What are your thoughts on a reclining sofa and loveseat?

[DeaverTex]

Just so's ya hear the other side...

We had a reclining love seat from La-Z-Boy (or however they spell it.) What a piece of junk. It fell apart -- quite literally -- after a couple of years of use. Reclining either of the seats was usually accompanied by splintering noises, and occasionally by jerks as yet another bolt or screw fell out. Digging under the loveseat normally discovered a stripped bolt, or a lag bolt or woodscrew that had stripped out the threads on its hole. We replaced the ones we could, of course. Eventually, both sides pretty much collapsed. Oh... neither one of is is Pooh-sized at all.

No basements here in Austin, either. Too expensive to excavate them out of solid limestone. We don't have a separate family room/living room either, although there is a four inch step between the two ends of the big room in the house. Even though the space "L"s into a dining room and is open to the kitchen, it's really too small to call a great room. Maybe it's just a pretty good room?

 

[mom2shayleeandlogan]

Hi, I search for a year for a new couch. I hated the way most reclining couches look(very eighties looking IMHO). My husband is 6'5 so size is an issue, he wanted a Lazyboy but I hate recliners. I finally found a sectional from Pottery Barn that has a a recliner on each end. It's so comfy, I don't use the recliners he does. I love to nap on it. It's everyday velvet which is nice because I hate microfiber, which I think shows every little drop of water. It is a little pricey but i feel you get what you pay for. Good luck

 

[usnuzuloose]

We were in need of a new sofa, I was looking on craigslist and saw someone had a lazyboy sofa with the two recliners. It is a few months, old they saw something better and bought a sectional and we bought the lazy boy for 80 dollars and I am very happy with it.

 

[2binak]

We bought a sofa with reclining ends back in 1999. I can't recall who made it, but it was soooo comfy! No hump in the middle. It had the same puffiness all the way across. Overnight guests would sometimes opt to sleep on it instead of the guest bed, which was pretty comfy too, but the couch was just THAT comfy! About 5 years ago we gave it to a family member who was in desperate need of a couch. It's still working just fine and is just as comfy as it was when we bought it.

Now we have a regular sofa with an ottoman, which I rarely get to use. At least with the reclining sofa, we both had the option of putting our feet up at the same time.

 

[Sadie22]

I just bought a new sofa, and looked at a lot of recliners. I decided I didn't like them for a variety of reasons. I didn't see any that weren't ugly. It's one more thing to break. We have cats and I had visions of the cat getting squished in the recliner.

And I think the ones that require electricity are an obscene waste of energy.

If you had a handicapped household member who needed to be able to put his or her feet up due to circulation problems but could not use a non-powered chair, you would want a chair with an automatic recline feature. Some people need the kind of chair that assists them to stand as well.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Finally this weekend my husband got rid of the recliner he purchased when he graduated from college. There will never be another one in my house.

This is how I feel. I don't know why, but I just don't like them. I have no problem with a chair and ottoman.

 

[indimom]

We have two leather couches with recliners on each end. Ours are Lazyboy and about 10 years old. The recliners still work, although one of the footrests has a broken cross support because of how hard the kids would kick it back against the base of the couch. That one is more difficult to close now, but still works. our couches have great support and are good napping couches. Even after 10 years I can't tell a difference between the reclining end seats (where we typically sit) and the center seat. The leather has aged, but the couches still look good. I'm in no rush to replace them because we had such bad luck with couches prior to this set. I hope they last another ten years.

We have a living room and family room. I'd estimate 60-70% of homes in this area have two living spaces of some sort. Three living spaces would be exclusive to newer/pricier neighborhoods.

 

[mom2rtk]

So I wonder if someone bumped this in the night trying to sell us all the world's best reclining sofa. Inquiring minds want to know!

And I have a living room and a family room. The basement in our 1920's house is not somewhere anyone would want to hang out.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Actually no, I didn't realize that. Most people I know have a lr, fr and a finished basement.

Me too. We have finished basement, FR and LR and our house is smaller compared to US standards at 1700 sq feet. Whenever I watch House Hunters you seem to have at least 2000 sq ft. But I guess many people don't have basements depending where they live.


ETA - Hope the OP is enjoying her recliner sofa!

 

[nkereina]

I bought a sofa/love seat set based on how it looked and how well it matched my decor, and it's not the most comfortable. In retrospect, I wish I would have bought based on comfort even if I thought it wasn't as aesthetically appealing. A reclining set sounds great!

To add to the LR/FR/finished basement debate, it seems to be a regional thing. Here in the Northeast, the majority of new construction homes have a large "great room" which is a combo living room/family room. It's where everyone hangs out. Formal dining rooms are more common than formal living rooms here, lately. Older houses will still have the separated living room and family room. We do have basements here, but majority are NOT finished. Just not super common, and not something people tend to spend the money on as frequently IMO.

 

[lovesmurfs]

OP- make sure you get a quality set. We bought ours which had a dual recliner piece (loveseat with a cady for drinks and accessories like remotes) and then the sofa which had dual recliners. It looked good when we bought it but we got it from Rooms to Go and never again. Its made of fiberboard so not so sturdy and we often have large groups of teen girls hanging out and its not the best piece of furniture. Worst- the pullee's have snapped several times and it was after the 1 yr warranty. Rooms to go won't even allow you to hire their repair people to fix it( dh is handy and found the replacement pullees online and made the fix very inexpensively) but I've learned my lesson.

Good luck shopping!

This. We went super cheap because we needed something quick. One of our recliners is already broken. Will be lucky for them to last a single year.

Before that, we had a La-Z-Boy set (non-reclining), which wore out way too fast for the price and for the brand. We'll never go that way again, either.

 

[klmall]

Back in 2000 we bought a rather expensive Lazy-Boy sofa with 2 reclining ends and it was also a piece of junk; cushions had buttons which fell off amost immediately and the service people only 'glued' on replacements. We threw that sofa out after 2 years or so but kept the matching recliner which DS still uses in his bedroom.

DH insists on having a recliner chair for his very bad back and I really hate recliners in general plus the decent ones are hard to match to our couch styles.

We are planning to replace our rather new current couches since they do not go with our home style at all but I really dread the whole process of shopping for them. Most people out here in Colorado have big sectional sofas for their living areas/family rooms. I would like a similar one I guess while DH will still insist on a recliner (UGH).