I've been looking at sofas and one of our better stores carries Smith Brothers. It appears to be well-made. I read up on the history of the company and it's been around a long time.

I spent more time at a furniture store with SB.

Fabrics - they don't have rubs or durability listed for each fabric. Just a Yes or No on whether they will put it on their motion furniture. The theory according to the salesperson being that if its a Yes it must be durable.
I'm not sure that's good enough for me as most everything was a Yes and so I wonder how rigorous their threshold really is.
For FF and GG the August sale price of a 84" sofa was 1450 and 1475 respectively.

I have not considered leather before but was thinking maybe I should, so have not paid attention to all the leather lessons on this board - anyone with any ideas on SB leather?

Last - apparently they used to offer coil/feather cushions which I always sort of thought was the high end of cushions - but now only have Quallox or something - i.e. a dense foam. I was thinking I wanted the coil/feathers.
Essentially I want something that will support a herniated disc in my lower back and will last.

I did a search on Sherrill dealers, there is one in town but they have a very small showroom, no couches. CRLaine is 50 miles away.

For the record, the store that sells SB carries Broyhill, Lazy Boy and Flexsteel - so definately a high end low or solid mid-grade line carrying store. I think I would consider Sherrill or CR Laine a better line.

The sales person you spoke to seems to be uninformed and you may do better going back and speaking to someone else.
A good sales person should know or find out what options there are for any piece of furniture they sell. As to Smith Brothers website a redesign would be nice to see with more photos and such.

I bought Smith Brothers furniture both a sofa and a recliner about 8 months ago. I picked Smith Brothers for a few reasons: it really does seems higher quality than a lot of brands either at or below it's price range(laz-boy, broyhill, klausner, lane, basset, england). Flexsteel the only store in the area had the latitudes line which is made in china so I didn't really look it over. I did look at the higher end stuff (hancock&moore, henredon, sherril) which if budget would of allowed might of been an option but the prices I was quoted put them out of my league for the time being. Smith Brothers in my opinion offered the most for my money and had features that you seem to find only on the more expensive brands.

Overall I'm very satisfied but I did have a few issues after delivery. The issues were because of the fabric choice there was some knots that needed cut and also the sofa cushions were overly firm to my tastes and there was a slight metallic sound when sitting on the sofa in one spot only. I contacted and worked through my furniture store and they setup a return to Smith Brothers. The store picked up my peices and less than two weeks later it was back and new cushion cores installed, noise gone and the fabric was corrected and you can't tell it was ever touched otherwise. I want to say that reading this and other forums finding a Furniture store and company that wants to work with the customer to make things right is a major plus and not always easy to come across.

As to the other brands from what I have read flexsteel is a mid-level furniture brand that their US made lines seem to be decent. La-z-boy from my research is a name only and has gone away from the quality and materials that made them famous. My research consisted of talking to people on this and other forums, talking to furniture store employees, and also a reupholstery/repair shop.

Of course whatever brand you buy you want it to look good and feel comfortable so don't choose on just reputation because you have to live with it everyday.

Also you might want to try www.myfurnitureforum.com for your questions and research.

HELP WANTED ! ! !

I live in Woodstock Maryland 21163. Is there an easy way to locate a SB of BERNE retailer near me ?

Thanks much, ed :o)

Ed, they used to have a search on their website to locate dealers.

As far as I know, they're pretty much a Midwest organization.

Ed,

They may be updating their website soon, keep checking since it may have a better design to locate dealers.

HELP FOUND ! ! !

I called the SB of BERNE customer service # 260-589-2131 and a very helpfull associate directed me to a retailer "oak tree furniture" ten miles from my home.

Thanks to all, ed :o)

To Woodstock, MD poster

Oak Tree Furniture 9199 Red Branch Road Columbia, MD 21045 Phone: 410.997.4209 Toll Free: 888.292.1349.
Was there 2 weeks ago and they have Smith Bros.

