Made By Hickory Chair

Wishes Coming True In The New Year!

Nothing is more special that getting exactly what you want.  At Hickory Chair we make 87% of our entire product line in Hickory, North Carolina.  We are proud to be an American company making furniture to order.  Since the pieces are made to order in Hickory, we can be flexible when you wish for something special.  This ability gives our company the ability to make wishes come true every day. 

Recently we made this custom sectional.  Our Silhouettes Upholstery program is designed for flexiblity allowing you to chose your arm, back, base, height, depth and length.  These options were not enough for this client!  They wanted a plinth base.  Why not!  Our craftsmen reviewed the request and were able to say yes!  The result is a one of a kind piece that we may never make this way again! 

Why do we get so excited about these special construction pieces?  It is simple, when you do something you have never done before and you do it successfully, you have increased your talent as you have built new skills.  In other words, you are a more talented craftsman and better than before.  This allows us to perhaps say YES to something that was a 'NOT YET' previously.  Why settle for standard when you can get it made for you?

Your Workroom in Hickory, North Carolina

For those of you who have had the opportunity to visit Hickory Chair's workroom in Hickory, North Carolina, you know that it has the feel of a series of custom workrooms instead of an assembly line factory.  Their sentiment also shared that we have master craftsmen and artisans and not factory workers.  This is our secret ingredient... we have talented craftsmen and artisans who are eager to make pieces just the way that you want them.  We have not been able to say yes to every special request but we are working hard to be able to accomodate your wishes. 

We thought you would enjoy seeing some examples of the things that we have been able to personalize in our workroom.  In this first example is our Eton M2M.  Eton is a graceful 72 inch love seat that can be transformed from a 32 inch wide chair to a 120 inch wide sofa.  It is standard with nail head trim.  The chair is available as a swivel. There were many wishes that we could make it without nail head trim.  Our team worked together to determine a manner in which we could upholster the piece without the nail head trim without a problem. Now you can request no nails any time!  Recently someone wished that we could make it into a chaise.  Our craftsmen reviewed the wooden frame and what it would take to modify the frame, fabric and cushion patterns. We were able to say yes!

A different customer wished that we could take a classic 5662-10 tall chest standard in our American Antique finish and paint it in paint colors.  They sent color chips to us along with a rendering of where they wanted each paint color applied.  We were able to say yes and complete this one of a kind piece for them.  Their client wanted to use this cabinet in their den for a media cabinet.  They applied custom hardware once they received the one of a kind chest.

Another customer searched for a special bed for their home.  They selected the Venetian Bed which was originally designed to have a wood panel headboard (8806-20).  Several years ago someone asked that we upholster the head and foot board (8806-71).  We said yes.  This summer a different customer asked if we could apply Silver Leaf to the exposed wood and tuft the head and footboard.  We studied what it would require and then we said yes!

Another wish we have been able to make come true is with our Personal Preferences Dining Table program.  You can design your own dining table by selecting from one of 17 bases and 31 tops in your choice of finishes.  In the example below, we were asked to make a custom 60-inch Campagne Dining Table Top instead of the standard 48-inch size and then use the metal New Yorker table base (7887-11) instead of the faux limestone base (9844-10) that is normally standard with the Campagne top (9843-40).  The result looks great! In fact, we like the 60-inch Campagne top so much we are adding it to our collection at the fall market!

Our workroom is YOUR workroom.  Our group of nearly 500 employees hand make 87% of our entire assortment in this vintage 1911 facility.  The remaining 13% that we purchase are things like the metal New Yorker Dining Table Base, hand carved mahogany chairs, stone, mirror, glass and hardware.  We work hard every day to increase our quality and eliminate waste from our processes so that we are freed to make one of a kind pieces of you.  Is there something you have been wishing for that you have not been able to find?  You know we will help you if we can!
 
