Sherrill Furniture is known for its handcrafted, heirloom-quality upholstered pieces sold through a network of authorized dealers, emphasizing traditional craftsmanship and bespoke customization. In contrast, Ethan Allen is a more accessible luxury brand with its own showrooms and an online store, offering a broader range of styles from classic to contemporary and a more streamlined shopping experience.
Let's look at the key differences to help you decide which furniture brand is the right investment for your home.
Sherrill Furniture: The Handcrafted Heirloom Brand
Sherrill Furniture is a name associated with high-end, custom-upholstered furniture that is built to last for generations. The brand prioritizes meticulous, traditional craftsmanship and premium materials, making it a top choice for those looking to invest in timeless pieces. The shopping experience is highly personalized, taking place exclusively through select showrooms and authorized dealers.
- Product mix: Primarily focuses on high-quality upholstered goods, including sofas, sectionals, accent chairs, and ottomans. While they offer casegoods, their reputation is built on upholstery.
- Style/vibe: Leans heavily toward classic, traditional, and transitional styles. Silhouettes are elegant and tailored, designed to feel timeless rather than overtly trendy.
- Price point: Luxury, high-end. Sofas typically start around $3,000, and fully customized pieces with premium fabrics can easily exceed $5,000.
- Quality: Exceptional craftsmanship using kiln-dried hardwood frames, high-density foam cushions, and meticulous hand-tailoring. It’s built for longevity and durability.
- Customization: This is Sherrill's key strength. Customers have extensive options for fabrics, leathers, cushion fills, wood finishes, and even configurations to create bespoke pieces.
- Shopping Experience: Sold exclusively through a network of authorized dealers and showrooms. This ensures a guided, personalized process with expert assistance.
- Delivery & Assembly: Typically handled via white-glove service coordinated by the dealer, ensuring professional setup in your home. Lead times can be long due to the custom, handcrafted nature of the products.
Sherrill is the ideal choice for shoppers seeking genuine bench-made quality and deep customization options who are willing to invest in forever furniture.
Shop Sherrill Furniture: sherrillfurniture.com
Ethan Allen: The Versatile American Classic
Ethan Allen is one of America's best-known furniture brands, offering a comprehensive selection of stylish, high-quality furniture for every room. While they also value craftsmanship, they cater to a broader audience with a wider style range, their own retail showrooms, and a robust online presence. The brand conveniently blends customization with accessibility, backed by professional in-house design services.
- Product mix: A complete home furnishings provider, offering everything from sofas, beds, and dining sets to lighting, rugs, and decor.
- Style/vibe: Very versatile, covering a wide spectrum of designs from traditional and American colonial to modern and contemporary. This makes it easier to find pieces that fit a variety of home aesthetics.
- Price point: Upper-mid-range to premium. Upholstered sofas generally fall in the $2,000 to $4,000 range. Frequent sales and promotions can make prices more accessible.
- Quality: Very good, with an emphasis on solid wood frames, durable materials, and sustainable sourcing. While well-made, it is generally less handcrafted than a bespoke brand like Sherrill.
- Customization: Strong customization is available, with hundreds of fabrics, leathers, and finish options for most furniture pieces. Modular sectionals and other items can be configured to fit your space.
- Sales: Holds several sales and promotional events throughout the year, offering significant savings on a wide range of products.
- Shopping Experience: Customers can shop online or visit one of Ethan Allen's many "Design Centers" (showrooms) across the country for complimentary design help from on-staff professionals.
- Sustainability: The company focuses on responsible sourcing, with many products being FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and GREENGUARD certified.
Ethan Allen provides a balanced approach, offering quality customization and professional design help within a more conventional and accessible retail model.
Shop Ethan Allen: ethanallen.com
Sherrill Furniture vs. Ethan Allen Comparison
Price Comparison
There is a clear distinction in price between these two brands. Sherrill Furniture operates in the luxury segment. Its handcrafted nature, premium materials, and deep customization mean higher costs. Expect sofas to begin around $3,000-$3,500 and climb significantly from there based on your selections. It’s an investment in heirloom craftsmanship.
Ethan Allen is more of an affordable luxury brand. While still a premium product, its sofas often start closer to $2,000 and offer excellent value, especially during sale periods. The ability to shop promotions and take advantage of financing options makes Ethan Allen a much more accessible option for a broader range of budgets.
Style & Aesthetic
Sherrill is the specialist, focusing intently on classic, traditional, and transitional furniture. Its collections are defined by graceful lines, timeless forms, and sophisticated, tailored details. If you're designing a formal living room or want a piece that feels rooted in design history, Sherrill excels.