I am new to this site, but checked it out while making my decision to order Smith Brother Furniture. Two weeks ago the local furniture store delivered our sectional - Right arm sofa, wedge, Left arm sofa. It arrived only 3 weeks from the day we ordered. My reasons for chosing this company were; it is made in our home state of Indiana, it has a life-time guarantee (some exclusions, such as fabric), the quality was obviously wonderful, and they had fabric choices we liked. After 12 years with a saggy, cheap set from Lazy Boy we were ready for some real furniture. Yes, it was more expensive than most, but it is so solid! The fabric under the seat cushions wraps all the way to the back so when the cushions are off, you see a completely finished piece. Our other set had matching fabric about 4" in then just cheap, thin cloth that ripped in two places within the first month. It also had a hard plastic cord poking out from the trim around one cushion. We will have this sectional for a very long time. If you want quality, good looks, and something that will last many years, I think this is a good choice. Buy American!

I have a Smith Bros sofa that is about 8 years old. I really love it. It is the best piece of upholstered furniture I have ever owned. It is holding up beautifully. Even though they say the cushions will not wear out, I still rotate/flip about every month.
If it weren't for the fabric showing a little age...it still sits like new.

I absolutely adore my Smith Brothers sofas. We will have our sofas two years this January. They. are. beautiful. The leather quality is excellent -- and it was their midgrade leather. I cannot say strongly enough how happy we were with these sofas. Beautiful inside and out. Sturdy. Well made. Perfect. They met my expectations exactly -- and I ordered them from a catalog, having never actually seen them in person. Don't hesitate to buy. Despite the fact that we're in Illinois, we traveled to Milwaukee to buy them from Biltrite, an excellent Smith Brothers dealer. Much better price than we could get locally, and really good people there.

Does anyone have the model 411 reclining sofa? We are very interested in buying one, but we have only seen the pictures (we have tried the equivalent stationary sofa and it is a great piece). Our concern is that the picture shows a bar across the front of the sofa and it seens to be visible when the recliners are in the "down" position. Can anyone offer their experience with this?

All my living room furniture came from Smith Brothers in Berne. I have been very pleased with all of it. Very high quality furniture. I would buy from them again and again..

Another note, I am from Geneva that is a few miles south of Berne. I have relatives that work in the Smith Brother's factory

I have a Smith Brothers couch that I bought 25 years ago! I plan to buy a new one -- only because I cannot find someone who does reupholstering well near me. I HIGHLY recommend them. The quality is guaranteed. I am extremely picky and have had no problems.

I purchased Smith Brothers sectional back in may. The unit is very nice and built solid. However, I have had issues with it since day one and still attempting to have them resolved. The pull cord on one of the middle recliner was broke upon delivery and finally I'm getting a new one installed tomorrow. another problem is the leather on the back side of this very high end recliner is wrinkled at the bottom corner of which should be a very easy fix. They want to have the unit shipped back to the factory and giving me 4 to 6 weeks to get it back. I live 3 hours away from the factory and when contacted the factory for explanation the factory rep was the least friendly nor helpful.
The quality is good but be aware of any warranty work. hate to think how long it would take to do warranty repair if you live on the west coast.

I have a question about the fabric. I bought a Smith Brothers sofa & Love seat last April. I have not been thrilled with the fabric. Less than 1 year & it looks worn. Has anyone else had an issue like this? I think the quality of the structure is good, but I'm disappointed in its looks after only 10 months.

