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If the issue is just getting it IN the apartment, you could always stick with the Camden and go with Dr.Sofa:

http://www.drsofa.com/

Crate and Barrel does indeed have good quality. I just bought a chair and ottoman, and in the process, sat on almost every couch in the show room. I liked the Camden - it's obviously not a super-cushy couch, but that is the design. I think it's a good value.

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/collection.do?method=get&id=377605&cat=27

I own Jasper from Room and Board and it is very comfortable.

I wavered between the Camden and the Grace - link below -
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=934&f=12364
but they were both of excellent quality, and the Crate & Barrel staff said that they had not any complaints from customers about either one. I went with the Grace in the end because I liked the removable cushions for cleaning.

We've had the same Crate and Barrel sofa with matching easy chair for about 10 years and they've held up quite well -- and I saw in Elle Decor/Sept 2005 that fashion designer Peter Som had the same couch in his W Village apartment! The price was similar to the one you're considering buying.

Just be sure to measure your doors and find out if the legs are removable. I almost bought the Grace sofa and then found out it wouldn't fit through the door!

how do people feel about the quality of cb2? I really like the sleepy hollow bed but a trip from NYC to C-town to see it in person makes for an expensive bed...thoughts? thanks!

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=400&f=3510

I sat on the Camden, and let me tell you, it's like sitting on a rock. I'm all for clean lines and modern shapes, but this was like a doctor's waiting room sofa.

I have the Grace Condo sofa from G.Romano. I bought it at a local store for about $1300 delivered. I love it. It's small (72" long I think) and pretty comfortable for how tight it is. Here is the link- perhaps you can find a local dealer... http://www.gromano.com/en-scm/index.php?fn=details&album=0&num=3

Just so you know, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board and Pottery Barn all get their furniture from the same American manufacturers. They just have exclusives on certain styles and fabrics. Go ahead and ask them who makes their furniture and it most likely will be Mitchell Gold, American Leather or McCreary. Not many furniture manufacturers left in the US.

I've had a CB sofa for about 8 years, still v. comfy. Mine has no arms so people regularly sleep on it (its the guest bed) so its seen plenty of use.

PS - Dr. Sofa will take apart the sofa for you (literally saw it in half) and then put it back together like brand new.

Friends of mine ordered a sofa from C&B with specialized fabric and then couldn't get it through the door. Apparently Dr.Sofa came to the rescue.

I fell in love with the Camden when I saw it in Blueprint magazine's Small Space Makeover.

When I went to test it out I also tried the Grace and the Troy. The main difference between those two and the Camden is that they are more cushioned. So, while you could curl up on the Camden, it won't suck you in for hours-long naps like my one at home does after 15 minutes. It is much sleeker than the others, which still look large and heavy even in the short sizes.

Most definitely do an in-store test. I went on a weekday when the store was empty and sat there for about 15-20 minutes looking through their catalog and talking with a non-pushy saleswoman. When I break open the bank for a new sofa, that's the one I'm getting. Here are several more similar designed and sized sofas I found while I was looking. http://shelterhome.blogspot.com/2007/04/if-i-could-i-would.html

AnnaG:

I can't comment on the Sleepy Hollow, but if you can wait a few months, I believe that a CB2 is slated to open in NYC this summer. If you can't wait, maybe a reader from AT:Chicago would be willing to give you an assessment. I've seen them offer to do so in the past.

I just bought the Camden a couple of months ago. I love the look of it, and find it comfortable for sitting upright, though less so for lying down and watching tv. My one complaint is that the fabric wrinkles on the seat a bit after someone has been sitting on it, so I find I have to keep flattening it out and kind of tucking it back into the sides to keep it looking nice. A small thing really, but worth noting.

Funny, after reading AT for over two years, this is the first thing I've ever commented on!

Ah, my SO and I just went through this! I'd had my heart set on C&B's Petrie, but worried a bit about the price so we went and visited the C&B showroom to see how the Camden stood up. He actually liked the Camden more than the Petrie--both due to the price and the fact that its easier for a 6'4" man to get up from, apparently. Unfortunately, after flipping over both sofas, measuring them extensively, and trying to jimmy the legs off both, Camden lost out--too big to fit through our 31" doorway, and the legs do not screw off like Petrie's do. (Tee hee, I win.) At any rate, if it'll fit into your place I say do the Cameron. It IS a firm sofa, but not unpleasantly so, and it is quite solid and comes in lovely colors. Just measure well!

thanks for the tip - bird and beef.

Have to agree that C&B has good value for money sofas.

We have the Cameron in the light color and love it. Super comfortable to sit and lounge in. We did however have quite a time getting it to fit through the door. It didn't. We ended up getting the guys recommended by Crate & Barrel, MSJ, after receiving less than stellar reports on sofadoctor. The MSJ team was really good and you CANNOT tell that they had to take it apart.

Tip: if you suspect that you might need to use one of these guys to take the sofa apart and put it together again, get them to pick it up from the store the first time around. This way you save the 70 dollar C&B delivery. Good luck with the sofa search.

I loved the Camden, bought it, and they couldn't get it in my door. Believe me, they tried. I was pretty upset.

