Reclining sofa recommendations?

[Procrastinate]

We are looking at reclining sofas. The brands that I am finding here are Lane, La-z-boy, Flexsteel, Ashley, and Southern Motion. I can find very little on Southern Motion, and what I am reading on the rest is that they are low end brands and to stay away from them. Does anyone have a reclining sofa that they are happy with? Unfortunately, it needs to be able to support a fair amount of weight too. Thanks for any help.

 

[ronandannette]

Our La-z-Boy set is 11 years old and still going strong - we gave it to family members 5 years ago when we re-decorated and they're very satisfied with it too. I was particularly happy with how well the fabric held up; we went with a poly-blend chenille rather than microfibre (which I hate) and it shows very little wear or fading even after countless cleanings.

 

[pryncess527]

I've had a Lane reclining sofa and loveseat since 2010.

The reclining mechanism on one piece did break in 2014, and Lane sent a service person out to replace it for free. I found out later that our warranty had expired so the free repair was good customer service through the furniture store where we bought the set.

I like them -- not enough to rave about them and say you must by Lane, but I also don't think it's a brand to avoid.

 

[2Kds2K9]

La-z boy! Without question. Ours is 21 years old and still in great shape. It's in our family room and has been through two kids and five dogs. Had to have a repair done last summer and the repairman looked at the manufacture date three times. Could not believe it was that old and still in great shape. There is the start of a small wear spot where my dh lays, but that is it. No stains or compressed areas.

 

[mamacatnv]

Another vote for Lazy-Boy - we have a sofa, loveseat and two recliners purchased easily 10 years ago. They have held up to kids, teens, cats, dogs and a major move. Great investment

 

[Tuffcookie]

My last living room furniture was La-z-boy and it lasted 20 years! I donated it to Habitat for Humanity when I finally broke down and got new, in Dec. I stayed with La-z-boy.

TC

 

[donac]

I am sitting in a room with a Lazy Boy couch and rocking love seat. They have been here for 16 years and are still going strong. I had one handle break but that was only last month and we can still use it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We are looking at reclining sofas. The brands that I am finding here are Lane, La-z-boy, Flexsteel, Ashley, and Southern Motion. I can find very little on Southern Motion, and what I am reading on the rest is that they are low end brands and to stay away from them. Does anyone have a reclining sofa that they are happy with? Unfortunately, it needs to be able to support a fair amount of weight too. Thanks for any help.

We just bought the lay flat Southern Motion and so far so good. We have only had them for a couple of months.

That being said we bought the warranty for 5yrs, so if it messes up we are covered.

 

[aprilgail]

lazy-boy- LOVE our couch recliners!

 

[LJSquishy]

Unfortunately those with their 20 year old La-z-boy sofas don't realize that they aren't made the same anymore, and that goes for all of the other above mentioned brands. Ashley is the lowest quality and out of the brands you mentioned I would choose Flexsteel or La-z-boy. They are both made lesser quality than they used to be so don't expect to get 20 years out of any of them. Plan to replace the reclining mechanisms within 5 years or so. When you say it needs to hold a lot of weight, exactly how much?? 220lbs is one thing, but 300+ could be a big deal. In the end, almost no manufacturer stands behind their warranty for anything so if it says lifetime warranty don't believe it. Ultimately your best reviews will come from those who have had the furniture you're interested in for about 2-4 years...are the cushions now uneven and lumpy, any broken parts, does the frame support the weight evenly, etc?

 

[elgerber]

Ashley is very poor quality. We have a Flexsteel and we love it!! We have had it for about 10 years, and it's still just fine. It's still the most comfortable sofa ever. We needed a sofa for a different room last year, and I wanted to get the same one, but sadly they had discontinued it.

 

[2Kds2K9]

LJSquishy, I beg to differ. The repair I had done on my then 20 year old couch from La-z boy was completely covered under the lifetime warranty. I was pleasantly surprised.

I had heard that years ago, La-z boy had a decline in the quality of their fabrics, but from what I've heard and seen since, they are back on top. I wouldn't waste my time or money on any other brand.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

We have a Lane loveseat and reclining sofa and they are VERY sturdy. We bought ours in 1995! They're in the "playroom" and used exclusively by our three kids and their friends now. No issues, never had to have anything repaired.

 

[deedeetoo]

We must be the only people who break Lazyboys. Our couch lasted about 10 years before the mechanism broke and it wouldn't close right anymore. We had a crooked couch that wouldn't open. The fabric also didn't hold up well to two active kids. And man that thing was heavy when we tried to move it out of the house to get rid of it. We wont buy a reclining sofa again just because of how hard it was to get rid of. We do still have a lazyboy chair. That is fine, but that is my husbands chair and he isn't as rough on it as the kids were on the couch.

 

[GaryDis]

This is one that I'm going to recommend taking to the Houzz furniture forum. You should get more recent experiences from a broader audience there.

 

[bsblady01]

We have the lazy boy in our playroom and it has been great with three kids. It still looks good ten year later and it is very easy to clean

 

[ronandannette]

We must be the only people who break Lazyboys. Our couch lasted about 10 years before the mechanism broke and it wouldn't close right anymore. We had a crooked couch that wouldn't open. The fabric also didn't hold up well to two active kids. And man that thing was heavy when we tried to move it out of the house to get rid of it. We wont buy a reclining sofa again just because of how hard it was to get rid of. We do still have a lazyboy chair. That is fine, but that is my husbands chair and he isn't as rough on it as the kids were on the couch.

Oh Lord, yes! We had ours delivered when we bought it but when we gave it away it was like, "you can have this for free but I'm NOT helping you carry it down the stairs!".

 

[GaryDis]

Oh Lord, yes! We had ours delivered when we bought it but when we gave it away it was like, "you can have this for free but I'm NOT helping you carry it down the stairs!".

That's one reason we got reclining chairs for our living room but not a reclining sofa.

And FWIW, our rec room has a Stressless love seat. The backs recline, and it's been wonderful, but it uses matching ottomans instead of built-in leg rests that come up. We've been very happy with it.

 

[ronandannette]

That's one reason we got reclining chairs for our living room but not a reclining sofa.

And FWIW, our rec room has a Stressless love seat. The backs recline, and it's been wonderful, but it uses matching ottomans instead of built-in leg rests that come up. We've been very happy with it.

We went to sofas and an ottoman too. When we downsized to a condo 5 years ago we had our comfy motion-furniture placed by the movers, sat down, pulled the foot-rests and low and behold; the new living room was so small they banged together in the middle!

 

[davidgreams]

Ashley is one of the lowest grade furniture you can buy. Worse than IKEA. It serves its purpose if you need cheap furniture. Their bonded leather should be avoided. Generally Ashley is overpriced for what you get unless you buy it on sale.

There are tons of mid level brands and a handful of higher end brands.

If you go to a reputable furniture store, price and placement of the furniture is generally indicative of quality.

Most furniture brands are owned by one company. For example LazyBoy owns brands up and down the market.

When I lived in San Diego, mid range sofas were $800-2000 depending on features, size and fabric quality. This can vary quite a bit depending on how competitive the market is.