Well, I'll take a stab at this as I recently purchased furniture from North Carolina. I have been looking/researching for close to a year for LR furniture. Like you, I looked at PB, C&B, Room and Board, Storehouse, etc. When I found this forum and all the helpful people on it, I too realized that I wanted to find better quality furniture than PB for the $$ (not saying PB is bad, just expensive for what you get). I first started with my local retailers. But through this forum I learned about NC and all the different recommended brands outside of the PB world. In the end, the cost of ordering from NC saved me close to $2K when all was said and done. If you like PB style, I would look at Lee Industries or Michael Thomas (sold at Calico Corners) since they are similar in style and around the same price though you get better quality in my humble non-professional opinion. Other brands that have been mentioned that are similar to PB are Rowe (mixed reviews on this brand), Bernhardt (mixed reviews), Mitchell Gold, McCreaery Modern, and Room and Board (don't think you can purchase in NC as its a retail store). Coincidentaly, the first 4 I mentioned have been said to manufacture certain styles of PB and C&B furniture. First thing I would do is shop around, research, find styles you like, manufactureres you like. Pinpoint what you want in a sofa - do you want it to last 5 years, 10 years, 20 years etc? Is this heirloom furniture or just until the kids grow up? Do you care if it has hardwood frames or veneer? Hand tied strings or sinuous etc etc? Research all you can - this forum provides invaluable information. Then find fabrics that you like, can live with, etc. Once you have that all set, call a reputable NC dealer (Rose Furniture may be out of business?)that carries that line and request a price quote. You need to be specific - brand, style #, pattern name, Pattern grade etc etc. They will quote you a price and you can decide if its worth it to order from there or your local place. Do a serach onthis forum to see what NC stores people recommend. Several like Boyles or Lexington Furniture in Kentucky. The one thing is that if you are truly ordering from NC, I'm not a fan of wasting local salepeople's time. I ordered Lee Industries, the fabrics I wanted were displayed at C&B. I went over there and looked at the fabrics and wrote down the ones I wanted. C&B did not have Lee couches I wanted on display. However, early on in my researching days I went to a retailer and sat on several sofas noting the ones I liked the best (Century, Henredon, Michael T etc). I was originally purchasing locally unil I found this forum. I would still purchase locally but the only store that carried Lee in my area quoted me $2K more on the couches I wanted and with a huge renovation underfoot, I needed to save $$. Time will tell if I did the right thing b/c I just placed my order and am not sure how it will go. Hopefully it will go without a glitch and I'll have saved $2K. If there are issues, then maybe I'll learn my lesson. I'll report back when I get my sofas though I have serval other rooms to go in the house. Hope this helps and good luck to you.

I have the PB Basic Loveseat, loveseat sleeper and chair and ottoman - The furniture's great - but the covers have not worn well and I've only laundered them twice in the 4 years I've had them - I have the canvas because I thought they would do better-- but I have 2 children and I went with the stone color - my bad - I now want to change to a darker color - and it is A FORTUNE !!!! Almost cheaper to buy new furniture! I have been searching and searching for knock offs - I went on ebay but no luck - The search continues -- but be carfeul - go dark and strong if you have kids. ALso - if they are not being placed on a rug - but going on a wood floor - put grippers on the feet because they slide!!!

I ordered some patio furniture from Target. It came about a week later than their furthest-out estimated delivery date and was a bit of a nuisance to assemble, but I like it now. If you're looking for real sturdiness, I would probably go with the Pottery Barn table instead of the Target one, simply because the Target table is "some assembly required." I have an assembly-required table in my house (not from Target, but real wood), and it's not as sturdy as my non-assembly-required table. I've had to re-tighten the legs a few times. Of course, this may speak more poorly of my own assembling skills than of the table itself.... :) Oh, and you might want to check on how you'd return it and if you'd have to pay for return shipping if you seriouly think there's a chance you might want to send it back. The Additional Info tab on the link you provided says that it can't be returned to any store, which would mean that you could be stuck with re-packing and shipping a 132-pound table if you decide you really don't want it.

Dissenter here - I've purchased three pieces of living room furniture from PB, and been delighted with the quality and stability of all three. I've also furnished a living room in rental property with pieces from JCP and was disappointed with the quality. The pieces I bought from PB were a round coffee table, side table and couch console. They are several years old and have held up exceedingly well to vigorous family room activity. They are all solid wood and relatively heavy to move. I recently decided to alter the finish of the console, from a stained finish to black paint, and had to completely disassemble this piece to properly remove all the stain prior to priming and paint. I was impressed that all the structural pieces, (those that can't be seen when the table is assembled), were all solid wood, also. The pieces I bought from JCP were a dining table, windsor chairs, coffee table, end table, console, two windsor style bar stools and a dresser. The finish on all was not as attractive as pictured, and many parts of the dresser were not solid wood, but particle board. The JCP furniture was close in cost to what I paid for the PB pieces, so this was a disappointment.