Really nice pics lindybarts. I'm still thinking of the Mcclintock bedroom furniture because it goes with several pieces she has already. I've heard different things depending on the sales person you talk with. I asked one "What's a good "high-end" children's bedroom mfr. She replied there's really NO "high-end" when it comes to youth furniture. I might as well get adult furniture if I truly wanted pieces to last. Then a diff . salesperson told me that Jessica MCClintock was the high end of Lea collections. I asked another salesperson at a diff. store I was choosing between a set from Young America(Stanley) and McClintock (Lea) which was better quality. He said when it comes to the "bed" its about the same between the two. McClintock is priced much more than Young America so I just figured it was better. You don't know who to believe hearing so many diff opinions! Romance Panel bed I'm considering:[IMG]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/CamAnd/100_0663.jpg[/IMG]

FYI, a quality frame starts with 5/4 kiln dried hardwood, double doweled with screws and glued, with corner blocks in all corners screwed & glued. Either 8-way hand tied or sinuous wire springs. To most manufacturers this cost them around 200.00. Quality padding meaning high density foam or fiber over the springs, arms, back and outsides adds about 30.00. Seat cushions should be in a woven ticking wraped with 1 1/2 to 2 ounce fiber or you can opt for fiber/down envelopes. Choose at least 1.8 pound density HR foam or a marshall spring unit. These usually cost around 35.00 to 50.00 per seat cushion. Backs should also be a woven ticking with at least 3 dividers filled with fine denier conjugated 100% fiber or a 50/50% mixture of this fiber with feathers/down. The cost is usually between 25.00 to 35.00 per cushion. Labor and indirect expensives adds around 40.00 per seat. Always calculate these numbers as chairs =1 seat, loveseats 2 =seats and sofas 3=seats and sectionals add additional corner seat. Add these numbers together then times 2 to get what a retail store should pay the manufacturer excluding the cost of the fabric or leather. Quality fabrics wholesale to manufacturers price starts around 8.00 per yard and leather around 4.00 per sq. ft. Same rules apply here take these numbers times the amount of material needed times 2 and add the previous figures and this is what the retailer pays the manufacturer. The retailer usually mark this up 100% then adds freight cost around 75.00 per seat,depending on the distance. This will give you a starting point on what to expect to pay. Or you could make the trip to NC and shop the factory outlets and save around 50%. BTW, Ethen Allen, Lazy-Boy, Ashley, Broyhill most their frames are plywood. One easy way to tell a quality upholstery is to lift up the seat cushion and it should be thickly padded under the cushions and you will not be able to feel any springs. That works only when they use springs and not elastic webbing, something you should avoid also. Hope this helps.

Love my Durham Royal Cottage Set so much! It was delivered yesterday and I was amazed at the quality with no damage in my mind (a tiny nick only at the bottom of the chest of drawers in the back that is really nothing and one drawer underneath is not perfect but the top and inside are in good shape, everything matched, all the runners were smooth and no damage, no damage anywhere else and I was so impressed and happy since I had SO much damage with the Stanley's mismatched furniture I returned in August 2007 from Mace Bros. in Kearny, NJ). Also I just love the pretty creamy color. I had thought the color would be too white from the pictures on their website but it is just a perfect creamy color and looks prettier in person than on the website.

We had a similar dilemma with our own DS when he was a teen. I looked at a lot of different options, but decided to go with a daybed for a number of reasons. 1) Teens tend to spend the majority of the time in their rooms, lounging on their beds and on the floor. I wanted something that would hold up to a lot of flops and would act as a kind of sofa for him and his friends that came over to hang out with him. 2) I chose a single with a separate slide-out trundle (not the ones that look like drawers) in case company needed to sleep there. In my mind, two singles are more versatile than a double. The single gave him more floor space for a beanbag, floor pillows, a rug, and a small entertainment center for his tv, stereo, books, Nintendo, etc. It also gave him and his buddies room to sprawl ;^D 3) DS requested a room that would act as a den for him and his friends. A double bed in there would not have worked for that. He really enjoyed having this room all through middle and high school . . . and in college, when he came home for visits. It worked especially well then, as he loved bringing friends home with him to show them New Mexico. A couple of things I learned if you do go the daybed route. ~ buy a good, sturdy one, without a back and arms. Guys tend to be rough on furniture at that age and he broke his first daybed frame horsing around. He disliked the arms and back, as he said he was always bumping his head and feet on the wood. ~ use a simple, easy to care for, machine-washable coverlet for the daybed. One with a small, dark print or a dark, plain one is preferable for guys. ~ large floor pillows with washable covers ~ ditto with pillows for the bed, so he can lean against them while sitting in bed. They will end up on the floor eventually, though ;^D Lynn