Len Lewin

Dear Len,
In advance I greatly appreciate your advice.

We are moving from Atlanta, Georgia to Burlington, Vermont. We are weighing the pros and cons of moving our 3 bedroom home full of furniture or selling almost everything and buying new when we arrive in Vermont.

Eventually we would like to buy all new furniture. We would like to purchase solid wood, quality furniture, but can’t afford the retail prices. We could possibly rent a U-haul and move a few valuable items. With that we could stop in North Carolina and purchase new furniture at a big discount with our savings from moving and the money we make on selling our old furniture.

My questions:
1- Is Vermont a good place to buy antiques? or quality inexpensive furniture?

2- Where are the big discount places to shop in North Carolina?

3- We have a leather Whittemore Sherrill love seat and chair. They are big and heavy. We love the design, but the leather has been damaged. They no longer look good. Is the frame worth saving? Should we have them re-upholstered? Who do we contact to have this done? Manufacturer? in Vermont?

Thank you very much.
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

All of New England is a good place to look for “antiques”; but be careful unless you are an expert when it comes to antiques. Now if you see a wonderful, charming, well priced item that you can’t live without…buy it; but if you are looking at a small table that George Washington used and is priced at $18,000! Be careful.

You will be better off looking for “quality” inexpensive furniture in North Carolina or Boston. Carolina is terrific, not because the prices are dramatically better than anyplace else (they used to be but now the difference in price between Carolina and say Atlanta or DC or Philly is not that great) but you do save the tax and the routine discount in Carolina is at least 40% off the suggested retail price. What is dramatically different is the huge quantity of furniture that you will see in Carolina. Go through High Point and stop at what I think are the 3 best outlets: FurnitureLand South, Boyles, and Rose Brothers Furniture. They are all within a mile of each other on Rt. 85 in High Point. These are the biggest and the best. You can trust them and the displays are super. Don’t miss them.

I like Sherrill product very much but in today’s world it just doesn’t pay to have an item re-upholstered. Prices are just too competitive and particularly with leather. You can do better buying new. Much good luck with your move and it will tough to find a more beautiful place than Vermont.

Len Lewin; Author, “Shopping For Furniture: A Consumer’s Guide”, 2nd. Edition

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