I am in awe of how much info Duane provides on this forum. And even more impressed to realize that he is pretty much a one man show. And appalled at the restrictive H&M pricing strategy, although I understand their intent. Need to visit NoVA anyway... Feel free to skip the background info and just look at my questions at the bottom.

Shopping for a leather sofa and chair+ottoman to replace same. We bought the current pieces 22 years ago from a local high-end furniture store that carried Distinction Leather furniture as its' low end offering. These pieces are in our great room and get constant use. Hubby claims the chair and I have the sofa, unless he is out of town, in which case I get the chair! We use both for TV watching, reading, computer-ing, etc... And I am a very good "napper". Love to nap on the couch. Hubby is 5'11" and I am 5'9". (The only other regular user is my 15 pound house cat.) These new pieces need to be comfortable. As a life long equestrian, I have more than a few achy bones and crunchy joints! I need some sort of foot rest for the couch to encourage me to not twist my body in weird directions. I have a lovely large display-type coffee table that is too high to be comfy as a leg rest.

I thought I wanted a sofa with a footrest, and that led to my finding the H&M Austin Incliner. That same local furniture store sells H&M and they have a couple of the Austin T&C pieces on the floor. They had the 8134 sofa on display in Cavalier Oxblood. MSRP was ~ $9200, with the T&C price at ~ $2700. I didn't write down exact figures. Do those estimates sound reasonable or is that MSRP artificially high? I understand the T&C promotion, but wasn't sure what value H&M used as MSRP.

I asked about the incliner and learned it isn't offered in the T&C. Have just about convinced myself I would be better off with an appropriate sized ottoman or foot stool instead. I do have room for one as long as it isn't too deep.

And I'm not wild about how glossy the Cavalier Oxblood was on the display. I did see a small sample of Cavalier Navy, and it didn't look as shiny. Also looked less uniform/processed than the oxblood. But having read Duane's leather descriptions, I wonder if the Cavalier Navy might be both bland and shiny... And, yes, I really do want blue. Some sort of dark burgundy/wine color would be a second choice. (I get to play with all sorts of brown leathers via saddles, bridles, boots, etc...! In my house, I prefer "cooler" colors.) And I don't follow trends. I like color. I also prefer aniline dyed leather. And I like a soft hand, and a more matte finish. My first look at the H&M blue leathers - Capri Navy and Quintessence Navy were both wow. (And $$$!) Others I liked were the Equestrian and possibly Weston or Tiburon Navies, although those might both be shiny.

I liked the Austin style when I first stumbled on it via a late night google binge. And I liked it in the store. It is very similar style to what I am replacing. And then I read the comments here about how much style is given up for comfort. Guess I have poor taste? So I started looking at other H&M styles. Between looking online at every H&M sofa style and every H&M leather, my head is about to explode.

1. Which DC area airport is most convenient to The Keeping Room? (Seriously - we have about 2 million FF miles between us!)

2. If space is not constrained, would you choose a stationary sofa plus some sort of bench/ottoman or an Incliner sofa? Does the Incliner mechanism affect the sit of the sofa? Does H&M even offer the incliner in other sofa styles? I did not see other incliners on the online H&M catalog.

3. Hubby loved the Austin tilt back chair and ottoman. Are there other tilt back chair styles? Never mind - I just found where Duane answered from somebody else!

4. Is there any price advantage to buying a frame that is offered in the T&C program, even if you choose a non T&C leather? In other words, are the T&C frames inherently less expensive than others?

5. Can you rank "comfy-ness" of these stationary sofas for stretching out, napping, etc... Austin 8134, Journey 1724, Sundance 4716, Evening 1667?

6. Can you rank the same sofas for cost, assuming same leather and trim details? I am NOT asking for a quote. Just trying to figure out if there's significant diff in price between these frames. (Have a lot more to figure out before I ask anybody to spend time quoting anything!)

7. What leathers should I consider, given blue color, aniline dyed (full or semi) soft/matte hand and look?

I'm going to stop now! Thanks in advance to Duane - or anybody else with opinions - for advice and response!

Nancy