Armchairs

Recliners, accent chairs and rocking chairs:

what separates them is whether the seat moves. A fixed armchair, whether a club chair, a wingback for reading or an accent chair on exposed legs, is a frame, foam and a cover, and lasts as long as those three do. A recliner hides a steel mechanism under the seat, worked by a side lever, by leaning back, or by a motor with buttons and a plug. Swivel rocker recliners turn and rock too, which makes them the most comfortable and the most complicated. A wooden rocking chair with a woven seat sits apart: no foam, no cover, nothing to peel. Two- and three-seaters belong under sofas, and chairs for a table or desk under dining chairs and office chairs.

Fitting a recliner to the room and its cover to the climate:

measure the floor before the chair. A recliner needs clear space in front for the footrest and, unless it is a wall-hugger model, a gap behind for the backrest. One that fits closed can block a doorway once open. The cover decides how the chair ages. Most recliners at the lower end of the shelf are in PU synthetic leather, which wipes clean but in time cracks and flakes where skin touches it: the headrest, the tops of the arms, the front edge of the seat. In the heat of Retalhuleu or Zacapa PU also sticks to bare arms, and fabric or a wooden rocker sits cooler. Microfibre hides wear and does not peel.

What a single recliner costs against a full reclining 3-2-1 set:

a single recliner is around Q2,500 to Q5,500 new at ordinary shelf price, powered and swivel-rocker models at the top, while the full reclining set runs past Q18,000. That gap is the case for a used single: it adds a recliner to the room without replacing the set. Against it, a buyer discounts hard for what cannot be seen, how many years the pull cable and springs have done and how close the PU is to flaking. Once the cover has started to peel, the chair is worth its frame and mechanism to someone willing to have it recovered.

Checking the mechanism and cover on a used recliner:

sit in it and work the recline several times. The footrest should open, lock, carry your weight and fold away without a kick. A lever that has to be yanked, or does nothing, usually means a stretched pull cable, the part that tends to go first; a seat that leans to one side points to a broken spring or a bent link. Tip the chair forward and look for rust and missing bolts. On a powered one, see it run on its own transformer and check the cable is not pinched in the linkage. A motor that hums without moving is on its way out. On any armchair, push the arms side to side: play means the frame joints have loosened. Foam that stays flat when you press the seat edge has given up. And read the word leather in a listing with care: real leather has an uneven grain and a suede-like underside at a cut edge, while PU and bonded leather show a woven fabric backing.

Listing a recliner or the single from a 3-2-1:

give width, depth and height upright, then depth fully reclined, because what a buyer really wants to know is whether it will get through their door and fit in front of their television. Photograph it reclined from the side, from underneath, and close up on the headrest and arms. Say whether it is manual or powered, what the cover is, and whether the sofa and love seat from the same set are also for sale. Mention any fault in the mechanism plainly, and say whether the backrest comes off. On many recliners it lifts straight out of its brackets, which is how a chair that will not pass a doorway in one piece reaches a second floor.