Introduction and request for advice

[DawnW]

Hello! I am a new member, though I have been reading for quite some time and gathering information.

We own a Bradington-Young Seven Seas leather dual reclining sofa and chair. We purchased them four years ago and I am very disappointed in the quality of both the leather and the construction. Right now the cushion in the lumbar region of the sofa's left recliner (my seat) has completely broken down and I have a metal bar digging into my lower back. I am using a folded blanket for padding as a stopgap measure. Also, the leather dye has not held and there is a lot of fading. This sofa was not super expensive ($1800), but more than I wanted to pay for four years of use.

We are willing to spend quite a bit more to get something quality that will last. Locally, we have few good options and no options for the higher end brands like Hancock & Moore and Bradington-Young domestic.

We have some concerns we have to consider:
1. We both have back issues and require good lumbar support. We find that sitting more upright is more comfortable. If we went with recliners, we would definitely want the power option so we might be able to incline our feet without reclining back so much.
2. I have had problems with sciatica, so I would like a supportive but relatively soft and giving seat cushion experience.
3. We are not tall people, so we're looking for something we can sit on with our feet touching the floor (at 5'3", I know this is hard for me to achieve and I'm more than willing to wear my shoes that give me a couple of inches in height to realize the dream . My husband is 5'8" tall, but we're not that far off in inseam length, so what feels okay to me is good for him too.

I am kind of leaning away from recliners right now because of our recent bad experience and I'm not in love with the reclined position for my back. I also worry that a recliner mechanism is one more thing to break and possibly wear down the leather. Our current sofa is tearing where it rubs with the recliner, but this may be because of quality and possibly would not be an issue with a good piece?

One thing we like is a higher back, so that would be a good option if possible.

After looking around locally at our meager options, we found one piece that would work really well, but there are quality concerns. It's the Flexsteel Kayla recliner, which is a chair (we'd get three), with the rocker and power recline. This chair is perfectly proportioned for us and very supportive in the back/lumbar region. We found the seat really comfortable, too. But we are not sure about the brand and really want something that will last. Also, I'm not crazy about the three chairs instead of a sofa idea. We'd pay $2400 for three of these chairs locally.

Pieces that appeal to me (because of seat depth) are the Hancock & Moore Metro Sofa and possibly the Austin Incliner or Recliner, and the Bradington-Young Tabor and Reid sofas. We would probably pick protected leather because we have some direct Arizona sun exposure (limited to about two hours a day) and we tend to eat and drink on our sofa and have a cat.

Do these seem like good choices given the issues I outlined above? We're a little worried about comfort given that trying out these pieces in person would be difficult if not impossible (driving to Scottsdale,AZ to a high end store is an option, but I'm not yet sure which pieces they have in their showroom and am loath to "use" them in that way).

Thank you so much for any suggestions or advice! I am so happy I found this forum!

Dawn