Thread: Need Furniture Recommendations for Patio Home Living Room (sorry for the long post)

Good afternoon! I found this wonderful forum while researching furniture company reviews, specifically Smith Brothers of Berne. You do a great job offering advice and education, so I thought I would see if you could help my husband and I solve our living room furniture dilemma.

About us:
1. My husband and I are retired, and we live in a patio home community.
2. We are both short (hubby is 5'6.5" and I am 5'4.5") so many sofas/chairs are too deep for us. We need something that isn't too deep (probably 19-20"). We have a hard time finding just the right fit with optimal back support and depth.
3. We spend the majority of our at-home time in this living area--always sitting on the sofa and often watching television. We need it to be comfortable for us, but also have some extra seating for guests. Each of our 3 sons and DILs have 2-3 children, so seating is tricky when they visit; however, we realize that our space won't accommodate seating for that many.
4. Our living room is part of one long, narrow space that also includes the dining area and kitchen (photos attached).

We purchased a new reclining sofa and 2 chairs when we moved in. I don't know the manufacturer, but it was comfortable, soft buttery leather, and we loved it. About a year later, one of the sofa's motors burned out and the store couldn't repair/replace it because it had been discontinued. Thankfully, we had a warranty, so we were able to select replacement furniture. Over time, we realized that the furniture was not the "right fit" for us, so we gifted it to our son. We replaced it with the La-Z-Boy Mackenzie sofa and two side chairs shown in the attached photos. Once again, we realize that this is not the sofa for us. In just two years, we've had the cushions replaced twice and it's still not comfortable. (Our short legs tend to compress the front of the cushions.) We also regret buying off-white furniture. We always cover the sofa with blankets.

Yesterday, we visited a local furniture store, where I wanted to look at/sit in sofas and chairs by King Hickory and Taylor King specifically. We sat on a lot of sofas and sectionals but didn't find anything that fit us until we sat in a Smith Brothers of Berne 418-83 recliner. It seemed perfect for both of us. It wasn't a style I would have chosen, but it was the most comfortable chair we've found. We thought we would get two leather recliners and a complementary fabric sofa and put them in the same configuration we have now. (Probably not the best, but we can't figure out another configuration.)

Last night, I came home and searched online for reviews of Smith Bros. It was a very mixed bag--many positive, but also many where people expressed frustration and said they would never buy from SB again. That is very concerning to me. This morning, my husband realized that our design plan wouldn't work because our two floor outlets are under the sofa. Plus, the sofa is optimal for TV viewing. SB does offer a few reclining sofas in the 418 group, so that is an option. If we go that route, we probably will go with a leather sofa. (I think I read that you said fabric recliners are not a good idea.)

We are open to other SB styles as well as any other manufacturers. Because of our depth requirements, I do not want to buy anything with sitting in it first. The store we visited yesterday had few SB samples on the floor.

Our Dilemma:
1. What furniture configuration is best for our small space?
2. Do you have any first-hand experience with Smith Brothers of Berne?
3. What recommendations or advice can you give us concerning furniture? We absolutely need to get this right. We hope that this is the last set of living room furniture that we will have to buy, so we want good quality as well as comfort.
4. There are probably many other considerations that I haven't thought of or mentioned.

*This is my first post, and I'm having trouble uploading photos. They are not orienting correctly. ��
EDIT: Photos upload. Sorry, they're sideways.

I'm shorter too (5-5) and our house is not very large so I am usually on the lookout for smaller scale furniyure. Some that are nice:
Hickory Chair colefax chair
Vanguard Liz chair
Vanguard american bungalow Main Street sectional
Lee industries 1935-01 (sits a little deeper, but very comfortable, looks great in leather)
All the above are very comfortable especially with spring down cushions

Leather:
Bradington young yorba stationary chair
Bradington young Castile recliner
Bradington young kerley reclining sofa
Hancock Moore sami recliner
Hancock Moore woodbridge recliner
Hancock Moore Justice recliner
Hancock Moore Arrington chair

Good luck!

I have the colfax chair (11yrs old) and a 20 year old hickory chair sofa, as well as an 11 year old vanguard main street sectional. All are used daily for lounging and holding up very well, the hickory chair pieces still as comfortable as when we bought them, they look great (but the cover I picked for the sofa is getting dated...). The vanguard sectional is in our TV room and used every day. It also feels great, some of the back cushions are getting a little saggy looking, but it looks good if you fluff them. I would not hesitate to buy hickory chair or vanguard again.

I also forgot to add that another chair I sat in at the furniture store that is comfortable is cr laine Holman swivel rocker.

Here's a tip for your iPhone pictures, Kathy. To prevent them from displaying sideways - ALWAYS edit them in your phone. After you take a photo, go to the EDIT function and make a slight crop of the photo if nothing else. Once you do that and save it, the photo will always display correctly. Post or send them without editing and they will always be sideways - why I can't tell you.

I have no first-hand experience with Smith Brothers. I've seen it and don't find it particularly impressive, and they use no-sag springs across the board in their production which I won't carry in my store. I'm an 8-way hand-tied guy all the way. (note some frames from even the best of makers don't have the depth to be 8-way hand-tied springs, so there are exceptions).

As you have stated, you need to sit in the furniture before you buy, so I really don't have any recommendations for you other than to keep searching until you find the right fit. Good luck.