Tis the season ...

I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday -- the longer, the better -- from the great boarding school where we are forever working at our arithmetical slates, to take, and give a rest.

 -- Charles Dickens

The American Leather factory will be closed next week. This is the way we do it in the furniture industry, rather than try to limp along for a week with a skeleton crew, everybody stays home for a week (except for some office staff who are available to answer the phones).

We do the same thing for the week of July 4^th.  It’s a nice way to let everyone know we put a priority on strong families and happy team members. Nothing is more important.

As we all make those frantic final efforts to tie up all the loose ends at work while simultaneously finishing preparations for the holidays, now might be a good time to suggest that we all take a few deep breaths to relax and remember the simpler things in life.

Remember that the best moments have little to do with whether your pies came out perfect, or if your gifts were exactly what they needed. More important, we urge you to relax and take the time to surround yourself in the company of people who know and love you. That, after all, is what it’s all about.

Color of the year is a real gem: Emerald Green

Pantone’s crowned Emerald as the color that will rise to prominence in 2013, and we think it’s going to be a real gem.

We’re pretty jazzed about Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2013. Besides the fact that it ties in so nicely with Christmas and the holidays, Emerald Green – specifically Pantone 17-5641 – works really well with our palette of fabrics and leathers.

Jessica Green, our Merchandising Manager, tells us that Emerald is extremely versatile and will probably be used most frequently in home furnishings as a finishing touch, “a crowning jewel.”

It should be an appealing compliment to neutral tones, Jessica said: “This soft tone will pair great with our gray spectrum (which is becoming more and more important and slowly overtaking the neutrals) and will spice up warmer neutrals in the cream and beige families. It will look fresh with white and khaki/caramel, a little edgy with black.”

We like that Emerald moves away from deeper, more traditional green and has softer, bluish undertones that allow it to be a chameleon. Jessica also added that “It will be able to work with bright, deep pinks and electric blues, strengthening the vibrancy of saturated palettes with a European sensibility.”

Pantone, which provides color standards for the design industries, makes its annual color forecast based on trends in a number of industries including home fashions, as well as beauty, fashion, entertainment, art, technology and sports. Succeeding Tangerine Tango, 2012’s color of the year, Emerald was selected since it is expected to rise in prominence, in fashion, beauty, interiors, print and graphic design over the coming twelve months.

Describing Emerald as “sophisticated and luxurious,” the Pantone announcement says, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. It’s also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity – no other color conveys regeneration more than green. For centuries, many countries have chosen green represent healing and unity.”

Now, we can’t say with complete confidence that Emerald Green is going to bring us world or even inner harmony and enlightenment, but are looking forward to seeing how our designers put it to work to create beautiful homes and inviting rooms.

Conversectionals and other ruminations on seating options

Limitless configurations, more seating capacity and comfortable conversations are just some of the reasons why sectionals are so popular.

Home styling is so much more eclectic these days, and most of us no longer feel that our furnishings have to “match.” Creative designers now want to create coordinated rooms where all the elements work together, where the colors, shapes and proportions are complimentary but not necessarily identical.

Certainly, we in the furniture industry have seen an overwhelming trend toward item buying and away from what we used to call suites (pronounced like suits) of furniture, with each piece in the same finish and the same style. The old days of building a room around a sofa-loveseat-chair combination are long gone.

Each of these key items – sofa, loveseat, chair and even matching ottoman – still play an important role in furnishing beautiful and comfortable rooms. But we’ve seen a powerful move toward sectionals, especially as decorating “rules” relax and more emphasis is placed on casual lifestyles.

Obviously, a sectional can be designed to provide more seating, often in less space than standalone pieces. Because most of our collections include armless pieces, we can build sectionals to go around the wall and down the hall. We can even pave a room with an endless sectional if that’s what somebody really wants.

But sectionals can also be quite small. For instance, in a cramped space, a sectional could be set up with a one-armed loveseat at one end and a one-armed chair with a corner piece in the center. This would give more seating capacity in less space than a loveseat-chair combination, but the overall footprint of the configuration is quite small.

This small Malibu sectional provides more seating in less space than two free-standing pieces.

Sectionals are social. People tend to sit a little closer and are in a more relaxed posture. That’s one reason we’ve always loved what we call our wedge sectionals: two pieces that each have 22.5-degree angle. This is a great configuration for watching television – everybody’s seat is oriented toward the screen – but it’s also an intimate set-up for sitting and talking.

A “wedge” sectional is an excellent choice for both conversation and TV watching.

And sectionals can quite dramatic, too. At the High Point furniture market, we regularly show an armless sofa bracketed by chaises. Matched with an ottoman, this creates something akin to a pit group, even if you don't have to dive into it. But there's plenty of room for lounging, sprawling or whatever word you want to use for leaning back and relaxing.