Christine, we purchased a Smith Brothers sofa and chair a year ago and in less than 6 months we noticed that edges of our cushions were wearing down and this is in our living room which we do not use as we always use our family room. There were only 3 people who sat on these cushions from the time we purchased the furniture so I knew that it was not due to excessive wear. The furniture store where we purchased our furniture sent the seat cushions back to Smith Brothers to have the upholstery checked to see if the material may have been defective but of course Smith Brothers sent an email back that they tested the material and there was nothing wrong with material it was just due to excessive wear. Prior to purchasing this sofa and chair we had furniture that we purchased in 1979 and it was still in good condition. The reason we purchased new furniture was because we installed new carpeting so we sold our other furniture and purchased new to match the carpet. I am very disappointed in a company that boosts that it is an all American made furniture company but yet they give flimsy excuses as to why the upholstery has a worn look in less than a year. I also saw another review on another site that said the same thing. I usually do not like to give negative reviews but I really don't want someone else to have the same problem as we did. What type of fabric is on your furniture? The fabric number on our sofa and chair is 283210 and it is listed as polyester and it is classified as OK for recliners so it should be a material that will wear. I like you love the comfort and structure of the furniture but am having an issue with the wear of the fabric as it looks worn on the edges and I believe it was like that when we first got it but did not really take note to it right away. I called the company before I contacted the furniture store where we purchased our furniture and no one would return my call.

I purchased a Smith brothers leather recliner less than a year ago. It is supposed to be a high end chair, but within a few months I noticed the leather on the back cushion became stretched and flat. My furniture store worked with me and had the chair shipped back to the factory. It was returned three weeks later and had been restuffed. It was still flat. I was told that was fabric wrinkles and normal. I am very unhappy and plan to call SB to see if they will help me. Has anyone had luck in contacting the factory? Or has anyone has this type of problem with a leather product?

Carol do you have a picture?

I'm seeing a sofa on their website that matches what I'm looking for, but am concerned about their statement that "comfort wrinkles" are built in to the back cushions. To me, that's just another way of saying, "we don't do quality upholstering, so we're going to name it and spin it like it's a good thing". Thoughts?

If you are questioning the quality of the fabric, I can only tell you that we really regret our purchase. We thought by going to a reputable company, we'd get quality - So untrue. Our sofa is only 2 years old but looks a lot older. It's worn in many places, the fabric is pulling & stained. I would never go back nor would I recommend buying their furniture. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired also.

What was the blend of the fabric you selected, Christine?

Christine I totally agree with you. The fabric that we selected was part polyester and they said it was a very good material for wear. After we bought it and it showed wear right away and I contacted the company where we bought it they contacted Smith Bros. and Susan their rep. said it was because it was a chenille fabric and that is how it wears. Why would a reputable company carry such fabric. Smith Bros. was not going to do anything for us but the furniture company where we purchased the living room set took care of us. Our cushions were even sent to Smith Bros. for them to look them over and they sent them back that nothing was wrong. Just to be sure that I was not being too picky I took the cushions to an upholster and he told me if it were his sofa and chair he would return them. This made me feel better when an expert found fault in the material. I did however get my sofa and chair replaced. I had to go in and select another fabric and about 3 weeks later I get a call from the furniture company that Susan said I would not be satisfied with the new material I chose because it wrinkles. Again why would they not have something on the fabric sample with this warning so again we had to go in and this time Susan had given them a couple of suggestions for us to chose from. We now have a beautiful sofa and chair and we are now totally satisfied but had it not had been for the wonderful furniture company we would have been stuck with a living room suit only a year old but looking like we had it for years. Even people who came to visit us noticed how the material had looked worn and we only had 3 to 4 people who sat on the furniture so it was not worn from people sitting on it. We rarely sit in the living room as we are always in our family room. My suggestion is to call Smith Bros. or have the rep of the store where you are buying consult with you before picking out the fabric. We are very pleased with the comfort but will never buy from Smith again. We recently purchased our family room furniture although it is the recliner sofa and love seat it is well made and very, very comfortable and it is made by Best. Please to protect your investment do as I said about having your furniture company have the Smith Bros. rep to their store come and consult with you regarding the best fabric for your needs.

My mother searched high and low for her most recent sofa and chose Smith Bros. based on their reputation for quality. It is a few years old now and she is happy with it. It feels substantial and the cushions still sit firm. The fabric is a velvet-y polyester and that looks good, too. Picking the right fabric is a very tricky thing. If you don't research the performance attributes, or the salespeople you're working with don't know about how a given fabric performs, you can end up in the above situations. I went with microfiber for my Mitchell Gold sofa 15 years ago and although it has stains that I can't remove, it has worn like iron (no fraying, no fuzziness).

