Wanted: Recliner Recommendations

[deskjockey]

HISTORY: Many years back, I bought a gently used sofa made by Bauhaus for $500. Used it for 10 years, it was excellent. Had to get rid of it because the fabric got torn and dirty. I hate the current sofa in my living room. Its from FlexSteel. I regret buying it. I will give this away to anyone who will take it.

PRESENT:

My approximate budget is about $1,500, its not set in stone. I want to buy a recliner. Fabric is okay. Expected life expectancy is about 5 years. What are my best brand and recliner options?

[drcollie]

Why settle for a 5 year lifespan when you can get 20? If all you really want is 5 years, then almost anything on the market will go that long. But, for your $ 1,500 you can buy a leather unit (the cover will last 4x longer than any fabric) that is USA made. I like the Bradington Young line for that budget. They make a heck of a solid unit (I have (4) in my own home) and will perform consistently and reliably for many years. If you stay in the promotional leathers they offer, you will be right on target for your budget. Look at the 4114, 4017 and 4104 units, those are solid, top sellers.

[deskjockey]

Thanks much. A few questions:

1. Whats promotional leather and how do I identify it when I go shopping for Bradington Young?

2. There are 3 cushion (more common) and 2 cushion sofas. There are sofas with fixed (more common) and loose cushions. There are deep and shallow cushions. Then there is leather (different grades of leather) and fabric (different types of fabric). Then there is the skeleton and moving mechanisms. What needs analysis should a customer do to determine what will work for him/her?

[needstuff]

1) identification: If the piece is within your stated price range,I'd guess that's a decent indication right there.
"promotional" = sales promotion = less expensive.

2) sofas: (need different thread header?)
"What needs analysis should a customer do to determine what will work for him/her? "
You can analyze each feature to death, but in the end you can also bypass a lot of that and just decide which one feels good and looks good to you and then stop. Letting price and brand reputation serve as a proxy for quality.

Here's my brief personal opinions on some of the features you asked about:

a) 2 or 3 cushions. Mostly looks. Though I thought otherwise before I shopped.
Some designs really look better with two cushions. I used to think three would be more comfortable for seating three people. But as I actually sat on two-cushion sofas, I found that not to be the case. You can't really feel the "crack" between the cushions when you sit in the middle. On those we tried, anyway.
There may be a psychological factor though, discouraging a middle seater, faced with a crack to sit on and not a cushion. But if somebody has to sit, they'll sit.
I read someplace of a concern about the edges of a two-seater bulging out at the sides if a sole person sits in the middle. However, people sitting on such sofa won't typically sit in the middle. I think they will more frequently go to one of the sides. Because they have arm rests there, and a cushion with no edge to sit on.

I have a two-cushion sofa now. When I sit there by myself (by the arm) the cushion edge I don't sit on does raise up a bit. But it's trivial. And the symmetry of the design may look better to some people during the 90% of the time when nobody is sitting there.

Or it may not.

During our hunt I saw a number of used two-cushion sofas. The cushions on all of these older sofas still looked fine. They were not "bent" in any way due to someone disproportionally sitting on one side of a cushion or the other.

I guess there may be some differences in work required to make a third cushion, and replacement costs for a bigger vs. smaller cushion. But these factors were in the noise, to me.

b) fixed vs loose cushions.
Decide mostly on comfort. Fixed tend to provide firmer back support. Harder to replace the cushions though, and harder to maneuver your couch into some spaces with them (a concern of mine). Interesting you found fixed to be more common, my impression was just the opposite.

BTW there is also tight back, which is firmer yet.

c) deep and shallow cushions.
Decide based on comfort. But remember you are considering the comfort of the people who will actually sit there. In our case, the sofa was mostly for (probably taller) guests, not (pretty short) us. A fact we didn't get for a long time, which actually simplified our hunt. Also consider how people sitting there should be sitting: eg: upright for conversation, more relaxed for TV watching, taking a nap, etc.

