"You should look for down filling or a really sturdy foam. Open up the cushion covers and see what the cushions look like on the inside. My current sofa made by a small North Carolina company has seat cushions made out of thick foam that has stayed taut for 3 years now. The back cushions have a very tight filling material that is encased in a thin fabric cover. I used to have a HORRIBLE Ashley sofa when you open the back cushion covers and it was just loose stuffing material. Some of the buzzwords to look for is corner blocked, kiln dried hardwood, double-doweled and glued. You will also hear about 8 way hand tied springs. This used to be the gold standard in seat supports, but from what I hear this is done only in the very high end now. Supposedly high quality sinous springs will do a satisfactory job, although there can be a big difference in the quality of the springs." We like our upholstered LR chairs, made by TRS. We bought them from a high-end shop now out of business, and I remember we were told the furniture company (which we'd never heard of) was very good. (Apparently TRS has bought fairly recently, for what it's worth.) I just went to their web site, and it looks like many of jockewing's buzz words can be found: http://www.trsfurniture.com/aboutus.html Our chairs were expensive, maybe around $1,800 each, and that was around 8 years ago, something like that. I don't know whether it's always true that you get what you pay for, but these chairs have held up beautifully. If the upholstery goes or begins to look too tired to be fixed, or if we decide we don't like it any more, we'll definitely be reupholstering - these chairs are here to stay.

I do like many Ethan Allen pieces. DD has one EA line in her BR, pieces include a bureau, tall chest and bombay chest. The pieces are from an EA line which is cherry or cherry and antique white combo. I will say that the tops of the pieces have taken a beating, but admit that DD is very hard on her BR furniture with nail polish, straightening irons and the like. I used a metal headboard to break up the "suite" look as I am not a fan of matchy matchy. DD also has a few pieces in her room that were either hand-me-down (refinished) or custom made by a friend who is a master carpenter/wood worker. DH & I have oak in our BR. Tall chest, my bureau and mirror (separate pieces), two marble top night chests in the darker oak or "antique oak" finish. All are Lexington pieces in a victorian style. We have an older piece ~ dark oak armoire which is not a Lexington piece, and I have mixed in a metal powder coated headboard and a few other pieces which are not Lexington. The Lexington pieces have been in use for over 25 years and still look as good as the day I purchased them. LR furniture is leather from a custom leather shop in the city which sells only leather furniture. 15 yr. warranty. Purchased in 2003, and are holding up very well despite 2 dogs and 4 cats! With the exception of my LR and DD's BR furniture, I have purchased all other furniture in our home from a local furniture store from different manufacturers. We try, when possible, to buy locally in order to support the smaller stores. I am not a fan of the Raymour & Flanigans and Ashley-type stores. They have terrible reviews online, and from friends and family who have purchased items from that type of store. I do have a friend who temporarily worked in a local Thomasville Gallery. She was a sales associate, but this particular Thomasville store also provides the service as does Ethan Allen of coordinating your home furnishings free of charge. She didn't stay long with Thomasville as her employment began when the economy started to dive back in late 2007. You can easily find feedback online for most items sold in the retail arena.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far... I knew the list was too long and somewhat messy since some of the listings with someone's name may be people/designers who have contracted with another manufacturer to produce a line with their "brand/name" stamped on it instead... but when I posted on the furniture forum I didn't get many responses when just asking for quality, so I thought it might help to have a list to jog some responses. Reviews mean a lot to me when making purchasing decisions, and I am coming at the upholstered world with very little knowledge. A few years ago after a lot of research back then, I purchased our first two pieces of upholstered furniture that were not "hand-me-downs" or cheap college purchases, and I went with Lee Industries. Unfortunately I think we only sat on that sofa and beautiful chair two times before we found out my husband's job required a major move, and since we had purchased them during a promotion, we were able to get most of our money out of them through Craigslist, which was better than paying mover's to transport our things and pay for storage since we'd be landing in a partially-furnished rental for the first year. Since then I have read a lot of conflicting Lee reviews, including on GW/nowHouzz, and so it feels like starting over, but I'm still leaning that way. I tend to like to spend money on experiences vs. things, so I really want to get as many decades out of our furniture purchases as possible, even if paying a little more on the front end for quality to make that happen. Though a poster above was spot on - they just don't make 'em today like they used to, do they... I wish they did! My favorite chair in our house is from my husband's 87-ish year-old-grandmother, and it was second-hand when she bought it many years ago, so I guess it's third-hand by now. There are a few stains, but it sits perfectly, and I would never recover the embroidered linen on it unless it wears through - I can't even imagine what that kind of fabric would cost today. Re: case goods... I know my standards on that front are only because my parents own a small mom-and-pop store in the Midwest that sells solid wood case goods, mostly Amish-made. While it isn't all my style, that is how we ended up with hand-me-downs, and so over the years my Dad has drilled into me to look for solid-built, solid wood quality. If not for the family discount on that front, my preferences might be different. To answer the question above about veneer - the reason why I excluded veneer is because they don't carry anything with particle board or veneer, but I also want to avoid veneer because in our current rental, two side tables that are not ours have nicks through the veneer that reveal the mdf or particle board underneath, and they just aren't wearing like the the 10+ year old coffee table we got from my parents, which still looks pretty perfect. Our pedestal breakfast table is the same one I sat at for dinner each night as a child, and other than the fact that it has been refinished once and that oak is currently off-trend, it looks pretty indestructible. I wouldn't pick the oak today, but the table has a nostalgia that will keep it with us. I hope to update the look a bit with upholstered chairs around it. If I could edit the thread list down after the fact, I would, but unfortunately it looks like the time window for changes has passed. Thanks again for all the reviews so far, it really helps to know what has worn well and what to look for... sounds like I may need to start looking at some estate sales and craiglist ads too...

Thanks, everyone, for your input and kind words!! :) It sounds like folks fall on both sides of the debate - polished nickel vs. dark hardware. Keep the opinions coming! If you have any recs of a different type of pull, feel free to share! amyfgib - Thanks! It's hard to tell in the pics, but it’s oiled walnut. mrsshayne - Thanks! I really need to learn how to do mock-ups like that! Attached is a crude sketch of what I had in mind regarding placement of knobs and pulls. I was thinking two knobs on each of the three 36"-wide drawers b/c I tend to like that look (and it’s cheaper), but I also like the pulls that mrsshayne put there. I was thinking 6" pulls for the 18" drawers and trash pull-out and either 6” or 3” pulls hung vertically on the lower pantry doors, but am open to other suggestions! Thanks again!