We bought a 5-piece sectional from Smith Brothers at Johnny Janosik in Delaware - worst choice we could have ever made - had to get the fabric replaced after the 1st month because of the stretching and it was a fight and many service fees paid to get them to replace it. Fabric has been very poor quality even though it was a several tiered upgrade(kind of has a linen look to it) and now 2 1/2 years later it is pilled all over and of course that is not covered by warranty. In addition, our cushions have not held up well at all, again another $75 service fee for them to send a technician out to survey them - he agreed that had lost their form and sent off warranty paperwork to SB. Now I need to pay upfront $57 cushion/$102 for chaise lounge to have the cushions replaced. Once SB gets them back they run the cores through a machine to determine if they are defective, and if they qualify they will refund my $$. Once they have the check from me I doubt very highly that they will find their company at fault.

Will never buy from Johnny Janosik or Smith Brothers again!

I agree. We spent big bucks for a leather recliner. Right away, the leather back and seat cushion stretched. SB did pick it up and wrapped the core, but it still looks terrible. And, it's so uncomfortable. Never again will I buy SB.

We bought a sofa and large chair about a year and a half ago. They are extrememly sturdy and comfortable. However, I am very unhappy with the fabric we chose. There is sooooo much piling all over it. Our salesperson was not helpful at all with choosing fabric (we explained to her that this would get tons of use and we have 3 small children). I would purchase again but I would research the fabrics more first.

For those individuals who liked the actual furniture pieces from smith brothers but not the fabric - can you share what specific types of fabric you chose (that did not do well) and what fabric you ended up getting which you liked? I'm considering a smith brothers couch but haven't looked at fabric yet. Kids and dogs may be in the near future so that is something I am considering. Thank you!

The fabric which we first got was 283210 which is listed as 100% polyester, We were told when we bought it that it is a good wearing fabric. After we showed them how the material looked worn, especially around all of the edges/seams we were told that it is a chenille fabric (but it is listed as 100% polyester) and that is how it wears (amazing since we only sat on it 3 times before we contacted them). Not sure why a company with good structural furniture would make available inferior fabrics. See my prior post about having a Smith rep. suggest what would be the best material to suit your needs of children and pets. We purchased Best furniture for our family room and we use it every day and we are extremely happy with the comfort and quality of the fabric. Never bought Best before but we cannot say enough about the structure and comfort of our sofa recliner and loveseat recliner. Bought Best Brinley sofa and loveseat with Microfiber S7004. You may want to check this company out before buying.

Susanbeckwith83 - thank you for your reply. What material did you end up replacing the smith bros furniture with that you like? Any issues with it?
Your family room furniture....best as in best home furnishings? Regarding quality in construction and fabric, how do they compare with smith bros? How about longevity? A rep told me best home furnishings was low-middle grade (vs smith bros high middle grade)?
Also, I've read mixed reviews about microfiber...some like it and it wears well...others hate it and it looks horrible and wears quickly in only a few years.
Thanks!

