I am the owner of a North Carolina furniture manufacturer. I am pretty sure that the Grade Q linen fabric you like is costing you several hundred dollars more than a good serviceable 100% cotton fabric would, but if that is the fabric you like then go for it. You are going to have this furniture in your home for 10 years or more and the last thing you want is to choose a cheaper substitute and then decide six months up the road that it just doesn't turn you on the way the more expensive fabric did. Regarding the age-old sinuous wire vs. 8 way hand-tied coil spring controversy -- Sinuous wire will last just as long (if not longer) than 8 way hand-tied and save you about $400 on the cost of the sofa. From a comfort standpoint, it takes a very sensitive rear end to tell the difference when you are sitting on a good quality cushion. Even the experts can't consistently distinguish between the two just from sitting on the sofa. Lee has a long reputation for making an excellent quality product at a good value. Of course you should actually try out the sofa before purchasing. A sofa that feels extremely comfortable to someone else may not be comfortable for you.

Got back to C&B yesterday and looked at the chairs. The Clara didn't appeal to me - too traditional-looking. The Parker looks nice, but I didn't think it was as comfortable as the Hennessy or the Tracy, so I think I'm going to go for one of those...probably the Tracy since it's at least a *little* different in style from the sofa. Now I have to choose a fabric - since I want an "easy-care" fabric for the chair as well, I'm considering various microfibers. I was wondering if it would be too matchy to get the same fabric on the chair as on the sofa, but in a different color? (I do like that the Doss fabric looks a lot like a brushed twill with that thin "stripe".) The alternatives are a tweedy-looking microfiber that I actually like but wonder if it's too, uh, tweedy for the more contemporary style I'm veering off into. Or there's a zip-zag design that I like a LOT - I have a sample in a light green called "Dial Spring" - have to see what other colors it comes in. I actually like the "Dial Spring" - I had been considering it at one point for the sofa, but thought it was too yellowy-green for that; but I think it might be refreshing on a chair. The shade does go with my uber-colorful C&B pillow ;-), but I wonder if I should stay with neutral on the chair... ??? Unless I go back to the idea of getting the sofa in sage green, which is an option at C&B, and just return my uber-colorful pillow. I've had my various fabric samples sitting on the arm of my current sofa for my cats to experiment with. The dark brown definitely shows cat hair; the sage green doesn't. (Who knows, maybe I need the dark brown to remind me to varcuum the sofa more often. ;-)) Final vague thought to the obsessing... I did stop by R&B also, since it's only a few blocks from C&B. Took another look at the Hawthorne, which I think is kind of between the York and the Hennessy in style - it has looseback cushions, but it's a little more streamlined and less boxy than the York. (The photo of it on the R&B site isn't very nice - it's more attractive in person.) In feel, it's very much like the York - a little hard. And I still am not crazy about any of the chairs at R&B, and I'd like to avoid paying two delivery charges (if I bought the sofa in one place and the chair in another). I'm nuts. I know I'm nuts. You've all been very patient with me - thank you!

I think you have to work out which part of "Mid-Century" you're leaning toward. If it's early-Mid-Century ( for example, the fifties) then I think the stained woodwork would be less desirable than painted. If it's late Mid-Century and you're going for a 70s vibe them I think stained woodwork was more common. Speaking as someone who lived through the 70s as a young women just setting up my first independent household,, I am always taken aback by the idea that that period is MCM. In my childhood -the true heyday of MCM - painted trim was the norm, often panted to same color as the walls. (And the trim was minimal.) But by the 70s, a backlash had formed and people started using stained woodwork, part of the back to "natural" movement. It was often ugly then, and it hasn't improved with age, I'm afraid. Way back in the day (pre-MCM) in the 20s and 30s stained trim was made from beautiful woods (not necessarily luxury woods, like mahogany, just beautiful pine and fir), usually with carefully chosen proportions. But in the 70's, stingy-width, ordinary ranch-style trim pieces were given a few quick coats of poly-stain and paired with highly contrasting wall colors. (Think kitchens with white slab doors and bars of contrasting wood trim along the top to serve as pulls and formica counters edged with stained wood. Hang a spider plant with macrame, and you're done.) The thing is that this was the outer reaches of MCM, after the style had been wrung dry and was already on life support. The stained woodwork phase was the last attempt to revivify it. It only needed Nancy Reagan to smother it all under glitzy red and teal chintz by the yard. Now, an Eames chair, egg chair, Paul McCobb, etc., those were the true MCM of the 50s-edging into the 60s. But by time the 70s rolled around it was different. I know I disdained my Mother's Paul McCobb dining room furniture then, though I was mad for Dansk, Marimeko and other Scandinavian stuff. (The McCobb stuff grew on me, so that when I eventually inherited I didn't send it off to Goodwill.) If you're going for any retro look, it really helps if you can train your eye to see what the style points truly were for the portion of the MCM period that appeals to you. You can lose your focus if you're thinking that MCM encompasses the whole period from after the War through to Nancy R. There were distinct , evolutionary stages along the way through. True 50s/60s-era MCM is a very attractive look, IMO. Things like the Eames and McCobb furniture will continue to stand up as excellent, enduring designs. I think those things will eventually be as sought after as period Georgian or Craftsman stuff is today. But when I think back to some of the 70s furniture (and I have to really think hard to even get pictures of it in my mind) the picture is not so clear. In reviewing your comment I see you mention reading that MCM lets the wood lines of the furniture show, but wonderng if that extends to the trim. I'd say, yes the wood lines of the furniture should show, but the trim not so much. And I think that keeping the trim painted allows the wood of the furniture to be more prominent. The walls (including trim) were the background for the wonderful lines of the stuff in the rooms. HTH L.

Thanks guys! I enjoy reading updates, so I had to do my own. :) I must have been dead to think this was an ugly stone wall! I absolutely LOVE IT! What a dang fool I was! Ugh! We are loving the look! We have purchased 9 metal frames. We plan on selecting 9 of our favs and making gallery above the little table in the entryway. We ordered our new storm windows this week. We went with sandstone ProVia storms. That color will be like the mortar in between the brick. Come spring we will get a new (black) charcoal roof, paint the gables, gutters and downspouts in sandstone as well.