I purchased an upholstered bed with nailhead trim for my guest room. I thought the quality was good for the price. The bed was Made in the USA, which is important because a lot of Ballards goods are imports. If you call customer service, they will tell you where the piece is manufactured.

Have you looked at Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams furniture? Room and Board? I seem to recall that they have some modular pieces and they offer slipcovers.

I haven't actually purchase from them. I had considered it but when looking at pieces in the catalog, I noticed that the patterns of the fabric were off center for the catalog pieces. I felt that if they could not get it right for the catalog they certainly would not be interested in doing it right for me (a shame too since the prices were definitely more in line with my budget).

Upholstered pieces? Never bought them, though I'm tempted too. I have purchased a modular desk system from them which was of excellent quality. Their customer service was awesome when I called a year later to buy a different piece of the system that was actually a small part of a separate package. As soon as they understood what I was asking for, they made it work even though it seemed to involve a bunch of typing sounds on the other end of the line.

Maybe you should post in the furniture forum? More of the responses tend to be spam, but you might get an answer.

As for Room & Board and Mitchell Gold you would be paying at least Ethan Allen prices, if not more for those.

Have not purchased any furniture, but considered buying a chaise longue from them once, looked into the construction and when I realized it was made with a sinuous coil I decided no. So you might want to call them and ask about that. It's my understanding that a piece will sag if sinuous coil (instead of separate, tied, coils are used).

I've purchased upholstered furniture from Ballard's and it is middle of the road in quality. The fabric choices are classic and very nice quality, and that helps.

the description for the specific items I am looking at state the following:

Artisan crafted hardwood frames are made in the USA with mortise & tenon joints, corner blocks and double-doweled, screwed and glued for strength. Supportive foam core cushions are wrapped in soft poly-fiber and encased in luxurious down blend. Patented spring system assures years of comfortable wear. Solid maple legs finished in your choice of Black, Walnut, Espresso, Hickory, or Pecan.

Does that sway anyone either way?

I have BD upholstered coventry seating bench in our breakfast nook. They are sturdy enough to withstand my kids' constant abuse. However, I don't know much about furniture to say whether it's worth the price.

The legs are not the screwed on type like Ikea (it's corner joint, I think) and the upholstery is well done. Mine is solid color so I don't know a/b matching pattern.

It sounds good, but I'm pretty sure the "patented spring system" is their way of saying sinuous coil or such, which is inferior to eight way hand tied springs. If it were eight-way hand tied springs, believe me, they'd be touting it.

Honestly, all things considered, if you really like it, it's the right size, fit, style, etc., I'd overlook the spring issue and get it -- after emailing them and inquiring about the springs, and getting their assurance in writing that it is not going to sag with the kind of use it will be getting.