Ethan Allen is known for its timeless, American classic furniture with extensive customization, occupying an accessible luxury price point. By contrast, Restoration Hardware (RH) focuses on statement-making, large-scale contemporary and industrial designs at a premium, high-end luxury price. Ethan Allen offers personalized, classic elegance, while RH delivers a curated, bold, and modern aesthetic.
Let's compare these two furniture brands in detail to help you decide which is the right fit for your home.
Ethan Allen: The Classic American Home
Ethan Allen is a legacy American brand that has built a reputation for high-quality, durable furniture defined by timeless and traditional designs. It appeals to homeowners seeking refined, elegant pieces that can be customized to fit their exact style. The brand offers a personalized shopping experience, with professional design consultants available to help shoppers co-create their perfect space.
- Product mix: Full range of home furnishings, including custom upholstery, solid-wood bedroom and dining sets, lighting, rugs, and decor.
- Style/vibe: Classic American, traditional, and transitional. The aesthetic prioritizes timeless elegance and enduring comfort over fleeting trends.
- Price point: Mid-range to luxury. Sofas generally range from $1,500 to $4,000, dining tables from $2,000 to $5,000, with complete bedroom sets often costing more.
- Quality: Emphasizes high-quality craftsmanship, using materials like solid hardwoods, kiln-dried frames, and premium fabrics. Pieces are known for their durability and longevity.
- Customization: This is a key strength. Shoppers can choose from hundreds of fabrics, leathers, finishes, and hardware options for most upholstered and wood furniture pieces.
- Dimensions/Scale: Offers a wide variety of sizes suitable for everything from smaller apartments to large suburban homes, making it a versatile choice for different spaces.
- Sales: Holds sales events and promotions throughout the year, making their products more accessible compared to brands with a fixed pricing strategy.
- Return policy: Offers returns on most items within a set window, though custom-designed and final sale items are typically not eligible.
- Sustainability: The company is committed to sustainable practices, including responsible sourcing of wood and using eco-friendly manufacturing processes.
Ethan Allen is the go-to for those who value traditional craftsmanship and the ability to personalize furniture to create a unique yet classic home.
Shop Ethan Allen: ethanallen.com
Restoration Hardware (RH): The Statement-Making Luxury Brand
Restoration Hardware, now known simply as RH, has redefined itself as a luxury brand offering a curated, gallery-like experience. The aesthetic is contemporary and often industrial, featuring bold, oversized pieces that serve as architectural focal points. RH is for the design-conscious consumer who wants to make a definitive statement and is prepared to invest in high-end, designer-driven furnishings.
- Product mix: A comprehensive collection of luxury indoor and outdoor furniture, statement lighting, high-end textiles, bathware, and decor.
- Style/vibe: Modern, contemporary, and industrial with vintage influences. The look is characterized by clean lines, neutral color palettes, and a grand, often dramatic, scale.
- Price point: Premium to high-end luxury. Sofas typically start around $3,000 but can easily exceed $10,000, with other large furniture pieces following a similar premium pricing model.
- Quality: Uses exceptionally high-quality materials including solid hardwoods, premium leathers, Belgian linens, and hand-forged metals. The focus is on artisanal techniques and luxurious finishes.
- Customization: While some customization in fabrics and finishes is available, the primary focus is on RH's curated collections and designer looks rather than user-led personalization.
- Dimensions/Scale: Many pieces are oversized and substantial, designed to fill large, open-concept spaces with high ceilings. It is less suited for compact rooms or apartments.
- Rewards program: Offers an RH Members Program for an annual fee, which provides a set discount (typically 25%) on all full-priced items year-round, replacing traditional sales events.
- Shopping Experience: Famous for its massive, immersive showroom "galleries" that feature elaborate installations and often include restaurants and wine bars, creating a luxurious destination experience.
RH provides a distinct, high-impact aesthetic for those looking to furnish their home with bold, coordinated, and unapologetically luxurious pieces.
Shop Restoration Hardware: rh.com
Ethan Allen vs. Restoration Hardware Comparison
Price Comparison
There is a significant price difference between the two brands. Ethan Allen operates in an accessible luxury category, where a well-made sofa might cost $2,500. It presents a strong value proposition for the quality and customization offered.
Restoration Hardware is firmly at the high end of the luxury market. A visually similar sofa could start at $5,000 or more, with prices reflecting their premium materials, designer collaborations, and brand exclusivity. While Ethan Allen uses sales to offer discounts, RH encourages membership for a flat discount year-round, reinforcing its premium positioning.
Style & Aesthetic
The two brands cater to fundamentally different design sensibilities. Ethan Allen's catalog is filled with classic American, traditional, and transitional styles. Their furniture feels warm, familiar, and elegant, designed to integrate seamlessly into a classically styled home and last for generations.