 

  

My Hickory Chair Home - Urban Country Design, Bethesda, MD

Cass Key of Urban Country Design, Ltd., recently shared some picture of a client's homes that featured many pieces of Hickory Chair furniture.  Urban Country Designs is a boutique store with talented interior designers and sales associates.  Cass, her husband, brother-in-law and several members of their staff have participated in HCC University this year.  We appreciate how Cass and her associates have embraced Hickory Chair for special pieces for their client's homes.

One client has a home in Potomac, MD and another at the beach.  These two very different homes allowed Cass the opportunity to select from various collections and use a variety of different finishes.  The client did not want their beach house to look like the city house.  They wanted an escape.  Cass was able to make this happen!

In their city house, the Maria Center Table by Alexa Hampton was selected.  As it is a rather formal table in its standard finish named Oxford, they selected the Ebony finish to make it less formal. Ebony is dark grey finish with brown undertones that has a light gray layer that is applied and then rubbed off.  The light gray finish remains in the pores of the wood as well as the carvings and moldings.  A pair of Eliza Chairs from the Thomas O'Brien collection were also selected for the city house.  Their choice of COM along with the Modern Oak finish complement the other pieces in the room.  In addition a pair of Gunnison Chairs were selected.  Inspired by a classic Jean Michele Frank design, the Gunnison Chairs are architectural, rustic and comfortable all at the same time!

For the beach house in Delaware, Cass and her client chose a lighter color palette.  They selected the Piedmont Dining Table by Suzanne Kasler for the dining area.  They selected the artisanal Scrubbed Ash finish for the top of the table and Chippy White painted finish for the base of the table. 

In the living room of the beach home is the Bennington Cocktail Table from the Archive Collection. Cass wished that the stone topped rectangular cocktail table was square with a wood top.  She contacted Hickory Chair with her wish.  Our talented craftesmen were able to make her wish come true!  We hand made a 42" square cocktail table with a wood top finished in Chippy White paint for this home.  It was the perfect solution for the room and we are proud of this one of a kind piece.  We love the fact that we may never make another table like this again.  

Working with designers to create custom pieces like this table sharpen our skills.  We look forward to making one of a kind pieces to order.  These requests have allowed us to grow our ability to say yes to even more wishes in the future.  Do you have a wish for a piece for your home?  We wish you would give us a chance to make a piece for you! 

March 23-25, 2009 HCC University

We had a wonderful HCC University event this week! Our dynamic group was from many areas of the country including Illinois, South Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina and Alabama. With the diverse backgrounds including a to the trade showroom, boutique stores, interior design firms and a designers from a large chain of stores, we enjoyed sharing ideas, feedback and wishes - some of which we heard for the first time!

We really appreciate everyone taking their time from their family, work and home to spend time with us. We hope that everyone enjoyed the experience and will find providing solutions to their clients easier than ever! We also hope that everyone will stay in touch and continue to share their wishes. This will help us more than you know to keep our line relevant and fresh!

We were able to give a sneak preview to our new April 2009 market introductions! We are making countless wishes come true this market! For example, I wish you had low profile swivels. Imagine the Soho Chair, Rawlings Chair, Peterson Chair, and others as swivel chairs! The best part is that they are available now! Your Hickory Chair sales representative or customer service representative can assist you now!

Mariette Himes Gomez has an extensive new launch of distinctive pieces this market. Mariette's ability to find unqiue forms that transcend both modern and classic interiors have led to the collection's success over the 7 years since its inception in 2002. She has always been attracted by intriguing profiles particularly circular forms. Her inspiration for the April 2009 introduction is best exemplified by her own words "In this new collection I find myself in an international and eclectic frame of mind." She wanted to add a new dimension to the mix with profiles and forms that were missing from the marketplace.

I wish we could change the height or depth. I wish you had a sleeper sofa. I wish that you had sectionals with corner sofas and corner love seats so we could make 2 piece sectionals. I wish you had more fully upholstered scaled exposed wood sofas. I wish you could change the legs. I wish you could change the arms. I wish you had a wide flat arm sofa. These and more wishes will come true with Silhouettes Upholstery. Your Hickory Chair sales representative can give you a more thorough sneak preview to the upholstery program that may transform the way you view upholstery forever!