We've always loved this configuration, with a chaise on either end of an armless sofa. This is the Grant, but you can do this with just about any of our sofa collections.

Here are a couple more of our favorites:

If space isn't an issue, this 10-piece Menlo Park layout ought to make a dramatic statement.

A one-armed sofa with a return, a simple sectional, from our Astoria Park collection.

More drama: The Corbin's unusual arm placement creates a sofa with two sides for sitting.

Have fun! Create the sectional that has the style, shape and seating capacity that's perfect for your room.

Recylcing: It's the right thing to do.

America Recycles Day is an annual reminder that we all need to do what we can to reduce waste by reusing and recycling.

Technically, we're a day late on this one, but in the theme of yesterday's America Recycles Day, we have decided to reuse the theme, hereby naming Friday, Nov. 16, America Recycles Day Redux. This is an idea that is easy for American Leather to get behind because we reuse and recycle everything. No matter what it is -- wood, leather, foam or hardware -- if we can't find a use for it, we find someone who can. This is the way we've always run our factory, which regularly astounds first-time visitors for its clean and orderly condition.

But enough about American Leather. This is about what we all can do to reduce waste by recycling. This site for America Recycles Day offers several good ideas for recycling programs large and small, but it's all just a lot of talk -- much of it recycled (get it?) -- until we make it a regular practice. The hardest part is just getting started, setting up a system for separating recyclables from the stuff that is legitimate garbage. Once you have that organized, it's simply a matter of putting the plastic bottles and metal cans where they belong, rather than dumping it all into the garbage can.

Unfortunately, some of us are unwilling to make recycling a habit, as though it's a political statement or an undesirable style pose to be doing something that is environmentally smart. It's a shame that these attitudes exist. In the hopes that these words will wind up in front of some folks who heretofore had resisted recycling, consider this from the America Recycles Day website:


Recycling is the easiest thing we all can do 365 days a year to save energy, conserve natural resources and create green jobs.
• Our national recycling rate of 34 percent:
— Saves the energy equivalent of nearly 229 million barrels of crude oil or nearly
20 days of all U.S. oil imports.
— Saves Americans the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of nearly 
14 million US households per year.
— Avoids greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to removing more than 
36 million cars from the road each year, or growing nearly 5 billion tree 
seedlings for 10 years.
• Recycling is a multibillion dollar industry that employs millions of Americans and 
helps advance our clean energy economy.

So in a nutshell, when you recycle, you are a Maker, not a Taker. In fact, you will be a Job Creator. And as we all now know, those are good things. So let's get with it. Let's recycle.

The beauty's in the details

A devotion to detail produces furniture with the beauty of jewelry

Something as simple as the stitching and the seam on the front edge of this sofa's arm must be straight and true or it will be upsettingly wrong, unacceptable. Most people will not give that seam much thought, but hopefully we've piqued your interest just enough that you'll now take a moment to notice the tailoring on the next sofa you sit on. Is it as clean and precise as this. Believe it or not, seams this straight require skill and craftsmanship and a whole bunch of engineering beforehand to make sure the frame and leather pieces go together just so.

And there are literally dozens of examples that can be cited in every piece of furniture, although many of them can't be seen. For instance, next time you sit on an upholstered chair, squeeze the arm. Then reach down and run your hand along the side panel. How did all that feel? Could you feel edges of the framing under the arm or was the padding thick enough to hide the hard parts? On the side, was it all padded and reinforced, or was it hollow?

In many cases, the beauty can be found in the shape, the design. Consider the side profile of the Lennon collection's back: 

The plane, angle and shape of Lennon's back create an appealing contrast to both the arm and the back cushion. It works so well and seems so simple, but a ton of creative thought went into developing that design.

There are tons of examples in the American Leather line. Small details that by themselves may not catch your attention. But study it a bit, and we think you'll be impressed. For instance, the button tuft on the seat of the Luxe sofa. A lot of sewing created that perfect little tuft, one of dozens on each piece from the Luxe collection:

The elegant sweep of the Alyssa chair's back:

Or the ready-to-leap stance of the Sandy collection's legs:

These are the small details that make a design special, the beautiful elements that -- we believe -- give our furniture many of the the lovely facets of jewelry. 

Made in America: A testimonial

We came across this small item in The New York Times Book Review Sunday, and we had to share it. It’s Dave Eggers, best-selling author and publisher, talking about how he selected the printer who produces his company’s books: 


“Over the years, we’ve done a lot of our production in the U.S., and even more in Canada, and then about five years ago, we started printing in Asia, too. But then, a few years ago, I got to know this printer outside Detroit called Thomson-Shore. They’d done some pro bono work for our tutoring center nearby, 826 Michigan, so I visited the plant, and thanked them, and saw some beautiful books they’d made, and met the men and women who work there. Walking the production floor was very much like meeting the members of an extended family. … The fact that they’re in Michigan makes it easier to communicate, to reprint and to correct problems, and the prices are close enough to China’s numbers, when you take shipping and various delays into account. I don’t mean to beat a made-in-America drum, but I would be lying if I said it doesn’t feel somehow right to be printing books in the U.S.”