Sorry I cannot help you with the number of the fabric we now have. When we went back to the furniture store to pick out the fabric that the Smith Brothers rep. suggested they had the sample fabrics ready for us and they did not write down the number of the fabric for us on our receipt. I looked on their website of their fabrics to see if I could find what fabric it was but had no luck. The microfiber on our sofa and loveseat of BEST resembles more of a soft leather not fabric. So easy to clean.
The construction of our BEST sofa and loveseat are very well constructed and of hard wood and the support system was just recently reinforced heavier. Big changes in their construction. If the furniture company that you are dealing with does not carry BEST then they would not be able to comment without showing you the construction of the furniture. We are in our 60's and will never need to replace our living room furniture as I said we do not use that room. The only time we are really in there is when we have company so our Smith Brothers sofa and chair do not get a lot of use but I myself would never buy anything more from Smith. I would suggest you check underneath the furniture that you want to buy and see the construction. Don't let any of us persuade your decision. I am not writing this to deter people from buying from Smith Brothers. I actually was not going to write a review until Smith Brothers would not work with us on the replacement of my furniture. My big question is why would they offer fabrics that show wear right away and also wrinkle when you are buying a high end piece of furniture and then on the fabric sample it is listed as 100% polyester and then tell the customer that it is Chenille and that is how Chenille wears. Just not sure about their reputation on being in tune with their customer's concerns. Good luck in finding the right furniture for your needs. And as I said I'm not here to bash Smith Brothers but wanted to make people aware that they were not willing to work with us and to alert others of fabric choices . Just make sure you have a very reputable furniture company who will stand behind your purchase and also we would totally recommend having a Smith Brothers rep. help in the selection of your fabric for your needs.

susanbeckwith83 - how did you coordinate/get the Smith Bros rep to come out to help in the selection of fabrics? You said they had various samples ready for you - what was your criteria in the fabric that allowed them to pre-pick these samples out?

I liked the color of my ottoman and sofa pillows which had a pattern and I did not want to change those she picked out colors that would match my new carpet and the ottoman and sofa pillows. Smith Brothers rep. for each area periodically visits the stores and the Wolf Furniture Store arranged a time when she was coming so we could come in when she was there. Does the furniture store where you are thinking of purchasing your furniture have a large display of fabrics on hand? Wolf Furniture Store had a sample of each fabric that Smith offers in their store on display. Susan, Smith Brothers rep., called and told the salesperson which fabrics to pull and when we came in to the store and met with her they had the samples pulled out and then we chose from what she suggested. We were very fortunate that she was able to find a fabric with the color very close to what we originally chose because this was all based around our new carpet. I like how everything goes together color wise but the fabric which we have still wrinkles when you sit on it but like I said we can take our hand and smooth the wrinkles out after sitting on it but it does not look like it's old and worn like the first fabric which we chose. Maybe if you tell your salesperson what color you are looking for and you said about children and possibly animals they could get the Smith Brothers rep. to suggest some fabrics for you that will have a long durability to it and your salesperson will be able to pull those fabrics and have them ready for you to look at when you come into the store. I'm sure they would be willing to go that extra step to make sure you get the fabric that will last for you.

Purchased a living room sofa, love seat and chair from Smith Brothers. Fabric kept coming in with defects. Smith Brothers did not offer a fabric similar to what I had already picked out and decorated my home to match. The retail offered a 90% refund because Smith Brothers charged them a restocking fee. I do not see why I was responsible for the 10% fee because Smith Brothers purchased bad fabric from the mill. Buyer beware!! When I reached out to the representative from Smith Brothers they said that the retailer must re fabric that set and try and sell it.

Interesting! The more digging I do about Smith Brothers, the more I know I will not purchase from them. It appears their quality isn't what it may have been in years past and many complain that Smith Brothers will NEVER take responsibility for any of their defects including fabric, always pushing blame on to the owner's negligence. Their customer service is just awful from my findings. They don't even supply their phone number anywhere on their website OR locations to purchase. You have to email them for such info. The "store" where you buy the Smith Brothers brand has to do the leg work when issues occur and most times, they get the run-around from the manufacturer, leaving the customer stiffed.

Some customers may have been lucky with this brand so they never had to complain or deal with the run around of getting defective furniture from this company resolved.

Very happy with the quality of my Smith Bros sofa.

We bought 2 leather couches, leather push back chair, 2 ottomans and 1 fabric recliner. I won't buy from Smith Brother again! The fabric chair started to fray and unravel after 10 months (we finally just donated it after 4 years) and the seats of the leather pieces are scratched horribly (no pets or kids at that point or anything like that) and the piping around the seats are cracked and peeling. The leather started looking badly after 2 years. HORRIBLE QUALITY fabric and leather (we choose the mid grade).

