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.

Whoa. Those questions will require pretty much an entire education in wood and furniture construction. Don't be too hard on those salesmen. Their employers are just buying stuff from a factory and don't educate the employees about the products. There's a lot to learn in the woodworking field. 1. The short answer is that neither solid wood nor veneered furniture are better. Badly made furniture is bad and well crafted furniture is good. I wish I could locate the original source, but I've been informed that studies conducted by the Smithsonian revealed that veneered furniture tended to survive longer than solid wood pieces. I cannot find the source but I suspect this is because a lot of solid wood furniture is built for utilitarian purposes and is more likely to be tossed than many veneered pieces which can be highly decorative and are treasured by collectors. A lot of the period furniture found in museums use veneer and those who aren't woodworkers just assume it's all solid. Veneer got a bad reputation due to companies like Sauder that mass-produced a large quantity of cheap furnishings by covering flaky particle board with thin veneers. This is not the fault of veneer that it was used poorly. Other companies stuck veneer across pieces of solid wood then humidity-related expansion and contraction caused it to fall off. Solid wood is assumed to be superior by many because dents and scratches can be sanded out and refinished. A gouge in solid wood doesn't look as bad as a gouge in veneer that reveals mdf underneath. However, solid wood does have a major limitation in that it shrinks, grows, cups, twists and warps as the humidity of the surrounding environment changes. This movement cannot be prevented, it can only be directed. Sometimes uneducated designers attempt to force the solid wood to stay in place to get a particular aesthetic and this results in furniture that self-destructs. Those designers should have used veneer instead. Veneer is thin enough that the movement can be eliminated by gluing veneers to both sides of a stable substance like plywood, mdf or particle board to create a panel that remains pretty much the same shape and size at all times. The thin veneer cuts also make it possible to take one highly figured board and arrange the slices of it into matching patterns. If you ever see furniture with the grain arranged in patterns, it is likely veneer. So the answer is that solid wood is best used in places likely to be abused while veneer is best used for decorative reasons, or for surfaces that need to remain stable to prevent the furniture from breaking itself apart. When I do veneer work, I make sure that I put pieces of solid wood in the corners and other areas likely to get damaged. This utilizes both materials to their best advantage. Furniture that is destined for heavy abuse is best made from solid wood. No one would want fancy decorative patterns on utilitarian pieces anyway. 2. Just about any kind of material can be used underneath veneer. MDF, particle board, plywood and solid wood are all common. Each one has advantages and disadvantages. Your concern about mdf is somewhat on target, many of them do contain a lot of chemicals but that is true for most engineered woods including plywood. These days it is possible to get formaldehyde-free versions. Also, professional lumber suppliers sell mdf and particle board that are much tougher and more damage-resistant than the stuff used in cheap furnishings. MDF: This has the smoothest surface of the commonly used substrates for veneer. It is a stable material that won't change much in length or width as humidity changes. It has the advantage of being easier to work with than particle board. Downsides are that it is more likely to sag than most other substrates, is heavy and with the exception of water-proof versions, water will damage it quickly. In practice, a properly made veneer panel will prevent water from reaching the MDF core unless it's subjected to standing water for some time. Particle Board: This is much lighter than MDF, is almost as smooth on the surface and is less prone to sagging. It's more of a pain to work with however and the edges are easily damaged. If the edges are protected by solid wood, that becomes a non-issue. Like MDF, it is very stable. Plywood: Strong, durable, stable and usually much lighter than MDF or particle board. The downside is that the surface is not perfectly flat or uniform and this sometimes shows through to the surface of any veneer applied to it. Those large, dead-flat conference tables with mirror finishes likely have mdf or particle board under the veneer and not plywood. Solid wood: This is a viable option but veneered furniture made this way loses out on the stability advantage of engineered products. Veneered solid wood will more or less act just like solid wood. No one will get a modern conference table with this technique. If you see this, it's likely done to save money on materials by using cheap wood then applying a skin of expensive wood over that. Sometimes the veneer is a rare exotic species which is only sold as veneer. That poplar and cherry veneer bed frame? It could very well be poplar with a skin of cherry. I'd have to see it in person to know. 3. I don't know anything about that particular brand of furniture so I can't help with this question. If it doesn't specifically say that cherry wood is used, then it's probably a cheap, lightweight material that's been stained to a "cherry finish". This post was edited by JAAune on Sat, May 31, 14 at 21:36

I remember when we took Pinky to her obedience class. There were three or four labs in the class and the instructor said we really should have classes for just labs. Smiles. Those whose labs matured by age two are somewhat the exception. Three or four is really more normal. Now don't get me wrong, I can't walk much and taught Pinky to be my personal assistant dog, and she was smart as a whip and learned well and young. I have a high energy dog now [pitbull] and of course I can walk even less than I could fifteen years ago with Pinky. I do a lot of obedience work with him in the house. I do things like what I call doggie calisthenics.. sit, down, stand, sit, stand, down, etc. I also with both Pinky and Jessie did a lot of fetch in the house. I just keep the middle of room clear and use things like those string bones to throw. A bit easier if I overthrow. A hallway works for some people. Smiles. As far as keeping her from bothering the other dog[s], do as I've done to keep Jessie from bugging the cats, keep her on a leash in the house. I use several leashes hooked together and one end tethered near me on a super heavy table or one end wrapped around my arm. I'm so used to it I don't even notice it but if he gets out of line it's fast and easy for me to give him a correction. He doesn't try to hurt them, but he wants to play with them too rough. It really helps when they do something you don't want them to, to be able to follow up the no with a quick jerk if they don't comply or if they keep it up, to reel them back to you, or out of the way of the other animal. He's learned with this pretty good and now leaves them alone, even taking naps on the bed with the upstairs cats on there too. Hope this helps. I don't know why you can't walk your dog, but as Mazer said they love a job, so perhaps you could work on training her to do something to help you. I taught Pinky to pick things up for me and give them to me. Eventually she'd find any little scrap of paper on the floor and bring it to me. At times I was bed ridden and she would even bring a sandwich to me upstairs, in a baggie then in a plastic grocery bag. She was so proud to do those things.

Thanks outsideplaying...I had mentioned a bench to DH before, but he was not for it. We already have the chairs...leftover from the new house...and we are mostly adults who prefer the flexibility of the separate chairs and the back support. Bassett makes nice furniture...we just ordered the sofa for the library from there. denali, thank you for asking! I just did a google search on trestle tables and came across the image. Never occurred to me to look further than that until you asked. Turns out these guys are custom furniture makers in VT and designed the tables themselves. They do great work and I will definitely follow up with them....I'm already imagining a nice vacation trip to VT to bring up the wood and hike around the mountains! Will have to see if DH will go for it! Here is a link that might be useful: Dorset custom furniture