At American Leather, we are proud to beat that drum, and we’ve found that it makes great business sense. For all the reasons that Eggers list, our customers agree.

Performance fabrics: Upholstery fabrics that defy “wear and tear”

American Leather offers more than 150 fabrics that are exceptionally durable and stain resistant, including Ultrasuede and Crypton.

Although our name says “leather”, American Leather has been producing beautiful fabric upholstery for more than a decade, and our lineup now includes more than 300 fabric covers, as well as COM, that can be applied to any of our sofas, chairs, beds and benches.

And if you’re already familiar with American Leather’s commitment to function and durability, you won’t be surprised to know that many of our fabrics offer superior durability and stain-resist characteristics. They look and feel great, of course, but they’re also tough enough to stand up to heavy use without losing their lustrous good looks.

We’ve been working longest of all with Ultrasuede Ambiance by Toray. This is the original microfiber that still sets the standard for hand, drape and durability. It feels like soft, plush suede, but it’s engineered to meet the most demanding standars for everything from residential furnishings to first-class aviation and luxury marine and RV interiors.

Highly abrasion resistant, Ultrasuede won’t wear out, even after 200,000 Wyzenbeek double rubs; it’s spot-cleanable and washable and it provides excellent colorfastness while resisting sagging, crocking, pilling and shrinking. And on top of all that, Ultrasuede Ambiance, which is covered by a 10-year warranty, is available in 97 colors.

An exciting recent addition to the American Leather lineup, Crypton fabrics are familiar to designers who have worked on health-care or other commercial projects where powerful performance is imperative. With patented barrier technology, Crypton fabrics repel liquids, and stains and spills wipe right up so that cushions stay clean and dry.

American Leather now offers two sets of fabric from Crypton. We have Atlas by Crypton, which comes in 10 colors with a bit of mélange in each, and Eden, also 10 colors but all solids. Both are soft to the touch, and yet they provide this amazing performance that protects furniture and keeps it looking great.

Long-time fans of American Leather and our Comfort Sleeper program will have fond memories of our Life Fabrics, Veelife and Suedelife. Now available on all fames, these microfibers – the 10 Veelife colors have a herringbone pattern and the 36 Suedelife colors are solids with a brushed nap -- provide the the soft, plush feel and comfort of suede, but they are very strong and durable and provide excellent resistance to fading.

Perhaps best of all, light stains on Suedelife fabrics can usually be cleaned with lukewarm water and mild soap; heavier stains can be removed with commercial cleaners, although you should always test a small, discreet spot to make sure the cleaner doesn’t damage the fabric’s color. In our tests, we were able to remover everything from red wine to yellow mustard, even Sharpie ink.

All of these fabrics are easy to live with, comfortable and they come in an array of colors so that you can pick the perfect hue for your design project.

Sleep in style with a beautiful bed

Perhaps best known for our sofas, sectionals and sleepers, American Leather also offers an impressive and versatile assortment of beds and headboards.

Each style is available in several sizes, and of course, you can pick the perfect cover, even if it’s a fabric or leather that we don’t stock.

For contemporary looks, the Menlo Park bed, designed by Rick Lee and pictured above, gives off a contemporary vibe, with its metal legs and the clean curve from headboard to platform. But the rest are chameleons, capable of adapting to the style of the room; a rich brown leather, for instance, makes them traditional, but a creamy Ultrasuede lends a transitional or contemporary look.

And the Loja headboard, available with optional matching rails, solves all kinds of design problems. Upholstered and padded with crisp buttonless tufting, the Loja ships with a wall-mounting system that can be installed at exactly the perfect height for the mattress, regardless of how tall or short it is.

Other beds from the American Leather line:

Montecito by Rick Lee: For a glamorous interpretation of a sleigh bed.

Copeland: As a full bed or just a headboard, this design is distinctively handsome and is available with optional nailhead trim.

Metropolitan: One of our all-time favorites, Metropolitan has an architectural look with its rectangular patterns.

Shaw: From the renowned designers Goodman Charleton, this is a sophisticated, perhaps even glamourous, bed with a high shelter back.

Menlo Park, Montecito and Shaw are platform beds. Copeland and Metropolitan ship with slats, and they work best with half-height foundations. The Loja rails, which do not connect to the wall-mounted headboard, are decorative only with no slats or platform, designed to hide the bed frame.

All the details are on our web site, and you should visit an authorized American Leather retailer for more information and samples.

