Purchasing upholstered furniture can sometimes be a daunting task. From furniture styles, to a huge range in prices, it can be a hard to know if you are making a good purchase or not.

Well, fear no more, with a few basic terms in your pocket, you can easily make an informed purchase. The truth is, upholstered furniture is not as daunting as it seems. It is basically broken down into four categories: frame, support, fillings and fabric.

When looking at furniture, make sure you are getting a hardwood frame that is kiln dried and has corner blocks in each corner. Kiln dried means that the moisture has been dried out of the wood and alleviates warping and bowing of the frame.

The corner blocks add extra support to each corner making it a long lasting piece of furniture. When considering legs it’s important to note that higher end pieces are going to have legs that are one continuous piece with the structure, while lower end pieces are going to have legs that screw to the frame.

The support system is attached to the frame below your cushion. For a long lasting piece of furniture, you want to look for an eight-way hand-tied spring-up or sinuous wire system.

When considering the cushions, the fillings creates the shape and provides the comfort on seats and backs of upholstered furniture. Cushions are often made up a combination of materials including foam, down, coil springs and batting to create a custom feel.

In fact, many manufactures, such as Ethan Allen and Pottery Barn have secret recipes of combinations that they’ve worked hard to perfect. The most important thing is that it is comfortable to you, so make sure to take a seat and test it out.

Lastly, you’ll want to consider the fabric choice. This selection will depend both on the aesthetics and durability desired. Most fabric has a wearability code rated by a double rub test. The test approximates the wear and tear from someone sitting down or getting up. Check the double rubs on the fabric or speak with a designer or salesperson to make sure it is the right durability for your application.

Photo credit: Crate and Barrel, West Elm and Mitchell Gold

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