I am expecting delivery of a Flexsteel sectional tomorrow. The furniture store I bought it from has a 90 day return policy. After reading all these negative reviews, I'm glad I have a window for return if it is unacceptable. The sad part is that nearly every brand of furniture carries with it heaps of negative reviews. (Only found one brand that had good reviews, but they don't make a sectional that is right for my challenging room.) Same was true when I checked reviews for kitchen cabinet manufacturers. Talk about negative! If I avoid every brand of anything because of negative reviews, I will never be able to make a purchase! Quite frustrating. Gone are the days when you parted with a little more money for a quality product and knew for certain it would be good. I've concluded that we now have an array of choices that range from bad junk to better junk. I just hope I get the better junk.

We have been trying for 3 years to get our Craftmaster furniture repaired.We purchased the warranty and the recommended cleaning products. We had a claim where we needed to have a spot cleaned and the warranty company sent someone to look. She used scissors to cut pieces off of our sofa, which was coming apart naturally. Since then, there are now holes in the upholstery. We have sent photos and repeatedly called asking for new fabric and have been refused. When we went to Levin to buy new, they said our couches were so new and should have been great quality from that manufacturer and offered to give us contact info before they would let us buy new furniture. They were shocked and appalled that we were denied service after our experience. We will never recommend this brand again! (Photos to show damage and the whole piece.We obviously take good care of our furniture)

debi_2006, I hope not. The paint mixture was thin enough that it was absorbed by the upholstery fibers, almost stained - time will tell. Down the line, if there is any cracking or peeling, I can reupholster the pieces. Hmmm jterrilynn. The painting doesn't hide the texture, so that would remain. I wouldn't touch the backs of the shades, I'd give the fronts 2 or 3 very light coats of the paint mixture. The closer the paint is to the original fabric the better it will cover, but your shades would look very nice and fresh in a white or cream tone. I'm leary about strongly recommending something that I've haven't tried myself - I'd feel terrible if it didn't work out. I suppose you could always replace the romans with regular white mini blinds worse come to worse. Please let me know if I can be of further help!

I'll stick up for laminate. Not sure what exactly to say other than for me its the practicality and low maintenance that make it my first choice regardless of the fact that its also inexpensive. In my experience: Resists stains I fairly regularly splatter tomato sauce or spill orange juice, vinegar and no I don't wipe it up right away, (sometimes not for a couple of days!) and no etching! Put all the wet glasses you want on it and leave it. No rings. Resists scratches (I cut on mine, somewhat carefully, rather regularly) Low heat resistant - never put a burn mark on one yet just stick a heating pad under really hot things. What's a trivet? (just kidding) Easier on your dishes and glasses (I put things down pretty hard and know I would break things on granite) Warm to the touch (compared to stone and metals which just freeze me out) Chipping - I've never had a problem though others have. I assume it has to do with quality level of the laminate and possibly the underlayment and installation (and user of course) I think stone products probably chip as much if not more. If you get the prefab'd type that has the bullnose thing going up the wall there isn't even a grout line to maintain between the counter and wall - which while it looks cheap - I love! I hate any kind of grout line. I seem to flood my counters regularly with something and I love that curved laminate. You don't have to clean it right away, You don't have to remember exactly what products you can or can't clean it with as long as you don't use anything really extreme or harsh. You don't have to seal it, oil it, or bleach it (wood) So its easy easy easy and inexpensive. Tired of it? cheap to replace or cover. And it comes in more colors, textures, finishes and edging styles than ever before. My mother has her original fake marble shiny laminate from 1969 and it still looks great, no kidding (well other than the fake marble is a little uh... out of style:)