Ranking Furniture Brands

My wife and I are getting ready to purchase new living room furniture and we are having a difficult time getting a sense of the quality of the various brands. I am sure Duane would say that we get what we pay for, but how much do we have to pay to get something of reasonable/acceptable quality? That is, something that will last 15 years or so...

For example, we have heard positive comments on Hancock and Moore, Bradington Young, and Leathercraft. We have heard negative comments on Ashley, Lane, and Flexsteel. I realize that most of the old name-brand furniture manufacturers are making their furniture in China (Broyhill, Thomasville, LaZBoy, etc.) and we would like to stay away from Chinese-made furniture.

I am not certain we can afford the top-of-the-line stuff, yet we want to avoid the junk as well. What are the in-between brands? I've heard of Jaymar, Century, and Palliser. Are these acceptable? Are their others that represent the "price-performance sweet spot?"

We are looking for either a reclining sectional or a combination of sofas, love seats, and chairs which include some reclining furniture. While we understand the benefits of leather, I am not sure we can afford or even like the look-and-feel of leather.

Does anyone have a list of brands by the broad ranking categories of "Superiot", "Acceptable", and "Unacceptable?" Any guidance would be appreciated.

No sooner did I post the above question than I found some guidance. See what you think of these rankings: http://www.onlyleather.com/showroom/...turer_rank.htm

Duane will know more about this and will probably chime in shortly, but from my moderate knowledge that Table looks pretty well done. I would say that if you can afford it, definitely get Hancock and Moore (maybe Town and Country to save some money), then if you are looking for about the same quality but not quite as much, you can find some deals in Bradington Young. If you want it to last 15 plus years, I would not go much further down in quality than those. However, looking at Leathercraft might be an option and I have also heard okay reviews of Elite Leather.

Generally I think that table of rankings is fairly accurate, though I would buy the Bradington-Young down one notch as its not in the same league as H&M or Leathercraft.

There's no magic in furniture pricing. Its a material/labor intensive business. If you want the top quality, then you have to start with the best ingredients, the same as a Master Chef would do. They cost more. Then you have to prepare it correctly, otherwise it never turns out right. That's the reason a brand like H&M costs more. Same as Royal Pedic mattresses. They start with the best ingredients and have the best 'food preparers' as well. It takes more money to make it. Companies like that make no higher margins on their product, they just have higher production costs than the cheapies.

Everyone has to buy withing their "comfort level". If you have to overextend to buy something, its not fun - so don't do that.

However if you have the available funds to buy good quality and just want to be a bit frugal, then do the math and learn of the brand reputation. Sometimes the good stuff has a lower cost over the usable lifespan of the item because it lasts so much longer. Cheap furniture rarely lasts - and it begins breaking down soon after purchase.

Forums like this are the best source of knowledge for what works, and what doesn't. When you get to liking a particular brand or piece, toss out the name and see if anyone has experience with it. Then you'll know.

I tend to keep my customers a long time, and I've been doing this full time since 1985. To me, the smart ones start conservatively, when they're young. I see them in their late 20's buy one or two good pieces per year. Every year. Before too long, they're in their 40's and I go over to their home to drop something off and I'm just shocked to see a mini-Keeping Room in their house! I'd forgotten many of the specific items they had bought fifteen years ago. Now their home as a beautiful collection and I want to buy back some of the pieces that I can no longer get. To me, that's the smart way to do it. Add a piece or two a year that's the quality you want, and then make-do with the ones you can't afford to replace at this time. Using that method, you'll have wonderful furnishings as the years add up.

I wouldn't say we're looking for 15 plus years, just 15 years. However, it would be nice if itstill looked nice after 15 years. Our former fabric-upholstered sofa looked great after 15 years, but we gave it away when we purchased a different house.

I noticed that the ranking gave Berkline a decent rating. I'm assuming going no lower than 7 on their Price/Value rating. Also, based on Duane's comments, I'm assuming that the Flexsteel ratings should be lower than in this table.

<laughing> Remember too, that I'm a furniture elitest. I tend to be harder on makers when I see flaws than most - and am always vocal about it. I like only the good stuff, and am jaded/bored by mediocre furniture. When I pull a cover off something, or take it out of the box, I want to be 'wow'-ed by it. So please - keep that in mind when you read my comments. I'm kind of hard on the mid-level guys.

BTW, I got a call from Brad-Young this week for example, and they asked me how they could improve their brand. I don't think they had enough paper to write it all down in the 20 minute conversation! <thinking> ....I need to charge for that consulting.....

I think Duane's idea of buying a few pieces a year or even less than that, maybe one a year that is of real quality will eventually pay off in the long run. I am only 20 years old and I just bought my first piece of nice furniture from Duane (H&M City Sofa). I had done a lot of researching and knowing that I wanted a brown leather sofa, the cheapest I was able to find that was of mediocre quality was around 1500 dollars. With the Town and Country City Sofa (which I liked the sytle of so it worked for me) starting only about 700 higher than that, it was well worth the extra to know that I have a couch that will last for a LONG LONG time.

