I love the velvet feel. So far is very firm- good firm- sturdy.  Not a couch for sleeping in the living room. I tried putting this together alone (recently seperated) I have put other things together- I could NOT do this alone I tried to flip the couch in many directions- my sis came over and it took many attempts to slide the brackets in correctly (2-bottom and top brackets must be aligned at same time) and the couch is smaller in height even knowing the measurements, realistically seemed smaller in comparison to others. Overall is nice!!