I've had a Smith Brother's sofa for 28 years. My daughter at 7 became very ill and that couch had everything spilled on it, body fluids, meds, food. It did begin to pill and I was not happy with that, but have had it reupholstered twice. The cushions and springs, back, and arms are like new. I can't wear this sofa out.

I am thoroughly enjoying my smith brother's sofa!

I am considering a Smith Brothers Sofa in Semi Aniline leather. I am concerned about it still looking good in 5 or 10 years. I see some used leather sofas that were expensive new, like Restoration Hardware, on Ebay and the leather is all wrinkled and stretched out and looks awful. My brother and sister both have less expensive sofa's that still look great after 10 years but one is a motion sofa that would be too high in back for where I want to put it in front of a bow window. The other was purchased years ago at Macy's and they don't know the brand. How do you get a leather sofa that will still look nice years down the road?

I would never recommend buying Smith Brothers. We are beyond disappointed with not only the quality, ...less than a year, fabric pilling, cushions creasing and the back cushions losing their shape on the sofa...the leather chair we purchased ( best grade of leather) is also defective...frustrated would be an understatement. The furniture has the appearence of being alot older than it is..by at least 10yrs.!! These issues have been addressed to no avail and have yet to be resolved. Buyer Beware...do NOT buy Smith Brothers!! Even the sales rep that came to our home..only blew smoke up our a##es. At this point we are considering going to court.

I had the same problems with my cushions and it was only months. It looked as if the material was worn at various places so after several months & other people noticing the same thing that I saw the furniture store where I bought my furniture had me take the cushion covers off and & they sent them to Smith Brothers when Smith Brothers returned our cushion covers they said that is
the nature of the material I chose to look worn but yet my material was
nylon with a high grade. After getting my cushion covers back I took them to an upholsterer to see what he thought of the material & he shook his head & said if it were him he would definitely not keep the furniture as he felt the material was of poor quality for what we paid for the furniture. I then went directly to the store where I purchased the furniture and they were willing to order me the same furniture with a different material. If you look back you can read my posts as to how my problem was resolved. I looked for a company that was ALL AMERICAN thinking I would have a better quality but not the case & yes, the company is not willing to work with the customer. I also did not read the negative reviews until I had a problem & then found others with similar problems. Hopefully your furniture store will also help you. Maybe you can get an upholsterer to look at your cushions and verify that the material is not holding up and if they would verify that in writing maybe the store where you bought the furniture will replace your furniture. Since Smith Brothers is aware of these problems with several fabrics I don't know why they don't alert the customer of possible problems on the sample fabric so the buyer is aware.

Sue, thank you for responding to my comment. The fabric that we chose for the sofa and the leather for the chair and ottoman we were told (where we made the purchase ) were both high grade.. the sales rep from smith brothers told us the same. The sofa has already been sent back to the factory once with photos and a detailed description of the issues. The factory resolved one thing...(a big lump protruding out of the front part of the sofa) The issue that we had with the back cushions, losing shape etc. was "resolved " by the factory adding more fill to them...done very unprofessionally. ..the cushions are now lacking fill in the corners and look horrible. The sofa also came back with the pilling and the creased cushions. The sales rep recommendations were to shave off the pills and he told us that all the other issues will actually look better over time!!.. and that he was going to consult with smith brothers about the leather on the chair. We have been getting the run around with the store where we made our purchase, with the sales rep and also with Smith Brothers...when I tried reaching out to them the individual on the phone was very rude and basically told me it wasn't their problem and to call the store. I do plan on taking the cushions to an upholstery place to get validation that the material is very poor quality. I'm not one for venting or complaining through posts, but, thought that it would help others to avoid such a costly mistake.

