To recline or not to recline? Fabric or leather?

[gigi556]

So DP and I moved into our first home a year ago. My father offered to buy us an armchair as a house warming present and we still haven't got one! We are quite specific as wanted a classic wingback chair to complete our look. Anyway, I've finally found one that is within budget (sort of) at Laura Ashley.

It's here: www.lauraashley.com/uk/made/furniture/sofas/range/southwold-upholstered

We tried it out in store and it's pretty comfy, but they didn't have the recliner version to try. I'm nervous about buying the recliner and the not liking it. Actually I'm nervous about ordering a custom piece of furniture generally and not liking it! We live in a Victorian Terrace so our lounge is pretty small so a recliner seems like a good option as we aren't sure we have room for a footstool plus footstools seem to cost just as much as new chair. Is a recliner dangerous with small children? Will it fit in the room funny due to the reclining aspect? I'm not dead set on a recliner, it's more that the chair will be used daily and needs to be comfy enough to enjoy watching a film in. Our sofa isn't big enough for us to both stretch out on and we find ourselves uncomfortable in our own lounge. Drives me crazy!

Also, fabric or leather? Leather looks great, but I'm actually worried it'll scratch loads and won't wear as well as fabric. For the record, the fabric I picked out costs more than the leather so that's not really a deciding factor.

Budget is c. £800. Really want to buy something that will last a lifetime. Maybe non-recliner will last longer?

Another option is completely custom chair by a local furniture maker, but he doesn't make recliners. From an initial chat, we can possibly get what we want in budget, but won't know until we go in and look at fabrics etc.

I also loved this chair at DFS, but it was way out of budget in the fabric I liked. It is non-reclining, but super comfy - www.dfs.co.uk/loch-leven/loc2wchtw

Ok, thanks for reading my waffle. I'm just totally stuck in decision indecision and I want to get the chair so we can sit back and enjoy our new home!

Have you considered getting an ottoman for a coffee table? You wouldn’t need a footstool. Other than that, I haven’t got anything useful to say in the matter other than the dfs model being silly expensive.

@JoJoSM2 I know the price for the DFS chair is ridiculous!

The in laws generously bought us a coffee table which we really like although I was thinking it wasn’t the best solution for our space.... Feel as though we can’t really get rid of it though!

I’m starting to lean towards non recliner as I want to put the chair in a corner and I don’t think it’ll actually recline unless we bring it quite far forward in the room.

If you do an image search for the recline version some photos make it look like it’s very laid back when it’s reclined. Does that even work for watching a film? Plus you’ve already worked out the space needed behind it.

Ours our recliner sofas but the don't need a huge amount of space behind them as it sort of reclines on a cradle so it doesn't just tip backwards.

Best way to measure it if it isn't against a wall is to stand directly behind it leaving a small gap and work out how far back you have to stand before it doesn't hit you. Then upright it and measure the distance.

Most of the time we just put the footrest up with a teeny bit further reclining for a more comfortable back position, but the children recline theirs further. They are super comfy.

The DFS one is ridiculously priced, ours are G Plan (we had previously had leather ones so wanted a change) and the 2 seater sofa isn't that much more expensive than that chair.