The wife and I are splitting. Our house is up for sale. We've already agreed on a property division. Divorce will be final at the end of the month. I've already found a semi-custom builder in a small new subdivision who has a number of homes in various stages of completion that I like, and will almost certainly be buying there as soon as our current house sells.

So now, while waiting for an offer on our house, I'm compiling a list of stuff I need to buy for the new house. And one of things I'm decidedly lacking is quality seating options.

I'm getting one of our couches, but it's pretty old and tired. It will be relegated to being the "dog couch" for my pooch to nap on.

Therefore, I'm planning to purchase either a leather recliner couch, or a static loveseat and a nice leather recliner.

I seem to recall some discussion a while back of a high quality online recliner source, but I can't seem to find it...

Who do you folks recommend for quality recliners or recliner sofas?

(Preferably nothing overly pricey... We have a decent amount of equity in our home that we'll be splitting but most of that will go towards my new home; I'm not looking to drop $5k+ on living room furniture. )

I have no clue on furniture (ours came from Macy's). The one thing I want in next house I get is outdoor kitchen, besides a garage (which I have never had) that is the only thing I want in my next house.

My leather La-Z-Boy recliner is almost 20 years old and is just in the last year or two showing wear on the armrests. I figure I’ll replace it in another couple of years.

I would recommend microfiber versus leather if you’re getting custody or visitation of the pooch. They seem to be more forgiving on the claws. However, nothing says bachelor pad like leather.

I recently caught some microfiber Ashley couch and loveseat reasonably priced at a store called FFO. They are a chain so maybe there’s one near you.

I believe the quality has gone from Lazy Boy recliners in the last few years.

quote:

Originally posted by sig operator:
I believe the quality has gone from Lazy Boy recliners in the last few years.

Yep. When replacing my Lazy Boys, I was not happy with either the reviews or what I saw in person. IIRC they also changed their warranty as well.

Lazy boy leather double recliner here...it’s 20 years old and I love it.

quote:

Originally posted by sig operator:
I believe the quality has gone from Lazy Boy recliners in the last few years.

They were saying the same thing around the time I bought mine in 2000. I’ve had 0 problems.

I don't know what one you should buy, but I know what you should avoid... Ashley, Value City and their ilk. There is nothing more expensive than cheap furniture. A lot of the "leather" furniture out there is actually bonded leather. Bonded leather is like particle board. Scraps of leather glued together. To get a real leather recliner, you will need to spend a lot more, but it will last forever if you take care of it.

Good luck and post pictures.

Does it need to be a recliner or can it be a reclined seat with foot stool / ottoman?

Any issue with dimensions and/or colors?

Do you want to be able to sit in it with your dog or have concerns of your dog using it when you’re not in the seat?

Since my work sometimes involves downtime may I suggest something catering to the fire service, generally built for durability in mind although it may not be real leather. A quick google yielded these two:

https://www.firestationfurniture.com/

https://www.firehousechairs.com/

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
Does it need to be a recliner or can it be a reclined seat with foot stool / ottoman?

I'd be willing to consider something with a footstool instead of a traditional recliner, but would probably want to try it out first.

quote:

Any issue with dimensions and/or colors?

Well, I'd prefer one that was big enough, and not pink, so...

quote:

Do you want to be able to sit in it with your dog or have concerns of your dog using it when you’re not in the seat?

Not really concerned with the dog tearing it up. We have both full leather and microfiber furniture currently, and they've held up just fine.

The dog is 130ish pounds, so we won't be able to share a standalone recliner, but would sometimes share the loveseat or recliner couch.

quote:

Originally posted by armedprof:
I don't know what one you should buy, but I know what you should avoid... Ashley, Value City and their ilk. There is nothing more expensive than cheap furniture. A lot of the "leather" furniture out there is actually bonded leather. Bonded leather is like particle board. Scraps of leather glued together.

Yeah, the wife fell in love with this cheaply made red pleather chair a few years ago, and within a little over a year (just outside the warranty period), the fake leather delaminated and started peeling like a sunburn.

My leather LaZBoy recliner is 15 years old.
Very satisfied with it.
Unfortunately my three cats like to scratch it.

About 20 years back I bought a couple of recliners that were very comfortable, but what I really liked about them is that when they weren't reclined, they looked like really nice high-back chairs. Couldn't tell that they reclined. The only recliner tell is the rear legs are more sturdy than the front, to bear the weight when reclined.

Did a bit of searching and they are called High leg wing back recliners.

We went from Lazy boy to Talliser recliners and sofas around 2009.

Well made and better value. Very happy with the designs and durability.

Whatever brand you decide on, if you are flexible on timing, there can be substantial savings during the cycles when these sorts of products go on sale.

What is your price range. Everybody has a different opinion of quality and what they consider a reasonable price.
Generally quality and not expensive don't go together.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
What is your price range. Everybody has a different opinion of quality and what they consider a reasonable price.
Generally quality and not expensive don't go together.

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking up to $1k or so for a recliner, or up to $2k or so for a recliner sofa. But I'm willing to consider higher if there's a compelling reason.

I'd prefer to keep my up front house equipment expenditures under $5k-$6k or so. That would be for living room furniture (recliner and loveseat or reclining sofa), plus refrigerator, washer, dryer, lawn equipment (mower, blower, and string trimmer), and a handful of small kitchen appliances (coffee maker, electric griddle, blender).

I'm already putting another $4k towards a privacy fence and blinds, and $10k total out of pocket to get the new house up to speed is about all I want to drop right now.

One more thing I’ll add. If you’re tall like me, make sure the back of the chair comes up high enough or when you tilt your head back in either the reclined or unreclined position your head might not be properly supported.

Test drive some stressless chairs, get the one that fits. Expensive, but by far the best cushioned chair ever for my tired ass.

I've been very pleased with my Flexsteel reclining leather sofas and chair, they were in your price range when I purchased them, and they are made in the USA!

Flexsteel seems like a good mid-tier brand, much better than the typical overseas-made Ashley/Value City stuff, but not premium priced like Ethan Allen. For example the Flexsteel leather was noticeably thicker than anything we compared to at Ashley furniture or Value City. They have held up great for the past 5 years with daily use, including some toddler abuse, and the leather still looks like it's new. Leather has been much easier than fabric to keep clean with kids.

I don't remember the specific model name we have, and I don't see it shown on their site, so it's probably a discontinued model.

https://www.flexsteel.com/for-...field_material%3A300


I also purchased some of Flexsteel's more formal fabric furniture (Providence couch and River chairs) for my living room this past summer. Again the quality difference was noticeable. For example the Flexsteel cushions were all "loose" and zippered, meaning they could individually be removed, covers cleaned, and re-stuffed if they did eventually sag over time. This will go a long way to keeping them serviceable for many years. The cheaper options all had sewn-on cushions that could not be separately cleaned or re-stuffed. And as a big plus the fabric Flexsteel stuff is actually very comfortable to sit on as opposed to some that merely looked nice.