Henrietta Schilling, of Overland Park, Kansas, sits on her tuxedo sofa at her home. The classic piece still looks stylish and feels as comfortable as it did when she picked it out in 1937. Nowadays, people often replace couches every few years because they have become so inexpensive and not as sturdy.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Furniture once was considered an investment. People saved up for sturdy pieces that, with a little upholstery work here and there, would last a lifetime.

Now durable furniture is harder to find. A higher price tag or a brand name that had a good reputation when your parents got married doesn't necessarily signify better quality today.

"The quality of furniture has gone down dramatically," says Don Fuhr, who spent 52 years in the furniture business. His family owned Fuhr's in Shawnee, Kan., a showroom that specialized in better-quality brands before closing in 2006. "Furniture has become about keeping costs low."

It's become the era of the disposable sofa, Fuhr said. People sometimes replace couches every few years because they have become so inexpensive. And oftentimes the frames aren't worth reupholstering, says Jim Santilli, owner of Kansas City Upholstery. Santilli has seen even pricier sofas (up to $3,000) made with cardboard arms and back panels.

"People should get what they pay for when it comes to furniture, but that's spotty anymore," Santilli says. He compares buying new upholstered furniture to meeting someone at a singles bar: Looks good on the outside, might be a mess on the inside.

As the prices and quality of furniture have come down, complaints have inevitably risen. Retail furniture has become one of the top consumer-complaint categories in the last five years, says Sheila Adkins, director of public affairs for the Council of Better Business Bureaus in Arlington, Va. In 2006 there were 15,697 complaints ranging from problems with custom orders and delivery issues to deficient construction.

Poor-quality furniture exists at all price levels. There are $1,000 sofas with frames thinner than 1 inch that creak and wobble when you sit on them. Some have inadequate seat depth and don't give your legs enough support. There are $3,000 sofas that have uncomfortable cushions and staples and glue that can be felt on the underside of the arm rests.

Custom ordering furniture can be a risk. Sometimes sofas come in only a handful of colors or fabrics, but an abundance of fabric upgrades are available. The problem is you may be voiding the warranty if you choose an upgrade. And even if a piece is covered by warranty, you might have to pay a restocking fee to return it, typically 25 percent of the cost.

The good news is high quality furniture is still being made and sold at reasonable prices. But you have to hunt for it, and you have to know what to look for.

Last year Theresa Anderson of Kansas City, Kan., spent $3,000 on a sofa and recliner. She custom-ordered the same green microfiber for the recliner that was on the sofa. Within weeks of receiving the recliner, stitching on the arm broke apart in several places. The furniture retailer has resewn the seam, but it is unraveling again. The store would not take the chair back after more than 30 days because it was a custom order.

"It's not good quality furniture," Anderson says. "It shouldn't do this when it's brand new."

Unfortunately the furniture industry has no uniform policies and doesn't police itself, says Adkins of the Better Business Bureau. "Furniture is not constructed the way it once was," she says. "So consumers need to plan carefully before they shop, ask furniture stores lots of questions and learn all they can about furniture construction so they can buy more durable pieces."

Buying a sofa is tricky because its frame is covered by layers of fabric and foam, making it hard to know just what you're getting. So it's important to ask to see cutaways (not many stores have them) as well as manufacturer drawings and spec sheets that show how the couch is constructed.

Here's what else to look for:

A classic style is your best bet, says interior designer Caroline McCallister of Kansas City, Mo. If you like traditional furniture, a sofa with rolled or English saddle arms can stand the test of time. If you like modern furniture, an art deco or clean-lined sofa is always pleasing."People never tire of classics," she says. "Trendy pieces or hugely overstuffed pieces are the ones that people often ask me to replace."

You want a sturdy frame that can last a lifetime. Kiln-dried hardwoods such as maple, birch and poplar are used for frames covered by upholstery. Oak, walnut, cherry and mahogany are used for exposed frames.It's bad news if a sofa creaks when you sit down; it means the frame isn't well-constructed.Don't be afraid to get on your hands and knees to look underneath the skirt of the sofa to examine the frame. Ask a salesperson to unstitch the skirt if it's sewn shut so that it can't be lifted, says David A. Brown, associate professor of interior architecture and product design at Kansas State University. Remember the floor model is for testing.Many modern European sofas have metal frames instead of wood. Then molded foam is attached to the metal frames, instead of a hand-tied or factory-installed spring unit. You should pinch under the seat deck to make sure the metal is thicker than an inch.

If you watch a lot of television, you should sit on the sofa in the middle and at both ends for a while. It's not good if you feel like you're sinking into marshmallows or if you feel bouncy. Also check lumbar support: If you can fit your hand behind the small of your back, you'll probably be uncomfortable after a while, says Santilli, owner of Kansas City Upholstery.Lie on the sofa if you might sleep on it. Make sure it has a sturdy arm roll or another comfortable place to rest your head. Think twice about getting a sleeper sofa; they're often too heavy to move easily and uncomfortable to sit or sleep on. Consider an inflatable mattress for guests instead.Comfort can come from the foam. But you can't always tell good foam by sitting on it, says Ed Kanter, owner of Comfort Felt & Foam in Kansas City, Mo. Foam can be firm but not durable if it lacks sufficient density. Or, foam can be quite soft, yet durable. You want foam with a density rating of 1.8 pounds per cubic foot or higher. (Some furniture labels list this; if they don't, ask.)

If you have children and pets, you will want a heavy-duty fabric. Cotton twills wear out quickly. For a sofa, the best bets are nylon, polyester or wool that has a double-rub count of at least 27,000, says Albert de Leon, furniture designer and co-owner of De Leon Furniture in Kansas City, Kan. That count should be listed on the fabric sample or provided through the manufacturer.Some fabrics have drawbacks. Chenilles need to be backed with a liner fabric or the stitching could come loose. Sometimes people complain about the suedelike microfibers because the surface can appear uneven when people touch it.Kathy Krawczyk encountered a problem with her furniture's fabric. On her sofa the burgundy plaid, a polyester blend, faded in less than two years. The same fabric on a chair rotted away from the sunlight, leaving a threadbare patch."The whole back of our house is windows," says Krawczyk, who now has brown leather furniture. "I've really rethought my furniture since then."