I've read that some of Crate & Barrel's upholstered furniture is much better than the more expensive from Restoration Hardware. I think it's the Lee brand that's supposed to be good there. Just checked, it is Lee.

I have never had good luck with Ikea's fabrics.

Couch - wooden frame and cushioning holding up well ten years- removeable washable fabric cover split at seams and stained within one year. Replaced with own fabric.

Poang chairs - wooden frame and cushioning holding up well - fabric cover intact after ten years but stained early and does not wash out. Soooo comfortable - will replace covers some day - maybe leather? If Ikea leather is any good.

Pillows - stained and split, very early, tossed

Children's rocking toy/bridge/boat/arch - wood and metal frame fine - washable cover stained early, intact.

If you do buy one of Ikea's "washable" covers better saturate it with Scotch Guard and cross your fingers. And I had four young children when I got these pieces who were very hard on furniture.

And someone on this forum just had a post about her unevenly shrinking curtains - Ikea IIRC.

Take a look at this list compiled through RetroRenovation. Most of these are on the smaller side and defninitely lean towards MCM. We really liked the Younger, but the sectional doesn't work in our LR layout.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smaller sectionals from RetroRenovation

Take a look at JC Penny sectionals if you are looking for modest price. Two or three other folks on another board I visit have purchased JCP and really like them (based on the price). I think the Linden Street is a fairly popular one (if you are looking at slip-covered).

Thanks for the suggestions and especially thanks for your feedback about Ikea, birdgardner. I'll cross that off my list. I'd rather spend a bit more and have it last longer - we can always sell it or give it to one of our kids when we no longer need it - than spend less and have problems in a short time.

I have had very good luck with sofas from Crate and Barrel. As someone else mentioned, Lee sofas are decent quality. I have a Lee coveralls loveseat (not from C&B) that has held up very well for about 10 years or so. I have two of C&B's Bayside sofas in my beach cottage. They are so comfortable. I am also a fan of American Leather brand sofas (which come in fabrics other than leather!) and I've been told that C&B carries a few sofas made by them. We have a small sectional from Am. Leather (basically a sofa w/ chaise) in ultra suede and it is heavily used and still looks brand new after about 5 years.

Both good and bad for Ikea. My niece has the poang chair and it was so comfortable that I recommended it ot my daughter. Three years and still holding up. She bought a love seat but in MHO it is not comfortable. The original cover faded and one of the arms broke. Her coffee table has some veneer ripped off of it. I wouldn't say my daughter is hard on things, but she does has lots of friends and some of the guys are big, so I can see a few sitting on the sofa and breaking it.

Thanks, sueb20 and ellendi!

C&B has free local in-home delivery until July 1st so I'm off to look at their selection this week. Kitchen Kaboodle also carries Lee and American Leather so I can check there as well. Two other local stores also carry American Leather furniture so I've got a number of places to shop.

Thanks for the suggestions!

FYI, Kitchen Kaboodle doesn't carry upholstered pieces according to their website. Ah, well, I've still got a decent selection of places to shop.

gsciencechick, that RetroRenovation website is cool. Wish that were our style.

I can attest to the quality of Lee Industries sofas. Ours is about seven years old and looks great. The cushions are just now starting to get a little too smushy for my liking. But a local dealer will replace the inserts. I would like to state that you fare much better in terms of price if you go through a dealer and get Lee. (At least we did.) Plus you can pick from hundreds of different fabrics and feet selections and get a truly custom sofa vs the very few options C&B has stocked.

But I've actually thought about just getting a new sofa (for a different look) since we're moving into the new house soon. I'm only looking at Lee Industries now since I know how good the quality is. Two kids and a dog and a husband who tends to sit in the same darned spot almost daily....I'm pleased as punch with this thing!

Comparing IKEA to Lee is not a fair comparison. Lee sofas are my favorite brand stylisitically, but they are very pricey -- around here they are more expensive than PB. IKEA sofas are dirt cheap. I've owned several and some hold up better than others. Right now, we have the Karlstad line of sofas in our basement - a corner sectional and a loveseat. Both are going on 2 years old and still look brand new in spite of being in my kids playroom where they serve as trampolines and forts just as often as are sofas. But I owned a different IKEA sofa (the Ekeskog) where the cushions slid off the thing every time someone sat on it. They are also suprisingly comfy -- some IKEA sofas are not, so I would recommend sit-testing something in person before buying.

If you want to go IKEA, I'd stay with a darker color (to avoid staining). I wouldn't count on washing the slips regularly because they can be a pain to get on and off and they can shrink. The upside is that IKEA tends to keep the same styles forever, so if your cover gets dirty (or you're just in the mood for a change), you can buy a new one for not a whole lot of money.

If you've got the money for Lee, it's definitely a better sofa, but for a the size sectional I have in the basement, you are looking at $800ish for IKEA vs. at least $4K for Lee. Even if the IKEA one dies and I have to replace it, I can do so 4 times before approaching the cost of the Lee.

The highly rated Lee's sofas at Crate & Barrel are nowhere near $4,000. More like $2,000 for the larger ones, unless you go with leather. Apt size even cheaper.

Wow. I didn't pay anywhere near $4k for my Lee sofa!

lkplatow, I realize that I was comparing sectionals priced from inexpensive to moderately priced. What I was hoping to find out - and have - is whether an inexpensive sectional might hold up well enough for our needs. Despite your one good experience, I've ruled Ikea out. Even if I could buy a sectional from them 4 times over what I'd pay for a Lee sectional, that's not a deal for me because I don't like planned obsolescence.

C&B doesn't list who makes which sectional on their website so I'll have to wait to see what I find out when I go to the store. Hopefully one of the two I'm considering - priced around $2100 and $2500 - are manufactured by Lee or American Leather.

babs711, thanks for your feedback about your Lee sofa. How did you find a local dealer for Lee? Per their website's store locator feature, I can buy Lee furniture locally from C&B, Rejuvenation and a local furniture store. They list these as their dealers. Is that what you mean? Thanks!

I had better luck calling them than using the website feature. When I use the local store finder, I find stores in my area. But I KNOW there's a store about 20 miles from my parents' house that's a Lee dealer. They list NO stores near them at all. So I called since I couldn't recall the name of that store and was able to get more dealers that way.

We've had our couch from Crate and Barrel for 9 years and I have been very pleased with the quality. It has held up to four kids and a large dog (who for the most part stayed off the couch, but had his moments when he thought we wouldn't notice!). I don't know if it's Lee or not. How do you check? Ours was actually a floor model - it was a special order fabric that someone had returned so we actually got a really good deal on it. The fabric is very durable and what really made the couch withstand all these years of use. Most of the other fabrics we had looked at that were standard did not seem as durable, so we were happy to stumble upon it (we actually found it while visiting MIL in California and had to pay to ship it back to us in MD, but it was worth it.).

I also have IKEA Ektorp couches in our basement but they don't get much use so I can't really comment on the quality yet. They definitely are not nearly as well made as our C&B couch, but they are suitable for our purposes. We've had one for a year and the other for a few months. My kids occasionally watch TV down there, but they don't go down there often, so I can't really say how well the fabric/couch will wear yet.

I don't know if you've found your couch yet but I love my sectional from Pottery Barn slipcovered in ivory linen/cotton. Love it. I spent so much time in the store sitting on theirs before I could commit. I've washed the slipcovers and they go back on so easily. I have three grown children, one granddaughter who spends much of her time with us, and a yellow lab. I have a horse and garden so we come in and don't worry overly much about sprawling out on it. People come over and kick off their shoes and curl up. Did I say I love it? :)