Furniture shopping

-D and went furniture shopping the weekend before this past one (so, the 5th). We didn't have a whole lot of time, and the stores are all about 45 minutes or so away. So we decided we'd go to Raymour & Flanigan first. We ended up with some extra time, so went to Bob's afterwards, too, for some comparing.

Impressions: sales people can be a bit pushy. There's just no getting around it. The sales guy at R&F was respectful, while also trying to do his job. He realized that we aren't loaded and didn't try to push us out of our price range. He was honest if one that we liked the look of didn't stack up in terms of quality, and pointed us to what were actually less expensive alternatives with better quality. We were there for bedroom furniture and a new mattress, but took a few minutes to browse couches and dining room/kitchen sets. Every time we stopped and he was nearby, he'd be sure to point out the price and features of that particular one. But on the whole, not a bad guy. He also told us about a sale that would be happening the following Wednesday only, and that he'd give us that sale early, if we ended up buying anything.

Then we went to Bob's, for comparison, and to see what they had to offer. There is no comparison in quality as far as the bedroom sets go. Where just about everything at R&F was dovetailed, everything was stapled at Bobs. Wood quality, craftsmanship - all of it better at R&F, thus justifying the higher price. Bob's is great if you want something that looks decent but doesn't need to handle a lot of use. With the sale at R&F, the price difference just wasn't enough for us to go with Bobs. The mattresses (or at least a couple of the better ones we tried) were comparable (price included), but again, with the sale at R&F, it made more sense to just get everything there.

So Wednesday night, we went back and ordered our new bedroom set from R&F. We've got a new, king-sized bed coming (woot!), along with dresser, mirror, and nightstand. They should arrive some time tomorrow morning.

This weekend we worked on shifting our furniture at home around - the full-size guest bed has been moved to the attic, and our queen-sized bed is now the guest bed. What I've been using as a dresser will be headed tonight to the 3-season porch for organizing my dyeing and spinning supplies.