Bump

I LIKE THE SECTIONAL ON THE BOTTOM, IT LOOKS MORE EXPENSIVE AND HAS MORE PILLOWS AND SHARP EXPOSED FEET, HOWEVER, IF YOU HAVE SMALL CHILDREN PUT A QUEEN/KING PLASTIC MATTRESS BAG OVER THE FURNITURE  TO PROTECT IT, GOOD LUCK ᾭ6

@TRA'C ROBERTS thanks for the feedback i do have kids and pets but its made out of a polypropolyne fbric these days so easy to care for it being made of plastic! im lwanijg toward the bottom one just need to order it!

I think Crate and Barrel is better quality than PB for the most part. where are the couches made?

@Louis cb and pb both sell the same products to designers they just get a discount through the trade program the b2b websites are the same tou jusy enter theough a different door

@cyprissa thanks youre not the first to say that but i didnt believe it until more and more of you are saying this!

I think what is true is that you can get a better sofa when purchasing through a designer from a non-retail type of place. When I remodeled and redecorated my designer sourced from many places that don't sell to consumers and the price even with her designer commission was less than comparable quality sold at places like these.

Also with her sources I had some custom upholstery stuff done that was significantly less expensive for comparable quality - i.e, a pair of Baker chairs in leather that I liked.

@Sunshyne I live near a CB outlet amd have bought a lot of things over the hears that have held up really well. All of them have been built in NC and good quality. I would just make sure that sofa is built in the US.

As far as working through a designer, I think that really depends. Some are willing to do very small projects but many aren’t interested in piecemeal work. I think timeline can be a factor too.

@Helen thanks, we do have a designer who has worked in the business for 25+ years so we understand the different options available. It's between the pottery barn and crate and barrel at this point for several factors. just for the record too, often trade only places are often selling the same exact item. we purchased our table through a non-retail place and i would bet you $1K that it's the same exact one that CB is selling, but just less expensive because of the trade discount.

@cyprissa thanks, i'm glad to hear about the CB quality you've had! our designer is family who has been in the business for many years so they don't mind taking on our project, but of course I have to do my own research because I have to live with the sofa, they don't. Sofa's are such a personal preference, I know she and I agree style wise but comfort and use-wise we are very different!

I have five sofas in my home, two C&B and three PB. Both brands have held up really well. I'm pleased with both, but I wish I had purchased all through C&B. All of my sofas are custom slipcovered, so though it's a different style than what you are looking at, it does give me the unique opportunity to compare apples to apples between the two brands. For both brands, I purchased the down wrapped cushions and on 4 of the sofas, I did not upgrade the fabric.

Our first sofa (C&B) was pruchased 16 years ago and still looks great!!! In my experience, I think the base fabric at C&B is a better than the base fabric at PB. Our first round of PB covers shrank. :-(

The cushions on the C&B sofas stay in place better and hold their shape longer. After a family movie night on the C&B sofas, they look fine, but on the PB sofa, I need to fluff it back up a bit and push the seat cushions back into place.

I also like that C&B is up front about who makes their furniture - for example, I know that my C&B sofa was made in NC by Lee Industries. Not sure about PB??

Overall, both are great products and I've been pleased with both! For our lifestyle, I would lean towards C&B. Good luck!

@Jackie Childrey thank you so much I really appreciate all this info! i was considering pb because of the ability to take the cover off of the cushion and wash it and wondered about shrinking so that's also helpful! i'm going to look into who/where the sofa's are made, but your testimony on how it holds up after a movie night is also a big factor...we use our sofa's and i need something that's going to look good without a TON of maintenance all the time. 2 kids and a dog and a house to deal with myself and I don't have a lot of time for fluffing pillows more than daily lol

I love the CB one! It looks like it would hold up much longer and is overall far more appealing to my eye!

Sunshyne, I have often noticed the same EXACT thing — furniture that is for “trade only” looks EXACTLY like pieces sold in big box stores and it’s hard for me to believe it isn’t :). And I can get a custom couch fairly easily — Sherrill for example or Cisco Home… :) the price I would pay to hire a designer for my home would be much more than their trade discount. I mean one can easily pay a designer 30k during home Reno’s and most aren’t going to want to do small potato projects. Someday when My kids are grown I would really like John Derian for Cisco brothers tulip chairs and can just call them to use my own fabric:) I’ve owned 2 CB couches (currently the slipcovered willow which I don’t think they make anymore ). I like that CB2 couches (at least they used to be) are made in NC, 8 way hand tied. The fabric holds up. I have a PB rocker and the fabric has pilled. The only reason I got rid of my last CB sofa (fabric and cushion were perfect after 7 years) was because my kids drew all over them with markers and let them drip all over the cushions. There are few brands I can think of where they are truly trade only at least according to their website (Minton-Spidell comes to mind) but it’s hard for me to believe that if you didn’t call one of these furniture stores as a customer (at the end of the day, doesn’t money always talk and spend the same:)) that you couldn’t get what you wanted.

@Erika McConnell you are correct, we have a designer in the family and the trade account only provides a discount and you order the same exact product as the public.

Yes Sunshyne I believe it. And you can reverse look up anything you see on an inspo pic to find out where it’s from :) of course it is to a designers self - interest to not reveal their sources (and I don’t blame them!!) but it just takes a little bit of leg work. And some pieces are going to be vintage ( i also buy a lot of vintage) because many high profile clients of designers do not want anything that could be easily found by the average person. And Lynn Chalk in Connecticut will do about any custom fabric thing you ask her to with drapes, Roman shades, etc. it is not that hard really to get a custom look to your house, if that’s what one desires :) but I def mix one of a kinds with big box pieces because of practicality— I am just not doing many custom pieces when my kids are young. But they often show up on FB marketplace, chairish, first dibs, etc for cheap and that’s when I snag them up :) I’ve gotten Custom chairs covered in Ralph Lauren and Schumacher fabric for example for way way cheap compared to if I had to have something upholstered :) or bought new — like 10-25% of the cost new.