Thanks for the feedback. My preference is for a stationary sectional with a traditional look (nothing modern), don't need recliners and want firm cushions due to back issues...I attached a photo of my current couch. It took me 8 months to find the Broyhill and thought we found a gem with the firm Duracoil cushions. This was our 3rd Broyhill and we still have a leather couch that we love and the other one lasted 17 years with a houseful of kids. Broyhill has gone way downhill and the Duracoil technology is a bust! The thought of picking out another couch makes me cringe...off to Pilgrim tonight. We might go with something in leather.

Whaddya mean, "no one" likes sitting in the middle of a sofa? :-) We never have a problem with it when we have people over, unless someone's being a space hog. I think the one thing that makes a BIG difference, though, is having a three- (or one-) cushion couch as opposed to a two-cushion one, since the middle person all too often ends up sliding into the crack between the two cushions. With a three-cushion couch, each person gets their own cushion, no worries. We had to take out the club chair and ottoman from our 12x12 LR (no family room) because you could only seat 5 people in the whole room, 6 if you crammed two on the ottoman. The set (couch, chair, ottoman) had been purchased for our previous house which had had a rather bigger LR, doesn't fit here. Hope it fits the next house. :-/ If I were staying here and had pots of money, I'd have moved the doorway between kitchen and LR and bought a sectional fitted to the room, and we could have fit probably a dozen people into our LR instead of 8 at most (3 on couch, 2 in small side chairs - not that comfortable - and 2 on the upholstered bench). Our friends, and we too, are getting older and not so much into sitting on floor cushions these days! :-) MrsMarv, don't know whether that manufacturer is in your budget but Hancock and Moore has some gorgeous sectionals, and they don't just do leather. They've added some really amazing fabrics.

I can suggest what we did -- we went with a moderately priced leather (leather match -- the back and sides are actually a matching vinyl but 12 years later they still look like the seats -- just less worn) when my youngest was probably in 1st grade -- he's in college now. We have two boys and they grew up with the sectional, DH came and took breaks from working in the yard, and two dogs acquired along the way sometimes came in and hopped up before we noticed they'd been in the pool or dirt. I can't think of anything else that would have lived with us so well, been so comfortable that I fell asleep on it the first day we had it and it's still comfortable. Our sectional is a Lane and I've been surprised to see people calling them junk, but we bought it 12-13 years ago and things may have changed since then. It wasn't top of the line -- the leather match takes it out of that category, but the leather and the vinyl have not given us any problems, Everything other than the Sharpie mark left when my youngest fell asleep while working on homework cleaned up easily, and I even got out the Sharpie. I will stop short of recommending Lane because the reviews now seem universally poor, but I do think it makes sense to go with a modest (not cheap) to mid-range sectional. I wouldn't look at top dollar or maybe even your top budget unless you know you aren't going to be moving for a number of years (the size of configuration might be all wrong for the next house). We are looking at Omnia at a local dealer. If you don't have a local dealer, there are some locations you can purchase online (including limited models from Wayfair. They are full leather -- not match and made in USA. They have non-reclining sectionals in your price range. All the ones we've sat on have been very comfortable. We have ruled a few out because the backs are shorter. Your DH may like the split cushion back -- they sit 2" taller. My 6'4" sons liked them. Macy's also has some leather sectionals that are sofas and loveseats with a corner wedge. That means have two arms on both sides and can separate them -- even use them separately or in the reverse configuration if you move. I prefer not to have the arms inside the sectional and they don't fit our space anyway, so they aren't an option for us, but I've sat on them and they are very comfortable too. Hope that helps.

There are multiple stores where I live (large metropolitan suburbs) where you can have a custom sectional made, for about what you'd pay at Room & Board. I got to choose the fabric, the welting, the exact size, the depth, the arm width and shape, the firmness of the cushion, poly wrap v. down wrap, the shape of the feet, the finish on the feet, and more. We got a 3-sided sectional (44" deep), approximately 148" , 168" on the back, and the 3rd side is a long chase with a huge ottoman. Yes, it's huge. As I recall, it was less than $5,000. Of course people sit on all 3 sides and talk. We also have other families over to watch the Superbowl, and things like that, and everyone loves the huge, deep sectional. We have a large family, and the kids have friends over, and that's our lifestyle. So while I understand the sofa + 2 chairs for flexible design, that really wouldn't work in our situation, and I bet there's lots others who are in our same situation. I think it's a personal decision, but it's a good idea to hear all these different points of view.