In the end, one has to go to stores and sit on many sofas to iron out such a preference. As well as many of the others.

d) leather
There are whole treatises on this forum about different leather choices.

e) fabric
One can spend a great deal of time researching the different types of fabrics and materials. But in the end, most of the manufacturers do not provide you with enough information to make much sense of the whole thing. So after wasting a lot of time looking into all this, I basically went on looks. I had virtually no choice, the information (double rubs, etc) simply wasn't provided. And there weren't that many fabrics that went so perfectly with our decor. Which, at the end of the day, was a must regardless of other considerations (within reason).

There is plenty of information on the 'net about factors influencing: durability, stain resistance, sun resistance, "pilling"etc. Knock yourself out. Or rely on a good decorator or salesperson, if you happen to find one.
But recognize up front that whatever you uncover via research may be of limited use when you actually get to the store and find you are provided with little of the required information needed to determine the performance characteristics
of a particular fabric, which is almost always a blend .

f) moving mechanisms
Do you want your couch to move, or don't you?

[drcollie]

The promotional leathers are 'married covers' and applicable to specific frames, not all dealers have the samples or qualify for the promotion.

Your second question is extremely broad and all that has been covered here in the forum in one post or another. It would take several pages and hours to re-type it all, you may want to browse the forum or do specific searches to find answers to your questions.

[deskjockey]

Went to a furniture store here. It is supposed to carry quality but high priced furniture.

They did have a few recliners with 'married covers'. The salesman said that Bradington Young comes in two kinds: one made in China and one made in US. The ones made in China were cheaper. They probably have the same reclining mechanism, he speculated.

Also saw a few Hancock and Moore recliners (more than $3000!). Salesman said that these recliners have a mechanism that is better than that of Bradington Young mechanism. These recliners were more comfy than Bradington Young but were about $1000 to $1500 more than Bradington Young.

Salesman says that the store will take care of anything that may happen to the furniture within 1 year. I ask him, "Do you provide this assurance in writing?" He says, "No, we have been in business for XX years and its a verbal assurance". I tell myself "That's BS, courts do not accept verbal assurances just like you don't accept IOU's"

[deskjockey]

Or rely on a good decorator or salesperson, if you happen to find one.
But recognize up front that whatever you uncover via research may be of limited use when you actually get to the store and find you are provided with little of the required information needed to determine the performance characteristics
of a particular fabric, which is almost always a blend .

I went to this family owned furniture store in Cleveland area. Within a few minutes, the store salesman approaches me with his sales talk and soon after asks me, "Don't you trust me? We have been in business for 94 years"

George Carlin said, "Whoever coined the term Buyer Beware probably was bleeding from the seat hole"

[drcollie]

That salesman was wrong (gee, I'm not surprised!) All Bradington Young logo product is 100% USA-made and the mechanisms in them are USA made as well (Universal Mechanisms). They do have a line that is 100% made in China and that is sold under the Seven Seas label. Now, there are leathers than come out of Chinese tanneries that every maker carries - if you want the nice Italian hides or the German ones, you will have to pay more - simple as that. Hancock and Moore will be more costly - they use Leggett and Platt mechanisms which are either made in their Mississippi plant or in China, they batch back and forth. As far as mechanism failures, they are both pretty much a non-issue. Between those two companies I might order two to four a year, mostly for recliners over ten years old. Each maker has a written warranty, its in the price book - just ask them to photocopy it for you. I even have them scanned and posted here under the LEATHER category.

[deskjockey]

Grrr, I am tempted to order a leather recliner for $1100 from Costco that has Leggett and Platt mechanism, good to excellent multiple reviews, and Costco's return anytime policy so that I don't have to deal with these used car, I mean, furniture salesmen. Even if the thing works for 5 years, I would be happy with it.

[drcollie]

Might be worth a shot to try the Costco product. If you decide to, please report back when you get it and at the 5-year mark. I've never been very impressed with the furniture I've seen at Costco, however I think the piece you are looking at is an on-line only one and not in the stores.