quote:

Ekornes has a limited number of dealers, so just google for Ekornes and your city.

Oops, it looks like we were at the Ekornes dealer today. That's where we tried out the Basset, Jonathan Louis, and Flexsteel. We'll be going back though.

FYI Reading around that reddit, I'm reminded that I could look at LazyBoy, and also check Consumer Reports for reviews.

MA, I'll be sure to post back here and let you know what we buy

LazyBoy is not very good quality. Neighbors had multiple recliners that went south quickly. They switched brands after visiting a local furniture store that carried good quality products from smaller manufacturers, mostly US made.

Also there are these two articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecu...uides/buying-a-sofa/

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecu.../sofa-buying-advice/

quote:

LazyBoy is not very good quality.

Oh! thanks for the tip!

We like leather too, but I don’t know about brands. Sherrill is a useful line for a lot of designers if anyone there carries it. Very good quality, pretty reasonably priced. They make all styles, traditional to modern.

Ugh, I've been googling around and ... buying a sofa is going to be almost as hard as buying a piano!

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
It's maybe kinda boring visually...

I view that as good. I like to keep big ticket items neutral and accent with cheaper items that are easily changed.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
It's maybe kinda boring visually...

Nice clean lines, not boring to me. I agree with Steve. I don’t want big pieces to be too terrific. It makes it hard to refresh a room.

Thanks for the votes of confidence on that sofa. I think that’s the design we’ll aim for.

Next up: trying to find an app where I can upload photos of the living room and see what different furniture will look like in it.

I’ve been googling around half the night and still can’t find something that lets me do that.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Let's see if this works.

This was the sofa we liked the best (comfort-wise). You can choose different colors and fabrics. It was listed at $2200, they're 20% off right now, so that would be $1760 (plus $100 for delivery and set up)

https://www.wayfair.com/Flexst...steel%20digby%20sofa



Not sure if the sofa you priced locally has the same features as this one. Maybe they are different grades of fabric.

If same, I wonder if you could negotiate the price a bit. Maybe at least get delivery free.

It's a very nice design...

The biggest thing is measuring, especially with a sofa. You need to make sure it is going to fit and leave room for the pieces you want around it, end tables and such. Also if you think you’ll be napping on it make sure that works.

I also like the scale of it - no oversized arms, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
We like leather too, but I don’t know about brands. Sherrill is a useful line for a lot of designers if anyone there carries it. Very good quality, pretty reasonably priced. They make all styles, traditional to modern.

If you want quality, Sherrill is what you want. One of the few 8 way hand tied chair manufacturers left in America today. Heirloom stuff - make sure you like the fabric. It’s not cheap. We got rid of our Sherrill sofa when Sharon tired of the fabric.

Bassett. The sofa in the mancave is a 15 YO Basset reclining leather sofa. It’s held up quite well, especially for what it cost. Sharon has always thought the seating surface was too shallow because it is shallower than the Sherill we had before. Might be an advantage if you’re not real tall. I never noticed. The padding is sacking out on the right side but now that it’s in the mancave I sit on the left side and it’s like having a new sofa.

One of the recliners failed under warranty and they were good about fixing it. Easy enough to do because it’s modular - convenient when it had to be disassembled to get it down the stairs.

La-z-Boy. Also in the mancave are two La-z-Boy recliners, purchased to replace a nameless reclining loveseat that wore out. They’re OK and I rotated them as one would wear more than another. Reasonably priced for the quality.

Flex steel. They started as a manufacturer of RV furniture and we did a lot if work in their factory in CA. Impressive commitment to quality in that place - cool to see in action. . I’ve had their furniture in various trailers.

It’s quality stuff, lots of steel in the framing. Not sure what they’re doing today but I remember most pieces were scaled small. Clever convertible designs. The fabrics they used in RV furniture weren’t the best but you can upgrade.

The two reclining sofas in the Edgewater house are 2 year old Ashley pieces. They are comfy and were ridiculously cheap but they aren’t wearing well. Ditto the big sectional in the same house. It’s pretty much crap and I don’t see it making 5 years even with occasional use.

The chairs in the Huron house are 20 year old Kroehler pieces. They may last forever. Is Kroehler still in business?

I think you’re in the right place at that store you visited that has so many decent quality brands. I might even trust the sales people there to advise. They have no reason to sell you junk when there are so many solid brands to choose from.

WTG, thanks for that! If we go with this, I’ll figure out the fabric question and then we’ll try to negotiate. Well, even if we don’t get this one, the message is clear, we need to look online before buying!

Steve, thanks for those comments, very helpful. I googled, it looks like there’s no Sherrill dealer around here -_-

That’s a good looking sofa. Flex steel makes decent stuff. Decent price too.

But I’m old and I really, really like reclining furniture. You can add an ottoman but a recliner is like a reward for for working hard all day. Mine has adjustable lumbar, adjustable headrest, heat and massage. It’s bougie but damn! It’s really comfortable. The biggest problem is that I keep falling asleep once I sit down.

Ours is a taupe leather version that looks slightly more upscale than the standard microfiber model. Midwest modern with a twist.