Does a recliner need a high back?

My chair was delivered today.

I'm not the only one who thinks it's comfortable

Anyway. I've now bought one chair. A parker knoll hartley wing chair with a seat height of 52cm - it's new but from a clearance site and haggled over the price and got it down a bit but it's still not cheap.

So that's ok for sitting on. Still need a second chair - possibly a recliner or something with a foot rest. I don't really mind any more if they don't match!

Thank you Cressida. That sounds positive. I know initially I was keen on the idea. On the phone they said they start at £1300 and I've seen people on reviews saying they paid £2000.
As I need two chairs to replace the sofa I'm having to think about the sums a bit.

Would you say the seat cushion was firm? And if so did it still have some cushioning?

Oak Tree came last Wednesday and the salesman was brilliant. I'd assumed I would need a dual motor chair because I want to be able to sit upright with my legs raised. The chair he brought was a Rowan and a single motor but it only reclines slightly until the foot is fully raised. It was a lovely comfortable chair exactly the right height for me and I was ok with the slight recline. The salesman clearly explained the difference between a single and dual motor chair. The dual reclines further so would need more space behind it. I don't really want to be able to sleep in it so don't need it to recline so much but I do need a slightly wider chair and was a bit taken aback by the price but he offered to check if there was anything in Clearance but there wasn't. They did have a chair 'ready to ship' which was the size I needed and was otherwise identical to the demo chair but would be cheaper. As I really felt comfortable in the demo chair and liked the fabric & colour I bought the ready to ship one. The salesman was quite happy to let my daughter try the chair first so I could see it moving. Then I sat in it and familiarised myself with the controls.

I've also had a home visit from Willowbrook. They messed us around with changing appointments several times and should have been before Oak Tree but weren't. I considered cancelling their appointment but didn't and am glad because the experience was very different. The salesman was more concerned with the way he wanted to demonstrate the chair rather than my experience. He obviously wasn't happy about my daughter trying it first and didn't demonstrate it or let her try controlling it. When I sat in it he controlled it so I don't know how many buttons it has. It was too low for me and the back was too high so my head was uncomfortable. He did produce a neck cushion which made it better. His quote which was 50% off was within a few pounds of the price I've paid for the Oak Tree chair and that price was only valid for 14 days. The thing that really annoyed me about that salesman was that after he'd raised the chair for me to get up he didn't move out of the way for me to get back into my own chair. I had to ask him to move.

I felt the Oak Tree salesman was concerned about what was best for me but he might just have been far better at his job than the Willowbrook man.

gentleshores it sounds as though the Oak Tree single motor chair might suit you.

PS I'm getting £200 off the price for an old chair which they donate to British Heart Foundation if it's saleable. So you'd have had use of your settee for £50

Nandalot - what kind of footstool is it please? Do you have a name or photo? I'm trying to imagine how a footstool works with a normal recliner. Do you mean a manual recliner and just the back reclines?

A high seat chair on its own would be fine for just sitting, but I'm also thinking about what I do when I'm sitting. Eg I tend to use the computer on my knee sometimes and like to lean back to do that and have my knees up a bit. So would definitely need a footstool if not a recliner.

A friend of mine needed a reclining chair so her family went to a specialist store and they came to her house and measured her for the right size, then brought a few chairs and patterns for her to try and look at so she could choose the style and pattern she wanted. The one she chose has a high back and reclines nearly flat if she wanted to sleep, it also reclines at the touch of a button and is operated by electric so it needs to be near a plug point or nearby so it can be used via extension.

I know for sure if ever I need one I will do the same.

I'm still mulling it over. I'm not sure about Oaktree Mobility after reading some of the bad reviews. Admittedly most of them are good, but I had a really bad experience with another big company (Careco) over a mobility scooter and it took months to get my money back after almost getting legal and all very stressful. Only just managed to replace it. From that experience I know after sales customer service is important.

They did phone within 10 minutes and wanted to come out the same week for a demonstration. After thinking about it I cancelled the appointment for now and had two or three more phone calls trying to get me to rearrange. I had to be quite firm and say I will call them when I'm ready.

I'm starting to think electric recliners might be too much hassle if they go wrong or need servicing so now just thinking about high seat chair - and maybe some kind of footstool.