I went back to Crate and Barrel and they told me that a lot of people have trouble getting the Camden inside - the problem isn't always the length, but the width. Most of their sofas have removable legs, making it pretty easy to wedge inside doorways. Part of the reason the Camden is cheaper is that the legs aren't removable.

I got the Laguna sofa in sage. They can make the legs brown or black. The delivery people were great - they took the legs off and reattached them once the sofa was inside.

Very happy with my purchase and with how helpful C&B was when my sofa didn't fit.

I have the similiar Grace sofa for about 3 years now and love it -get lots of compliments. For a small sofa it's very comfortable ( obviously can't lay out on it ) and the only thing I would complain about the grace is that the armrests are hard -you can't lay your head on it with no padding. But it's very sturdy -moved with me to 3 different apts with no problems

I have the Prado from CB and it holds up quite well. I sit on it, nap on it, have visitors sleep on it, and so far it's still comfy and in great shape!

Why is C&B so often the supsect of quality suspicion?

I just don't get why the skepticism. Is it because they are often the first notch up for first time furniture buyers, unaccustomed to pricing? Is it because they are too cheap? Too expensive?

I never understand the suspicion with this major-- and in my mind, always respectable-- national retailer.

I was all set to buy the Camden for my new duplex until I went to a C&B store and saw the Rochelle, which was considerably more expensive but so elegant. I've had it for about a month now, and I absolutely love it.

They are all made by Mitchell Gold if that matters to anyone....

AnnaG, I have the City Block bed from CB2, which I bought online without seeing in person. Their delivery was fast and the bed looks even better than in the catalog. The plastic caps for the bed slats, however, began to crumble after just a few months of use. I contacted their customer service and they sent me a replacement set of slat caps. So over all, I'm quite satisfied. Hope this helps.

I've had the C&B Troy Sofabed & chair for 2-3 years now and they're holding up very well. I was told the Sofabed would be slightly harder than the regular sofa but it's still very comfortable, good for crashing on for a night too. However, after constant exposure to southern light, the fabric's faded noticeably. Mine went from a light blue to a lighter blue so doesn't really matter but might be a problem for darker colours.

We have the C&B Troy sofabed too. We ordered it in the 'full' size- so no problem getting it into the apartment (second floor of a Chicago walk up). We've had it about two months and like it a lot.

I love my C&B Sofa. (now discontinued) It is super comfortable and the delivery team did a great job. They include instructions--online--on how to measure to see if it will fit in stairwells and elevators. I would definitely get another from them; It's excellent quality.

Wow, so many interesting comments. I work for Crate at the SF store on Union Square, in the furniture department. I can tell you that Camden (not to be confused with Cameron) IS a well made sofa. It comes from a small, family owned and operated company called Shenandoah in Virginia. They take their time, and do very good work. I ordered 2 of the Grace chairs, which are similar to the Camden, (except that they have a cut-away arm, and a cushion seat instead of an attached seat) in a custom fabric, and could not be more pleased with the job they did. You need to talk to one of the sales associates in whichever store is closest to you. We're always very happy to share our knowledge. For me, helping someone wade through all those questions of which piece is best for them, and the way they live is one of the best parts of the job.

The low price tag on the Camden is no reflection on it's quality. Price is affected by a number of factors including, but not limited to: materials, construction, country of origin, buying power of the retailer.

In the case of Camden, Crate wanted to be able to offer an affordable sofa for people with limited money/space. So the fabric, the suspension, (sinuous wire) and the vendor were carefully chosen with that in mind. With 150 stores and growing, (next year we'll be expanding in to Canada) we have considerable buying power. That means we can commit to buying in bulk. Our vendors can then buy their materials in bulk as well, and everyone pays a little less, including the customer. Our execs also deliberately chose to set a lower mark-up for this collection, (as well as Prado) than we ordinarily would simply so we could offer this deal.

Is it for everyone? No of course not. No one sofa can be all things to all people. But if you like a compact, clean, and visually light design with a firm seat, and the added bonus of an extremely stain resistant fabric, Camden is a gem.

Beyond that, I'd add that we're fortunate to be privately held by a husband and wife team who started out with a little shop, and none too much money or space of their own. They were, and still are more interested in having long lasting, happy relationships with customers who feel satisfied with their purchase, than in making every last nickel possible. It makes my job very easy. I can honestly look people in the eye, and tell them that if they have a problem with any purchase, Crate stands behind it's product and will do whatever reasonably can be done to resolve the issue.

By the way, the mill which makes that fabric on Camden recently went under. The sad result of foreign mills underselling domestic vendors. If you like either of the stock fabrics on this sofa, buy it now.

I almost bought the Camden but couldn't get around how scratchy the fabric is, and can't spring for the extra thousand or so to choose another cover. I really like the look of the 80" Lenox sofa on Room and Board's web site. Does anyone have experience with it? Have you tried it at a showroom? I'd like to know if it's comfortable and what you think it will look like in a few years. Maybe someone should start a business of trying out Room and Board sofas and charging consulting fees from those of us who don't live near a showroom!