ANC J It's always a challenge where to find the balance between cost, quality and how much you like something. I just checked out the Vermont Furniture Designs dresser I bought back in the early 1990s and it now costs $4k

https://vermontwoodsstudios.com/products/modern-shaker-6-drawer-dresser

That's a lot of money, but if you average it over 30 years it's not so bad and the dresser looks great as the wood tone has mellowed with age.

A similar dresser from Pottery Barn is half the price, but has MDF in the construction and is imported.

https://www.potterybarn.com/products/archdale-extra-wide-dresser/?pkey=cdressers

Neither of those things are inherently bad, but they are factors that should go into your choice. I Iove Arts and Crafts furniture which is why I've bought so much Stickley over the years and I like that it's made in upstate NY, will definitely last, and I'm getting something that has some heritage.

Jeff, that reallyyyyt puts it into perspective to compare that way! Wonderfully put.

Esp with the Pottery Barn comparison. I wouldn’t want to pay even that price if it’s MDF/veneer. I’ll be sure to check materials and sources. Thank you for this input!

Nice set up! Just saw your photo now