Thread: Overwhelmed - Best sectional with chaise/ottoman under $6,000

I moved into a new apartment and need to get a new sectional. I have a La Z Boy Collins sofa that has actually help up very well over the past 6 years, but want a sectional as the space is large.

I went to the local furniture stores today: La Z Boy, Bassett, Stickley & Audi, Ethan Allen, and Raymor Flanagan. It was very overwhelming and most of these makers have “meh” or negative reviews, except Stickley carries Hancock Moore, Bernhardt, and a few other good brands. I liked the Bernhardt Germain, but the fabric wasn’t great and the floor model was the only way to get it under $6000. Hancock has a wonderful leather sofa for $3,800 supposedly marked down from $9000, but it wasn’t big enough. The Stickley custom sofas seemed ok, but likely out of our price range.

I just want a comfortable sectional under $6,000 that’ll last 5-10 years at least. I’m in Westchester County, NY and would like to be able to try a sectional and not buy blindly online. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hi Jmm22, welcome to the forum! I'm very similar to you as I've been going through nearly the same search, and will share some points and discussions I've learned from this forum:

High Level Points
1) Duane (drcollie) runs this forum and is extremely knowledgable and helpful. His posts will help steer you in the right direction, and he also runs a furniture store (The Keeping Room) with extremely competitive pricing on quality, American made furniture (Hancock & Moore, etc.) in case you do decide to order online.
2) How much to pay for what type of quality and useable lifetime is a very personal question. But, like you've noticed in reviews, the cheap assembly line manufacturers are not quality and likely not worth the money when you consider their lifetime (La Z Boy, etc.). Related, some of the mall type manufacturers (Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, etc.) pass along their high rents in their pricing, and you can likely get quality American brands at the same price points with some work and research.
3) Good news is that you should be able to find a quality comfortable sectional on your budget. Several good manufacturers have product lines with more competitive pricing which will be a good place to start (Town & Country by Hancock & Moore, Taylor King's Portfolio program, etc.). Those manufacturers should easily be able to last longer than 5-10 years, though if you get fabric upholstery, that might be the limiting factor in total lifetime (which I think people here quote to last around 10 years), which brings me to:
4) Leather outlasts fabric 4-to-1 in terms of lifetime. At first I was worried leather would have to be overly babied and is a bad idea for a family, but after reading more, it seems that maintenance isn't too bad and spills and things are going to wipe up easier than fabric where they can soak through to the cushion cores.
5) If you're set on a sectional, realize that you really pay for the price of that middle "L" piece. For example, it might be similar in price or even potentially cheaper to buy two sofas instead of one sectional, and the sofas have the benefit of being more flexible in other spaces if you move again after a few years.

Relevant Threads
This thread discuss a quest for a modern, leather sectional with a chaise with a budget of $6,500. For a custom Century leather sectional, Duane said he was able to come very close to that budget. Check it out for some pictures, to see how customize-able that program is, and for creation/shipping timelines.
This thread discuss the quest for a high quality sectional on a "doable" budget. For a Taylor King fabric sectional, Duane goes over a Taylor King configuration which would cost a little under $4,000 before shipping, or potentially a Bradington Young leather sectional a little under $5,000. Note though that those sectionals might be smaller in size than what you're looking for, but I think you could swap in some larger components. Check the full thread out to see more about sofas versus sectionals, programs customization possibilities, and different leather types/qualities.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thank you, we actually found a Taylor King seller today and really love the quality and fabrics. They seemed to be around $7400 for a 3x2 sectional. I’ll try the quote section here. I’d prefer under $5,500, particularly as that thread quoted closer to $3700 for a similar size (albeit before the price increases)

We just delivered this Taylor King Sectional yesterday to a customer two hours away from the store. I appreciate that she and her husband drove past at least twenty other stores to shop at my store. She sent me an email and photo about 20 minutes after my guys had left her home that I copied here. We did a optional pillow fabric upgrade for a punch-up of color on her order.

I personally am convinced that Taylor King offers about the best bang for the buck in the marketplace for a fabric piece if you stay in their Portfolio price groups (This is simply their Taylor Made pieces done in selected fabrics). Check your double rub values on the fabrics prior to order and you're good to go.

On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at 1:06 PM <xxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello Duane, Just wanted to say thank you so much, the sectional turned out so beautiful! And your delivery guys were awesome, they were so nice and even held up the couch sections while I put the felt protectors on the feet. It feels great to sit on!

go for something custom made sofa i would say these are the best quality sectional manufacturers ones:
https://www.rogerandchris.com/
https://www.cladhome.com/
https://whataroom.com/
https://www.roomandboard.com/