Ethan Allen

For those of you who don’t know (and I didn’t til I went in) Ethan Allen makes custom furniture. Will come to your house if need be to get you EXACTLY what you need. Full design consultation –perfect if your drapes don’t match the carpet. I had no idea. In my experience the staff was very warm. I was a bit nervous due to the hype and well I’ll say it –I thought this was out of my class– boy was I wrong.
Ashley worked with me, she was super helpful and brought great ideas to the table without getting away from what I wanted and needed. Did I mention she listened! She changed my perspective about furniture shopping and I will definitely be back with Ethan Allen because of her epic help. I did have a budget, but they worked with me. They offer great financing. Yes, they’re fashion forward and classy but they understand not everyone can buy a couch outright.
I’ll say this to give you perspective– they are right across the hall of another furniture shop, which I also stopped in at, yes I could have walked home with a couch several inches too long for my room at a slightly cheaper price point (not to mention quality) but instead I opted to go with a Custom. CUSTOM couch for my room for a little more. Yes there is a wait. I got over it– Its built to order made just for me so every week that passed was like a giddy school girl counting down to my perfect couch. Totally worth it and I was able to pay it off before interest hit. Win and win.
Needless to say my couch is amazing, and perfect just as it needs to be since it was made just for my living room space. 5 out of 5 for quality and service.
So if you’re anxious, just go in. Be open, be honest, it worked out great for me. They’re a design center — not your typical furniture store full of crazy aggressive salespeople. Who knew!

EA has good quality furniture. I’m partial the the British collection and have quite a few pieces in my home which I’ve purchased over the last decade. They have a variety of collections, some a bit modern, but mostly very traditional.
Almost all their pieces are made to order so it’s 8 – 12 weeks for delivery, sometimes longer. Shop before you need it, everyone runs in a few months before the holidays because suddenly they are hosting. Expect to wait.
Of course there are quicker, cheaper options. If you buy a dining room set at Ikea, however, you’ll likely outgrow the look or it will just fall apart, or you’ll later want something more sophisticated. Ikea is great for a lot of things but not everything. Good furniture makes your home look terrific and it will last forever. Yes, it also costs a lot more, but better to save longer and buy quality.
I’ve had a number of EA pieces arrive with a dent, scratch or ding. They always come out and fix it up. In fact it’s amazing what they can fix.
Better than EA? Go antique shopping.