ttodd,

Calico Corner did my drapes in my family room when I first moved into our new home 2 years ago. I chose them based on a friend of mine who had used them. My initial plan was to hire one of their designers to come in when we first moved and have her give me some ideas based on what I wanted. I went online and filled out the information and within 2 days I received a call. The appointment was made and she came out on a Saturday. Very professional. She measured the room, the windows, she did it all. She asked me a lot of questions about what type of feeling I wanted to have in the room, what colors did I like. I love earthy colors..reds, greens, golds.....

She stayed for approximately 2 hours and left. Within one week she called me to set an appointment at the Fairfax, VA store and it was on a Sunday. I walked in, was excorted to the back where there are designer rooms. When I walked into that room, she had it all laid out. The materials for the drapes, the sectional, the two chairs, pillows, drapery rods which she matched to my wooden floors (I had given her samples of the wooden floors that the builder had left). She even went as far as choosing the paint color for the walls and the area rug. Absolutely gorgeous....until she started talking price. BE PREPARED :-)

The end result was I had Calico Corners do my draperies which are a satin silk stripe with earth tone colors. I also chose the rods she had chosen as well as the area rug and the wall color.

The sectional and chairs was a different story. They wanted to charge me $8,000.00 for the sectional which was gorgeous which included the fabric chosen and the two chairs were $800.00 a piece.

My husband said not no but hell no. I ended up purchasing my sectional and two chairs from La-Z-Boy for half the price of the sectional.

Am I pleased with the paint color, the drapes and the area rug? YES, it all came together beautifully. I'm always getting compliments when I have friends over. One other thing she also did a placement scale of my family room which she had posted in the room identifying the placement of the furniture which I thought was really neat. I was able to pick out the right color for my sectional and chairs because she gave me samples of the fabric. Made my job easier :-)

I have a sofa, chair, and ottoman that I purchased as floor samples almost 7 years ago. It was the only seating in my last house so it has gotten a lot of use. I still receive compliments and have had offers from friends to buy the pieces from me. I would not hesitate to purchase furniture from them again. Yes, they are a little pricey but the quality is very good and it's made in the USA. To me furniture is an investment since I keep mine for so long (my last sofa was 18 yrs old.)

I don't have WT's but I feel their workmanship is very good. I recently priced drapes and thought they were pretty expensive for what I was getting. I feel you can get custom at better prices with a little homework.

I had curtains, daybed cover and pillows made for DD2's room when she turned 15. They did a wonderful job and I brought it all with me when we moved. Sure, it's in boxes, but DD2 (who is now 20) can used when she has a DD of her own.

For this house, I ordered a pair of chairs and a chair/ottoman. They are very well made, comfortable and they had fabrics I loved. I did look elsewhere without any luck. I bought a Henredon sofa instead of theirs. Wanted to be able to sit on one beforehand.

They do have good sales. Sign up for emails, you'll get coupons there and in the mail. They have one good furniture sale a year with so much off - the more you spend, the more you save.

Thanks for your feedback - I really appreciate it! I do recall that they have really good sales. When I return my swatches I will have to ask them for estimates on the pillows & a throw when I return my samples this wknd.

I just came across this thread. I am in the process of having drapes and roman shades made for my family room and am going with CC.

I had found some very nice fabric from another store, but unfortunately the labor costs for 2 Roman Shades and a pair of Draperies was $1900 (this does not include buying the fabric and I was told I needed 20-25 yards depending on the repeat). I had an independent shop come in and again $1900 on the labor not including fabric.

The CC price is $1100 and includes the fabric. I had to use their fabric, however, which meant the stuff I fell in love with at the other place was a non-starter... BUT I did buy some yardage and will either have a small chair upholstered with it or have pillows made. It coordinates very nicely with the fabric I chose from CC.

The guy who is supposed to come out and measure (they won't do the installation unless you pay them to measure) hasn't called and it has already been a week. Not a good start, but what am I going to do with such a vast price difference????

I went in to complain today and the In Home Consultant seems to be on the case now so hopefully I will hear from the measuring guy soon.

Did have a very bad experience with Calico store in Princeton NJ. Would really not recommend them, not accountable for their services, staff very rude after services. Spend over $5,000 for recovering furnitures, a total disaster. Not reliable we now have to seek legal help and get everything redone, of course elsewhere!

I had a great experience with 2 Calico stores in the Los Angeles area in 2014 and 2015. The staff was professional and the work was done well.

Each region uses different workrooms so the quality can vary. The attitude of the staff will depend on the individual Store Manager and the quality of people they can hire.

I contacted Calico Corners in Vero Beach Florida for Hunter Douglas blinds. They were extremely unprofessional and cost 33% more ($3200) than the business I ended up using. They sent 2 people out to my house to "measure windows", charged me $85.60 for it, and didn't so much as leave a business card or estimate. I got a phone call two days later even though I had asked for an email. When my husband finally got an email (they had tracked down an address for him even though I had given them mine), it was for three windows (my home had four windows) and did not include the measurements they charged me for or anything from Hunter Douglas, like warranty or installation info. When they finally sent an estimate for four windows, it was $9600!!! I declined their services and asked for the measurements, to which they responded that they did not know how to send those via email but they would mail them via USPS. I never received anything. It was one of the absolute worst "contractor" experiences ever.