RH champions a more fashion-forward aesthetic that is modern, industrial, and often minimalist. Their look is defined by neutral color palettes (greys, beiges, whites), strong lines, and natural materials like reclaimed wood and metal. It’s a bold look perfect for modern lofts, expansive primary residences, and homes where furniture functions as art.
Quality & Construction
Both brands produce high-quality furniture, but their production priorities differ. Ethan Allen focuses on traditional woodworking techniques and durability, building furniture meant to withstand daily life in a family home. Their reputation is built on solid construction and lasting value.
RH focuses on luxury materials and artisanal finishes. While also well-built, the emphasis is often on the premium look and feel of the materials - the softness of the Italian leather, the texture of the reclaimed Russian oak, or the unique patina on a piece of hardware. The quality is in the high-end appeal and a specific, curated design vision.
Dimensions/Sizing & Scale
Sizing is a key practical differentiator. Ethan Allen offers furniture in a wide range of conventional sizes, making it easy to find pieces that fit perfectly into average-sized living rooms, bedrooms, or dining areas. Their collections are designed with typical American homes in mind.
Restoration Hardware is famous for its grand, often oversized scale. Their sofas are deeper, tables longer, and chairs are more substantial. This approach creates a dramatic, awe-inspiring effect in large spaces but can easily overwhelm smaller rooms. It is crucial to measure your space carefully before ordering from RH.
Customization Options
Ethan Allen is the clear leader in customization. Shoppers can choose from an extensive menu of fabrics, leather grades, wood stains, paints, and hardware to tailor a piece to their exact specifications. This puts the consumer in the designer’s seat.
In contrast, RH offers a more curated selection. While you can often choose between several different fabrics or finishes for an item, the options are pre-selected by their design team to fit the brand's cohesive aesthetic. The approach is less about personalization and more about buying into a complete design vision.
Shopping Experience
Shopping at Ethan Allen is a collaborative, service-oriented process. They offer free design services where consultants work closely with customers in-store or at home to plan rooms, select pieces, and choose custom finishes.
The RH experience is about immersion and luxury. Their expansive design galleries are meticulously styled destinations meant to inspire wonder. While design services are available, the experience feels more like visiting a high-end art gallery than a traditional furniture store, encouraging shoppers to adopt the complete RH lifestyle.
Which One Should You Choose?
Your ideal choice depends entirely on your aesthetic tastes, space, and budget. Both are excellent brands, but they serve different needs.
Choose Ethan Allen if:
- You prefer timeless, classic American, or transitional furniture styles.
- Customization is important, you want to choose your own fabrics, finishes, and details.
- You are furnishing a standard-sized room and need versatile, appropriately scaled pieces.
- You value heirloom-quality craftsmanship and long-term durability for family life.
Choose Restoration Hardware if:
- You love a bold, modern, and industrial aesthetic.
- You are furnishing a large, open space that can handle oversized, statement pieces.
- Your budget is in the premium to high-end luxury range.
- You want a highly curated, designer look and value luxury materials and an immersive brand experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ethan Allen or Restoration Hardware more expensive?
Restoration Hardware is significantly more expensive than Ethan Allen across almost every category. RH targets the high-end luxury market, while Ethan Allen is positioned as an accessible luxury brand with a focus on value for its craftsmanship.
Which brand has better quality furniture?
Both brands offer excellent and long-lasting construction, but they prioritize different aspects of quality. Ethan Allen's quality is centered on traditional, durable craftsmanship - solid wood construction and techniques designed for longevity. RH's quality is defined by its use of premium, luxury materials and artisanal finishes that create a specific high-end look and feel.
Which brand is better for families?
Generally, Ethan Allen is considered a more practical choice for families with young children. Their focus on durable construction and extensive customization options, including performance fabrics, makes their furniture better suited for the rigors of daily life.
What style is Restoration Hardware furniture?
RH's style is a blend of modern, contemporary, minimalist, and industrial design. It's known for its neutral, monochrome color palettes, substantial scale, use of natural materials like wood and metal, and grand, statement-making presence.
Does Ethan Allen ever hold sales?
Yes, Ethan Allen frequently has sales and promotional events throughout the year, especially around major holidays. In contrast, RH uses a membership model, where customers pay an annual fee for a permanent discount on full-priced items.
Which brand is better for small spaces?
Ethan Allen is the better option for small spaces. They offer a much wider variety of furniture scales and sizes, including apartment-sized sofas and more compact pieces, whereas RH's collections are predominantly designed for large, spacious interiors.
Are both brands considered luxury?
Yes, both fall under the luxury umbrella. However, Ethan Allen represents an accessible luxury segment, providing high-quality custom furniture at a mid-to-high price point. RH is a top-tier luxury brand comparable to others in the designer and high-end market.
Is the furniture from these brands made in the USA?
Ethan Allen manufactures a significant portion of its products, especially custom upholstered and case goods, in its own workshops located in North America. Restoration Hardware sources its products globally from various high-end artisans and manufacturers.
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