And the verdict is...

... Westwood Design furniture from Rock 'A' Bye Baby.

To Brian's great relief, the debate over nursery furniture has drawn to a close.

Visited BRU again this morning to check out the Baby Cache furniture one more time and found the drawer slides and armoire door hinges aren't as sturdy as I'd like.

Also got my Baby Bargains book in the mail today, and it clinched the deal. Westwood Design received their highest rating (based on parents' reviews, brand history and quality standards) for Westwood's "sturdy and high quality" furniture and excpetional customer service, which make it "worth the money and wait."

How did Baby Cache rank? Well, we don't really know. The line is made by Munire exclusively for BRU and JCPenneys, and while Munire also received an "A" rating from Baby Bargains, the Baby Cache line is new. No parents' reviews were available by the book's 2008 press time.

So, come the last week in February, we'll order the furniture from Hornung's. As of today, they even had all three pieces we want in stock! And if they don't in a few weeks, they said it typically takes 8 weeks for furniture to arrive, once ordered.

As for Baby Bargains, holy Batman what a GREAT book! (Thanks, Kristen, for the recommendation!) It offers prices, ratings and advice on all kinds of baby crap, from maternity clothes to cribs and from diapers to car seats. The ratings are all based on the opinions of experts (doctors, nurses, etc.) and parents, and the book is very frank in telling parents-to-be what things are worth splurging on and what stuff is a waste of money. I'm already halfway through the book, and I know more now about crib mattresses and breast pumps than I ever thought I would. It also has a great guide for the one other furniture item we're still on the look-out for: a glider/ottoman combo. Of course the glider I really liked today at BRU turns out to have a "D" rating, but I'm glad I found out how low-quality it is before we bought one! This book is going to be worth its weight in gold when we start our registry in a few weeks. Yes, I will be the one walking around the store, looking each item up as we go.

Also, to Brian and anyone else who has made fun of my spreadsheets and self-torture with regard to this decision over nursery furniture, this book is my vindication. First, that I (ok, we) picked out two quality brands to start, and second, that there are other people out there like me who want all the facts and details for comparison. The authors and readers of this book also love spreadsheets. So there.