Looks good. I don't know what to say about a skin chair..except gross :). I am sure cows feel that way. Actually, Mark has a good point. Once you understand what shininess(also called glossiness) is for then it makes sense to use that kind a shader there, ties in well w/ color/diffuse channel.Same of all the channels..there are usually so many ways to go about something.It's really worth it to just experiment with what you can do in all the channels. Learning how to make the proper maps for each makes the textures really come alive.I am really glad to see that carrara's texturing support is very much on par w/ some much higher end packages.I can see why people like zbrush so much and using it w/ carrara also.

No need to think outside the box....
    Just make it invisible.