We bought some pieces of the Stanley Young America Summerhaven collection for my daughter ~2 years ago. It is pretty but I would not buy it again. It's white and the finish has NOT held up. Too easy to scratch and it faded and discolored in a very short time. I am in the process of refinishing the dresser, tricky because the top is NOT solid wood (I "ASSumed it was, luckily a salesman at the store when we bought it informed me otherwise before I started or I probably would have ruined it.) OTOH, I am looking at the Stanley YA Tranquility collection for my son, in the darkest (kind of a pecan) finish. It's reasonably priced and the color is beautiful. I think the darker finsih will hold up a lot better.

I would rather get solid wood pieces but it's hard to find everything that you need in a group (I know they don't have to be all matchy matchy but it takes a lot of TIME to find all coordinating pieces if you buy them invividually) so I will probably go with the Stanley again.

Good Luck shopping!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tranquility collection

We bought Stanley furniture (natural Maple) for my DD six years ago. I think it is beautiful and still looks good today!

I like Vermont Precision and Vermont Tubbs. Solid wood, made in the US and excellent quality. My local furniture store carries both brands and they blew away everything else in the store. AP Industries is also nice. I have heard good and bad about Stanley Young America but I have the Harbortown collection and am I am very happy with it.

Vermont Precision is no longer in business. They closed their Vermont plant earlier this year. The owners have come out with an import line called Bolton Furniture. I've sold some and can absolutely tell you it is NOT the same. Fit and finish are a real disappointment.

Vermont Tubbs was sold to new owners who have just announced they will close the Vermont plant and move production to New Hampshire. I don't know anything about the new owners (bad or good) but Tubbs is basically just a name now.

AP has not changed, its still great furniture. Still made in Canada too.

Stanley I don't care for. When we carried it they cut corners in too many places - veneered tops, veneered rear corners, drawers with wood center runner (safety hazard IMO).

Prices for good furniture have shot through the roof recently. For anyone looking today the prices will be a real shocker. And sadly they will continue to go up.

mogator88 - Why is a wood center runner a safety hazard?

I have same questions as OP. Anyone have any experience with Hooker SmartKids?

A wood center runner does not open or close smoothly (jammed fingers) and can break when too much weight is applied (like a kid grabbing an open drawer).

Drawers will wear out sooner from the added stress of opening and closing because of the added friction. Stanley was so proud of their dovetailed drawers, which wouldn't be necessary if they used a proper drawer slide.

I have a master bedroom set with these drawers. I hate it. We won't sell this construction anymore.

Has anyone heard of Maxtrix furniture. They sell loft and bunk beds?

Here is a link that might be useful: kids bunks and lofts

We were actually considering ordering a Vermont Tubbs bedroom set. I found out that the company that took them over is "Brown Street" furniture, and last time we were furniture shopping, it seemed like Brownstreet was a good quality brand and made in America -- so my question is whether we are safe with Vermont Tubbs...I can't really find another brand with a style I like -- but I refuse to order from a company that has bad reviews...We've already had a bad experience with Ethan Allen (we purchased a crib & dresser from them) so we'd like to have a pleasant buying experience for once. We also like some PB kids furniture, but again, they have poor reviews for the casegoods.

We have Morigeau (out of Canada) for our 8 year old. We bought it for him as baby furniture and it still looks perfect. This year we decided to convert his bed to a bunk and, though they had changed the mechanics of the bed, the factory agreed to make the adjustments for us. All in all a quality product with great customer service.

I'm also researching furniture for my kids' rooms and am about to pull the trigger on Stanley Young America Myhaven collection pieces.

After reading the above criticism of their drawer construction, I checked the company's website and it seems that is no longer the case - who knows since when:

In the chart specifying drawer details, it says:
"Heavy-duty metal drawer guides with automatic drawer stops prevent dangerous spills and guarantee smooth drawer "glide" for many years"

FWIW, I'm getting the best quotes for the furniture I'm pricing from www.Lauters.com, although they only sell to PA/NJ/NYC areas. They're quoting about 50% off, with free in-home delivery.

Another website offering decent pricing (but they charge $250 for delivery) is www.anniesfurniture.com.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stanley Furniture Qualtiy details

Before buying Stanley I'd look at AP Industries. Nice that Stanley finally upgraded the drawers, but that was just one of many failings they had when compared with AP.

I'm a former Stanley dealer, and we carried their kids line. Nice marketing materials and all that, but I know what I'm looking at and compared with AP there was no choice at all, and so we went with AP in our home.

I have a Morigeau - Lepine set for my daughter (10 yrs old) and would have brought the desk (currently looking for, but was told they went out of business within the past yr. AP is nice, but I do not like the keyboard drawer, I feel it is difficult to open and a child will easily break it. I have been considering Stanley. My friend has 2 different bunk bed sets and loves them. Still undecided though.

Try looking at Natart Furniture, they are a manufacturer in Canada. They have a website with their collections. I have the Paris collection which has since been discontinued, but it is very good quality and the finish is nice.