Also new prices are just so very expensive and need two chairs to replace a three seater sofa. (Keeping the two seater sofa for others). So just keeping a look out for clearance bargains at the moment.

It would be nice to buy two new chairs and a new higher two seater sofa but that would be thousands! And have other financial commitments.

Thank you so much everyone. It is not easy trying to make these decisions when you can't even sit comfortably! A vicious circle. Cressida I will look at the Oaktree mobility site.

I had to laugh at the minimum of £200 for your old furniture when we only paid £250 for it :-) That would be a good deal.

I'm looking to buy a riser recliner and this morning looked at the Oak Tree Mobility website. They have Parker Knoll chairs which might appeal to you as they are made to measure.

There are no prices on their website so you'd need to request a brochure. Within minutes you'll probably get a phone call from them during which you'll be offered a home visit.

I was told that someone with a similar postcode to mine was also interested in buying a chair so they could offer me an appointment for 10am tomorrow. When I said that wasn't suitable I was offered Wednesday instead and opted for 2pm.

Apparently they have an offer at the moment of a second item half price and a minimum of £200 for your old furniture.

I have a recliner with separate footstool, gentleshores. The footstool is slightly curved and I can bring it right up to my chair so that it supports my knees. My feet do dangle over the edge but it is extremely comfortable and there is no pressure on my rather temperamental knees.

Try before you buy gentleshores. Some have a leaver type handle which can be easier to use and the action on some is easier than others.

I often have an afternoon snooze in the afternoon. If I was in my armchair, my head would not be supported, but as I am usually in my reclining chair, my head is supported. This is a good reason for having a high back, if, like me, you're getting on a bit I'd recommend a higher, more supportive back.

I understand your inclination to buy second hand, we have a houseful of second hand furniture, but some times there is no alternative to getting something new.

Do not cut your nose off to spite your face. Accept that you have a particular need, and in this case, need to buy new furrniture. Even ebay has very little in second-hand recliners with powered footrests.

I got my manual recliner chair from Ikea and very happy with it.
You can also get electric recliners from DFS, SCS and other retail places.

gentleshores have you looked at Furniture Village?
We had our recliner sofas from there and have been really pleased with them. They fit your height requirements regarding head and seat.
There was a single chair option as well but we had ours from a different range, and had them all covered the same to match.
There was a lot of flexibility available to fine-tune what we wanted to achieve.

Have you thought of IKEA?

You can often choose the material and get different covers for if you fancy a change.

Obviously can't find two matching ones this way either. So trying to find two that look ok together. The recliners/powered foot rest ones are really expensive though.

Our last sofas came from the British Heart Foundation for £250 the pair! Nothing wrong with them - just too low. I don't like the idea of spending money on brand new furniture but when you have particular needs, it's hard to find in the BHF shop! Impossible virtually.

Honestly it's a minefield. Our exisiting two sofas (large and small) are old and far too low for my knees. I've been sitting on a kitchen chair in the living room! Or on top of the bed upstairs with my legs up.

So the plan is to keep the small one for everyone else, get rid of the large one and get two higher seat chairs. The arms help take the weight of the knees when standing. I'm looking around clearance sales online but I'm also being fussy about the colour and style! Right chair but only in cream which will get dirty quickly (with our household). Maybe one standard high seat chair and one with some method of putting my legs up. As long as the seat is high enough it should be ok to get in and out of.

It is quite normal to see commercial suppliers recommended in GN threads for all kinds of items from clothes to cars.

HSL are brilliant

We recently bought a 2 seater, with two recliners and high independent nect support that can be moved to comfortable position. Perfect.

Has anyone got one of those parker knoll armchairst with a powered footrest? It's just like a normal armchair - no reclining - but there's a built in foot rest that comes up when you press a button. Just wondering how it feels. They look good.

Still thinking about a chaise longue :-) As long as the seat is high enough. All I want to do is sit with my legs up really without having to go and sit upstairs on the bed.

M0nica

I think you mean HSL chairs, Cabbie
www.hslchairs.com/

Exactly, MOnica, but I did not want to seem to be advertising them overtly to the exclusion of others for fear of falling foul of any rules.

I would want a high back because on the odd occasions I wanted to recline I would not want my head and neck dangling.

I'd want a high back.
I'd be worried about tipping out otherwise!