I've just read this thread and am throwing in my two cents mainly because I have had a horrible experience with CC. I have done business with CC for 40 years. By business I mean, purchase of fabric and various home decor items ON SALE. Their retail prices I have found are marked up by 50% or more. How do I know this? I hired a professional designer to assist with the furniture I ordered and purchased from CC which arrived and was of poorer quality than I would have found at a garage sale! I do not exaggerate!

First, the furniture manufacturer is on the east coast. My designer contacted the manufacturer and discovered the wholesale price on the furniture including custom upholstery was 65% less than the charge passed on to me by CC. Okay, I expect some sort of markup for retail but wait: there's more . I was also charged a premium for fabric. The fabric on sale at CC was still $79.99 per yard. ON SALE. So add that premium on top of the furniture. At the time of order I had to pay 50% up front that means the furniture wholesale price was paid in full and the mark up price would cover CC's profit. Let's consider this: 1. I had NO assurance I would get any of what I paid for; 2. I was told I would need to wait 5 months for purchased furniture to be built, upholstered, and shipped. They were correct. It took five months. 3. At the time of ordering I was advised I would have to leave a signed check for the remaining 50% which they would process when the furniture left the manufacturer and was in transit for delivery. I balked at this and explained I had already paid in full for fabric and 50% for custom furniture and I had ZERO assurance the pieces would arrive on time or would arrive in custom condition. In short neither the furniture manufacturer nor CC would be out any monies. On the other hand I would be out many thousands of dollars. CC then asked that I provide a credit card # with a signed approval giving CC permission to debit my credit card a week prior to shipping. There's a reason CC implements all these measures. Could it be they have a history of customer dissatisfactions? Could it be they are aware there are problems and they want to ensure their money is paid up front and in full prior to their customer's receiving of furniture. I think so! There is something wrong when the BBB reflects these same complaints. When the BBB posts these complaints you know there have been dozens more excepting that BBB doesn't post repetitive complaints.

I explained to CC that I would not authorize them to use my credit card or provide a signed check for them to keep on file until furniture was ready to ship. They finally conceded when I communicated that I would cancel my order altogether if I was required to authorize the remaining 50% prior to delivery.

The furniture arrived five months later. Typical of CC I am discovering, their turnover defies logic and the people who worked at my local CC were not the same employees five months later.

The furniture arrived and it was, like I said, nothing custom. Cushions and foam and fabric were not upholstered correctly leaving divots and puckers and twists and indentations throughout. Clearly shoddy workmanship!

I brought this to their attention and the "manager" and employees nodded and agreed that the job was not done according to CC standards. They would email the regional manager with photos and work something out. That was a month ago! Each time I telephone to find out where the project stands I am told the regional manager is on vacation or hasn't emailed back. I am told that the local subcontractor would have to repair the damage. I am told the job was clearly not a custom job. And so I wait. I wait for CC which touts themselves as a custom fabric and furniture establishment to stand by their warranty and to ---oh---I-don't-know---pick up that old fashioned mechanism called a telephone and get the problem resolved. Apply some elbow grease and get the regional manager's approval. Curiously I purchased the items from a local store but THEY have to get someone else involved to approve a repair of the shoddy job? No one seems to be a decision maker but willing to take my money for their "product". There has been no offer of refund. No offer of new product. Nothing. Just "waiting to get permission to have our subcontractor fix the problem".

My local store is all smiles and accommodating when I'm perusing the store to make a purchase something but vapid and absent when there is a problem to solve.

I will never...not ever...never do business with them again. Never. That is a shame since the designer I hired won't forget what I've encountered and their establishment will not do business with CC, either. It is a further shame that I have many other pieces I need to replace and two other homes to furnish. I have also a colleague who has asked me to furnish a 17,000 foot home including 8 bedrooms and several living spaces. I. Will. Never. Use. Calico Corners again.

A really, really bad experience with CC in the FX store. I contracted with the designer last Septenber, the job is still not competed. Most of the measurements are off, the bedspreads is completely different than the origional measurements. Weeks go by with no word when corrections will be replaced. I waspromised weeks ago the bedspread would be replaced, last night I received a messsage the order had been forgotten. So, today the installer came with three window valances, they were almost idenical the way they were initally. I spent thousands on a simple design for the master bedroom, it has turned out a total disappoinment. After spending the time selecting fabric, design etc. I gave a fifty percent deposit, I just naturally thought the remaing balance was due at the time of instullation, wrong!! I did not read the paragraft at the botton stating payment was due before instullation. If I had read this, I would have cancelled the agreement. They get you after all the selections have been made, with a promise everything will be covered if anything goes wrong. Maybe they will if I should live that long.