I agree with you Nancy. I do not like to post negative things about a business but what you pay for this furniture you should expect a higher quality and I did not want others to go through what we did to get justification. Shave off the pills that would only thin out your material and possibly in time the material will tear. Of course they tell you it's going to look better over time because by letting it go like they want you to then you will have no recourse due to the length of time. We are in our late 60's and have never had a problem with our other furniture purchases. We buy good furniture to last and that is what I thought I was getting when I purchased from an American made company. I also called the company after Smith Bros. refused to do anything with my cushions and the gentleman that I spoke to was very rude before I even got to tell him what I was calling about. He ask me why I was calling them he said the customer is not to call Smith Bros. you are to deal with your furniture company where you made the purchase. When he finally let me explain to him that Smith Bros was telling me that that was the nature of the fabric to look worn I ask him why the other areas of the furniture was fine except for it looked like where the sewing was done on the arms and on the cushions where the material was flattened compared to the rest of the material. He gave me no answer and basically cut me off. I got no where with them. Sad that an all American company will not stand behind their product. I feel that if they know that a material will look worn or will wrinkle they should put that right on the sample that they have on display better yet why offer inferior materials. I pray your situation will be taken care of.

We've has a SB sofa and leather recliner for almost ten years. The cushions, springs, and frames have held up well. The fabric and leather are different story.

Within a month of delivery, the fabric on the sofa started to pill. We were told to shave them off and that pilling would end in a few months. While pilling has decreased, it's still not gone. Fabric is not in bad shape, but quite worn.

The leather recliner's upholstery is in rough shape. So is the leather on the SM ottoman we got with it. Flaking of the leather on the ottoman and the chair arms has gotten bad over the last year. Where I place my hands at the end of the arms has been discoloring for years and is now shot. The left side has holes in the leather and the right side is right behind. The tops of the arms have shown wear for years. I've never heard of leather literally wearing out like this unless it was about 25 years old.

Granted, my family spends more time at home than most. We also live in a part of the US that doesn't have very good weather, and that encourages couch potato behavior. However, given SM's tradition and reputation for very high quality, as well as the price we paid for these pieces, the upholstery- especially on the chair- has been a major disappointment. I pride myself on caring for my belongings. No rough housing or badly soiled clothing on the furniture. Oh well, live and learn.

I received my Smith Bros of Berne Sofa in Nov of this year (21') so I can't speak to how they last but so far so good. I spent two years researching brands. It was after seeing a friend's SB sofa that I decided on this brand. ( It was already in my top 3). She's had hers for 6 years and it looks good as new if that helps. I then spent another few months deciding on the style I wanted.

Mine is the 385 style, leather 1814 (gray) , tapered legs, black pearl nailheads. I wanted to see it in my room before getting matching/coordinating pieces.

I am currently struggling with to now get the matching loveseat , or, the #234 mid-sze sofa. This 234 style is pretty much the same as my 395 style. The only major difference is the length-which is 73". ( my 385 is 85" & getting a second in same size does not fit in space I need it to)

This 234 is 10 inches longer than the matching love seat (which I really like because two people could sit more comfortably). However, for some reason, it does say that it is one inch taller?

I do have a post on here with photos of my sofa---as well as questions to help me decide if this mid size style 234 sofa in the same leather as my 395 I currently have ---would look ok although it is one inch taller?? Does this matter? Would you even be able to tell? I saw that there were a few furniture retailers on here---any advice?? Thanks!!

My house is farmhouse/semi-rustic so my only regret is the tapered legs. I did not know this was more "formal". In deciding, I used the fact that I wanted my robot vac to be able to go under. :(

joy jones, do you mind me asking what were the other sofas in your top 3? I am also interested in the Smith Bros. sofa but now worried about the fabric issues many have written about. Thank you.

momo: I t.hink they have improved th quality of the fabric. I purchased a new Smth Brothers - had another for 28 years) about 5 years ago. Chose the fabric I wanted. The furnture store stands behind all their funiture. My couch looks like t did the day I bought it. No kids, just me and my little dog.

mo mo: King Hickory was the other. I can't think of the other right now...I want to say Craftmaster but not sure? I know Smith brothers have different grades of fabrics some more stain resistant than others. Mine is leather but I am looking at their fabrics for chairs.