Every day is Earth Day

Home furnishings trends change with the calendar, but we're proud to say that being environmentally aware and responsible never goes out of style at American Leather. Everybody who visits our sparkling factory, even the jaded furniture guys who've been there and done that, are amazed how pristine we keep our operations. And when it comes to doing the right thing, the beauty is way more than skin deep.

With our industry-leading production systems, we maximize the use of all our resources, and if we can't use it, we recycle it. For a list of our major green initiatives, check this out. But we're also continually reviewing our practices and looking for ways to improve. Of course, just the fact that our factory is in the United States gives our products a much smaller carbon footprint than those that are shipped across oceans before they are put on another truck.

Earth Day may be coming up, April 29, but at American Leather, we've always felt that environmental responsibility is a year-round priority. We salute all of you who share our commitment!

Local Manufacturing with Global Success: American Leather is Ahead of the Curve

It’s becoming nearly impossible to go a day without hearing chatter about the lack of jobs in this country, but one thing we’re not hearing enough of is the resurgence of manufacturing in the United States. According to Hal Sirkin, a senior partner and managing director at the Boston Consulting Group, manufacturing in the United States is making a comeback.  As Sirkin states, America is becoming incredibly productive and using its resources very efficiently. “That's what's going to cause the change as we start to move from off shore in China to in-sourcing around the world,” he said.

American Leather - Dallas, Texas

But one company doesn’t have to make the shift from outsourcing to in-sourcing. American Leather furniture has always been manufacturing on U.S. soil, even when its competitors found cheaper labor and facilities overseas. “We built our brand on customization, style and service and are thrilled that more American companies have begun to see the importance – and financial benefits – of staying on home turf,” said Bob Duncan, American Leather co-founder and CEO.

Sirkin agrees, noting that manufacturing jobs in the U.S. have actually increased by 300,000 in the last two years. “It's now becoming more effective to produce in the U.S. than it is to produce in a lot of different countries. Between the shift in the dollar and the incredibly rapid rise in wages in China, people are starting to do this,” he said in an article penned by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He added, “We have a system where our people want to work and they find ways to do this. We have a system in which our companies are forced to get more productive because it's do or die.”


One of the factors causing this shift is the rising cost of transportation of labor and goods overseas. It’s also important to note the difficulty to manufacture goods when you're 6,000 miles away from your customers and have to interact with people who don't speak your native language.

American Leather's factory operations

Since 1990, American Leather has been housed in a factory in Dallas. In just 30 days or less, American Leather is able to make customized furniture – in leather and fabric – which is a delivery standard three times faster than the industry average. From the beginning, the factory was set up to manage mass customization through the latest technology and manufacturing systems, making American Leather the most automated leather furniture manufacturer in North America, and possibly, the world.


Sirkin says the furniture business is an industry that could benefit the most from this manufacturing renaissance because of the amount of wood produced in the U.S. “People are putting their money down, making some very important decisions and realizing that the U.S. has a very highly productive work force, a very flexible work force and the ability to be a very low-cost manufacturing platform for some very important industries,” he said.


And American Leather has been leading the march for more than 21 years! 

Liven up the Living Room with Pantone’s 2012 Spring Palette

Gone are the days of the monochromatic color schemes, and in its place stands a collection of fresh, vibrant spring shades ready to melt away those winter blues. And American Leather is embracing these trendy tints in everything from their leathers to fabrics to Ultrasuede.  

According to Pantone, the Bible of color trends, Spring 2012 designs will showcase a range of styles and lifestyles, from free and playful and light and breezy, to contemporary classics. Colors reflect these differing moods, “encapsulating vivid brights, soft muted tones and fun-loving pastels.”  

Among the highlighted hues this season are:

Tangerine Tango, an enticing shade of juicy orange

Solar Power, an energetic yellow which radiates warmth and cheer
Bellflower, a distinct ornamental purple which exudes uniqueness and creativity

Cabaret, scintillating and sexy, is a sensual and intense rosy-red
Sodalite Blue, a classic maritime hue, brings order and calmness to mind
Cockatoo, a tactile blue-green, is sure to make spirits soar
Margarita, a piquant yellow-green, lifts spirits with its refreshing and stimulating glow

Sweet Lilac, a delicate pinkish lilac adds a touch of romance to any room

Natural versatile neutrals round out the season’s Top 10 colors and add practicality to these dazzling tones:

Driftwood, an adaptable blend of beige and gray with a slightly weathered feel, and

Starfish, a perfect warm summer neutral.

If you’re unsure how to blend these vivacious colors into an already established room, start small. For example, an area rug in Margarita or Sweet Lilac and a vase in Cockatoo can invoke the feeling of spring without overwhelming a room. Or try incorporating accent pillows in Sodalite Blue and Solar Power to a lightly colored neutral sofa, such as the Moore sofa in Vintage Flax linen, to bring some blue-sky and sunshine in from the outside.  

There is an infinite number of ways to design a room with this diverse palette. So spring into action this year and get started!