So, if you just would like to stay conservative, I would recommend thinking about Duane's advice and thinking of the long term cost of the sofa. With that being said, if it is out of your comfort level to get a couch like that, then I would look for a few couches you really like the look of and then post about the brands on here to get feedback.

Thanks, Duane and Laxplaya. We are in our mid-fifties and need an entire living room of furniture, so we won't be buying one piece at a time. We will keep in mind the comments which have been made on this board and see if we can find furnture we are comfortable with.

We have been really considering H&M, but find most of their sofas to be too big for our space...so we opened up Leathercraft's website to take a gander. Found the 2530 sofa. Like its look and its size. Will Leathercraft make a sofa without nails if requested. Duane, can you send leather samples from Leathercraft?

Also, what does the LC 2530 cost in a Grade 3 (or a leather comparable to a H&M grade 3)?

Thanks!

Leathercraft has many pieces that are slightly smaller in scale than H&M. I have a Leathercraft # 2670 in my Family Room for my own personal use that my wife and I have been very pleased with.

Pricing in a Grade 3 leather from them (yes, its comparable to a GR 3 leather from H&M) would make that # 2530 sofa $ 3,390. Leather samples I can easily get to you.

They do make them without nails on request, but there is a $ 110 additional charge to do so (welt trim replaces nail closure). Brad Young also charges to delete nail trim. H&M does not charge.

Do you have an opinion of the comfort of this leathercraft 2530 sofa...for both sitting upright and lounging sideways, feet up with a book? It does have a 22" deep seat, so I imagine it is roomy enough.

I don't (have an opinion on comfort) as I have not had that frame come through the store. An educated guess? I'd say 80% chance it would meet expectations looking at the photo and measurements.

I love this listing here. Drcollie or anyone for that matter, do you know of a ranking of upholstered furniture? My wife and I are just now buying furniture for the first time (i'm 29, been married 9), we were blessed with hand me downs of nice furniture but now are on the market and havent a clue. I have surfed the forums and have read a ton before posting but can't really nail down a consensus on how to determine good quality pieces or manufacturers other than going with 8 way hand tied springs and H&M are a great brand. I just spent several hours at a warehouse showroom near my home in charlotte, that boasts of 7 acres/1million square feet of furniture and I left confused. tons of broyhill, england, thomasville, and ashley everywhere, and yet none of these brands seemed to have a good reputation. I would love any guidance you could give on a "furniture for dummies", I also was informed about Englands in cushion springs that I haven't heard of on here so was wondering what your opinion is on those things.

There really is no ranking of furniture per se, and there's a couple of reasons for that.

1) No one in the industry does it.
2) Builds and specs change all the time from a manufacturer. It would require updating regularly.
3) There are hundreds of makers, not like cars where you have 20 or so top brands.
4) It will be biased by whomever is doing the ranking (including yours truly)

Better - to learn here on the forum (its all been covered) on what makes a good piece then go investigate the brands you are interested in using your own eyes and touch.

General rules in this business:

1) The lest costly it is, the less likely it is to hold up. The very best makers let the cost fall where it may. You have to pay to play.
2) Most imports are not up to the build level of USA-made
3) Solid hardwood frames are always better than engineered hardwood frames (plywood)
4) 8-Way Hand-tied suspension is still the gold standard of the industry.
5) Everything looks good when its new.
6) There is no rocket science to build it. To get a price lower as a manufacturer, you either cut out labor or material. They all know how to build it right, but target consumer price resistance at various levels.

My own experience two recliners back cause me to take issue with one item on the chart -- Barcalounger. I bought a leather Barcalounger in 2009 or 2010 (can't remember for sure). It look nice enough, and was reasonably comfortable. But in less than a year, the steel frame on one of the arms ( the point where my elbow meets the inside of the arm) began to bend. It got worse and worse, and eventually the entire arm fell off!! But before that happened, the lever that operates the recliner fell off in my hand! I will say that I spend a LOT of time in my recliner, but I did not abuse it in any way. I was appalled -- especially since I had bought the chair at the one exceptionally nice furniture store in town. When I took pictures to show them what had happened, they sort of implied that it had been my fault and refused to do anything about it.

I later learned that at the time the recliner was made, Barcalounger was on serious economic trouble, and they were cutting corners wherever possible. It was a bad time for domestic furniture makers, given the burst of the housing bubble and the economic nightmare that followed. They eventually went through bankruptcy. They're back, and maybe their quality has improved -- their scores on the chart are solid 8s with a 10 for value. But for my money, I'll never go down the Barcalounger road again.

As an aside, the remnants of the chair have been put to good use in my garage. What is left of the actual chair makes nice seating for my cats when I'm working on something in the garage. And the arm that fell off makes a good, low padded perch when I need to be in the floor of the garage.