Susan Hable Smith for Hickory Chair: Pattern, Colour and Southern Warmth

The Susan Hable Smith collection for Hickory Chair brings the Athens, Georgia artist's bold brushwork and warm Southern color sense directly into bench-made American upholstery. Sutter & Vale carries the full range through the Hickory Chair collection, where every piece is made to order in Hickory, North Carolina, frame to finish to upholstery under one roof.

Who Is Susan Hable Smith and What Does She Bring to Hickory Chair?

Her contribution to Hickory Chair is color: warm, layered, paint-derived pattern that sits naturally against the house's tailored silhouettes and honest construction. Hable sits within a design roster that includes Suzanne Kasler, Ray Booth, and Mariette Himes Gomez, each chosen to bring a distinct and identifiable point of view to traditional forms. The result is furniture that reads as collected rather than coordinated. A sofa covered in one of her patterns holds the room the way a good painting does, with weight and intention.

What Kinds of Pieces Are in the Collection?

The Hable program spans upholstered seating and accent pieces, giving you options across a full room plan. Key categories include:

• Sofas and chairs in classic silhouettes that let the Hable fabric carry the visual work
• Ottomans that can anchor a seating group or stand alone as a color statement
• Benches with hand-woven rush, such as the Aix-en-Provence Bench, which pairs natural texture with a cushion top tied in place, a quiet counterpoint to a pattern-heavy room
• Counter and bar stools, including the Aix-en-Provence Counter Stool, with its hand-woven rush seat and Scandinavian-influenced silhouette

Each piece is ordered to specification. Hickory Chair's Made For You and Made to Measure programs let you adjust silhouette, finish, and scale before the frame is ever cut.

How Does Hickory Chair Actually Make These Pieces?

Every order moves through a single plant in Hickory, North Carolina, and that vertical integration is uncommon in American furniture at this scale. Machine-milled frame stock is hand-stained, then fabric is cut from a paper pattern. Upholstery is worked over white batting using a mallet. Nailhead trim, where specified, is set one nail at a time. The whole sequence, frame, finish, upholstery, and shipping, happens under one roof. Seams align, proportions hold, and lead times run as little as three to four weeks on standard orders.

The house has operated this way since its founding in 1911. The craft disciplines are not a recent addition. They are the original business.

How Do You Choose the Right Hable Piece for Your Space?

Start with the role the piece needs to play, then work outward from there. A Hable-covered sofa is a strong visual commitment, so it works best where the surrounding palette is quieter: natural wood, stone, linen, rush. A Hable bench or ottoman introduces color at a lower-stakes scale and can anchor a window seat or the foot of a bed without reordering the whole room.

A few sizing references:

Allow at least 18 inches between a sofa and a coffee table for comfortable circulation. For counter stools, standard counter height runs 36 inches; the stool's 41.25-inch overall height is proportioned accordingly. If you are working with an existing pattern in the room, pulling a secondary color from the Hable fabric rather than the dominant one tends to produce a more settled result.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Hable fabric program available across all Hickory Chair silhouettes?

Hickory Chair lists Hable as a first-class fabric program within its own fabric search, alongside Liberty, Performance, and other fabric types. That means it can be specified across a broad range of the house's upholstered forms, not only the pieces the collaboration originally launched with. Confirm availability on a specific silhouette when you place your order.

Can I customize the finish or silhouette on a Hable-covered piece?

Yes. Hickory Chair's Made For You and Made to Measure programs extend to pieces in the Hable program, giving you control over frame finish and, in some cases, scale. The degree of customization varies by piece, so discuss your requirements at the point of order.

How long does a Hickory Chair order typically take?

Hickory Chair's own language on standard orders is "as little as three to four weeks" in the hands of their North Carolina craftspeople. Custom specifications, modified dimensions, or less common fabric selections may extend that window. Verify the current lead time for your specific configuration with Sutter & Vale at the time of order.

The Sutter & Vale Team