Quick update. The dealer contacted the manufacturer and got back to me. No surprise the manufacturer requested a few more weeks of use to see if it feels different. I told the dealer I'm skeptical of this because it feels so different from the showroom unit which was only 5-6 months old but I would try it for a couple weeks more. The dealer told me if I'm still not satisfied at the end of those weeks the manufacturer would take the sofa back and go over it and I would get a loaner sofa during the wait. To me it feels like the cushions are overstuffed and are using a firmer foam but I'm no expert. So thought I'm not 100% happy with my new purchase, there is hope. I am very happy that the dealer/manufacturer are wanting to make things right.

I've only ordered from Room and Board, but everything we have has been very good quality. R&B's upholstered furniture is made by several different manufacturers, so it's worth asking the rep which company actually makes a specific piece, and then doing a bit of research on the manufacturer. Our sofa is a Comfort Sleeper made by American Leather, and it's fantastic. The daybed we ordered is made by a different company altogether. The fabric selection at R&B is quite limited, but since we have multiple pets, we stick with leather and higher-end microfibers, so R&B had enough choices to meet our needs.

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...

a) I don't find neither brown nor gray a fad. Both these colors surround us day after day, be it in sky, sea, trees, earth..nothing "fading" about them, they're here to stay, and both can be used simultaneously and quite successfully in the same room. I personally prefer very warm, brownish gray, or greige as they call it..but then I like chocolate, tan, and whatnot. Decide whether you want to go on the "cooler" part of the spectrum, or the "warmer", rather then deciding on name of the color..it's very personal, since different people feel differently about colors, and their relative temperature, brightness, etc. Figure out where on the spectrum you'd like to be to feel the best-and "best" can be any thing too-more comfortable? more homey? more elegant? more refined? more relaxed? etc, etc. b) same thing with dark or light. Figure out what contrast you're comfortable with. More contrast=more dynamic room. Less contrast=the room is more quiet. How do you want to feel in the room? If the room was a music(i know, silly comparison))..what kind of music you'd like it to be? Then preoccupy yourself with the paint..paint can and should be(ideally) figured out last, since you can match paint to literally everything, it's endless..unlike all the other options in the room. you're going into a very right direction, thinking of the room as the whole, and not just the parts. your room will talk to you, in its own way of course. It might tell you things that you didn't expect, like that it wants to have darker walls with lighter floors..)) Beige walls with yellow accents can be as stunning as gray walls with yellow accents. If I find inspiration pics (I'm sure I have them but my Pinterest is a constantly growing mess)-I'll post them I do remember a space from latest Abigail Ahern's book "Color"..done maybe by Kelly Wearstler but I'm not sure..it was too gorgeous for words. In terms of colors. It had some darker touches as well-she's a dramatic designer. The point is though-you can take this combo anywhere, and make it into the one that brings you the feel you want to feel. c) I do like herringbone..I find it very comforting somehow. Not saying I'd choose it myself-I'm a person who's dream is sofa done in velvet by William Morris or House of Hackeney or Timorous Beasties or something else, impractical and unattainable..:) But I do like herringbone. Don't find it trendy at all. Why plaid, stripe, polka dots are not trendy-and herringbone suddenly is? Geometry is geometry..:) Chevron was trendy. not because it was trendy by itself, poor thing-but because they overused it to death..