Ethan Allen is a generalist in the best sense. Its design catalog is incredibly diverse, offering everything from farmhouse-inspired dining tables and classic Chesterfield sofas to sleek, modern accent chairs. This versatility makes it a one-stop shop for furnishing an entire home with a cohesive but not uniform look.
Quality & Construction
Both brands produce high-quality, durable furniture designed to last for years. Sherrill hangs its hat on bench-made craftsmanship. Each piece features a kiln-dried hardwood frame and is meticulously assembled and finished by skilled artisans. This attention to detail results in a product of exceptional solidity and longevity.
Ethan Allen also uses solid wood frames and high-quality upholstery materials, including performance fabrics ideal for families. While their manufacturing process is more scaled to serve a national retail audience, quality control is strong. The key difference is the level of individual handcrafting, Sherrill is more a workshop-produced item, whereas Ethan Allen is a high-quality factory-produced item.
Customization & Fit
Customization is a core feature of both brands, but the depth varies. Sherrill Furniture offers a truly bespoke experience. Beyond a vast library of fabrics and finishes, you can often request specific configurations and tailoring details through your designer or dealer to create a one-of-a-kind piece perfect for your space.
Ethan Allen’s customization is also extensive and very user-friendly. On their website or in a showroom, you can easily apply hundreds of different fabrics and a variety of wood finishes to their frames. While you might not get the same level of bespoke detail as Sherrill, the options are more than sufficient for most homeowners to create a personalized look.
Shopping Experience
The shopping journey is fundamentally different. Buying a piece from Sherrill Furniture involves working with an interior designer or visiting an authorized high-end furniture dealer. This is a deliberate, consultative process for customers who want expert guidance and a very hands-on selection experience.
The Ethan Allen experience is modern and straightforward. You can browse online, order swatches, use virtual design tools, or visit a local Design Center to see pieces in person and work with their in-house design team for free. It’s a seamless blend of digital and physical retail that puts the customer in control.
Which One Should You Choose?
Both Sherrill and Ethan Allen are excellent choices, but they serve different priorities.
Choose Sherrill Furniture if:
- You are looking for true, heirloom-quality upholstered furniture to be the centerpiece of a room.
- Your style is traditional, classic, or elegantly transitional.
- You want deep, bespoke customization options and are prepared to invest for the highest quality.
- You prefer a personalized, guided shopping experience through a designer or a high-end showroom.
Choose Ethan Allen if:
- You want a wide selection of styles to furnish your entire home, from classic to contemporary.
- You are looking for a balance of premium quality and accessible luxury pricing.
- You value the convenience of shopping online or in a dedicated brand showroom.
- You want to take advantage of complimentary design services and seasonal sales.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sherrill Furniture or Ethan Allen more expensive?
Sherrill Furniture is generally more expensive. Its focus on handcrafted, bench-made upholstered pieces and a personal dealer network places it firmly in the luxury, high-end price bracket. Ethan Allen offers more accessible, premium pricing and frequent sales.
Which brand has better quality furniture?
Both brands offer excellent quality. However, Sherrill is often considered a higher tier due to its emphasis on handcrafted details and traditional construction methods, resulting in heirloom pieces. Ethan Allen provides very high-quality, durable furniture designed for modern life, but with a more scaled manufacturing approach.
Where can you buy Sherrill Furniture?
You cannot buy Sherrill Furniture directly from the company. It is sold exclusively through a national network of approved fine furniture showrooms, authorized dealers, and interior designers.
Can I customize furniture at Ethan Allen?
Yes, Ethan Allen offers extensive customization. Most of their upholstered pieces are available in hundreds of fabrics and leathers, and casegoods like tables and dressers come in a variety of wood finishes.
Which is better for a traditional home?
Both brands excel at traditional styles, but Sherrill specializes in it. Sherrill's designs are deeply rooted in classic forms and timeless elegance, making it an exceptional choice for a purely traditional home. Ethan Allen also has beautiful traditional collections, but its overall range is broader.
Does Ethan Allen ever have sales?
Yes, Ethan Allen runs sales and promotional events regularly throughout the year, especially around holidays. These events can provide significant discounts on their furniture and decor, making it a good time to buy.
Which brand is better for families with kids or pets?
Ethan Allen may have a slight edge for active family homes. They offer a wide array of performance fabrics designed to resist stains and wear, and its more accessible price point can make it a less stressful investment in a home with kids and pets.
Is Sherrill Furniture made in the USA?
Yes, Sherrill prides itself on being an American-made brand. Their upholstered furniture is crafted in their factories in Hickory, North Carolina, a historic center for high-quality American furniture production.
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