Mr. Duffy and I are making some big ticket purchases in the coming months.
Where are some good and decently priced places to buy mattresses, box springs and dinette sets?

As far as the mattress and box springs go, we need a Queen size mattress and a split Queen size box spring. We're probably going to skip pillow tops and definitely skipping the foam. I have nightmares about sinking into foam mattresses and smothering. Just yer good ol' fashioned springs will work. Hoping to do something in the $700-$1000 range.

Dinette set - Table and four chairs. Preferably all good wood construction, nothing flimsy. More of a modern style than a country style. Looking for something under $500.

Any suggestions?

Value City Furniture (or Schottensteins, what evs) has really nice furniture for good prices.

We bought a gorgeous couch and ottoman there for $750, $400 under MSRP.

With Scotchgard and shipping it was $985.

I was once told by someone in the know on these things that the pillowtop, if not done right, can be more detriment than asset. It can have a much shorter lifespan than any spring, so when the pillowtop compresses and gets lumpy, you end up with a prematurely crappy mattress. His recommendation was that if you want pillow top feel, get a featherbed or a fancy mattress pad to put on top so that if it goes south, you don't have to scrap the whole works.

I suppose those with actual experience in these matters would be better sources.

Original Mattress Factory on Fifth Ave. is great.

My grandma has a pillow top and hates it. It went flat pretty quickly.

I think it is wiser to go with a mattress pad if you want the pillow top feel. They aren't too expensive and can be replaced. It isn't so easy to replace the mattress.

I got a new, Ralph Lauren mattress pad at a Macy's White Sale for $35.00.

I was living in stoked city.

I'm way more about futons than mattresses and I have the good back to prove it, but I digress and do not intend to start a rathole on futons versus mattresses. Anywho, for "dinette sets" (as opposed to "Dining Room sets", which are more formal), you could try the antique stores such as Boomerang Room or Eclectic/Clintonville antique mall (Flower Child is just too speculative on their prices) or consignment shops such as Grandview Mercantile. If you want new, maybe the Pottery Barn outlet there at the outlet mall on 71 South.

You could make a road trip to Cincinnati and hit the Ikea Outlet for your dinette set?

I bought a queen mattress and box spring about a year ago at Macy's. I like it well enough, but it is a one-sided mattress which bummed me out when I realized it 3 months too late. If the mattress gets uneven I can rotate it, but not flip it over.

If I had to do it again, I would get a 2-sided mattress.

Original Mattress Factory has been recommended to me as well. Ron Trizinski is on the radio 100 times a day it seems.

Ooh, yeah, I hadn't thought about IKEA for the table, I may have to check that one out.
Original Mattress Factory sounds like a good place to check out. I have a couple of months until I need to make that purchase, the table is priority at this point.
I've been meaning to find a good 'excuse' to go to that IKEA.

Like everyone else has mentioned, Original Mattress Factory on W. Fifth was great. Bought a nice queen size set from them about 5 years ago for $700. I remember delivery being cheap, or even free. It was < $40 for sure. Didn't do the pillowtop, ended up ordering a feather-bed topper thingamajig from overstock.com for about $70 last year. Best investment ever. Cat enjoys it even more than I do.

Speaking of mattress-related furniture, I ordered a sold steel bed frame from Boltz.com with last year's tax refund and it's incredible.

I'm not a big fan of the IKEA tables I've seen. I got a really nice real wood kitchen table with slide out leafs from Crate and Barrel for $400.. again circa 2002/03ish.

Show & Sell Merchandise at Cleveland and 161, adjacent to Ohio Thrift. It's a furniture/home goods shop owned by the thrift store people, but most of the merchandise is brand new and pretty stylish. I saw many mattresses still in the plastic and the prices were reasonable.