I've had Vanguard sectionals and couches for years and absolutely love the quality and comfort. I've also had a King Hickory sectional with attached pillows and they absolutely did tear over time. The cushions did not hold up more than 5 years -- unless you like sag. I've also had Drexel Heritage couches that looked saggy after time as well. Never had that issue with Vanguard -- I just bought an American Bungalow down sectional with loose pillows and absolutely love it. Two people (and my husband is 6'3") can completely stretch out on it. The name of the craftspeople who upholstered it, built it and inspected it are on a tag that is affixed to the frame -- 3 or four names. That's in my living room. I recently moved a large Vanguard sofa with two loose top cushions and two seat cushions from my living room into my family room to make room for the new sectional. I've had this sofa for 10 years and it looks and feels brand new. Totally love.

My Flexsteel sectional has metal clips so the two pieces hook together. It's on a wood floor but it's against two walls so it's not going anywhere (it also weighs a ton). No recliners; we plan on a cat sometime soon and I once injured a cat by trapping it under the recliner when I closed it up, so I swore I would never own a recliner again. We did choose to use a larger coffee table because we needed the surface space, and the coffee table that had fit the regular couch just fine was too small for the sectional, both visually and functionally. Regarding measurements, our sectional sits in a corner against two walls. I simply measured the two walls and allowed a bit of space for small end tables, then hunted down a sectional that fit those measurements and wasn't too bulky for the room. Small-scale sectionals that aren't just two loveseats stuck together or a couch with a chaise stuck on (I find it very difficult to get out of the chaise) are not easy to find, but they're not ALL ginormous! Ours is something like 90" on one side of the "L" and 110" on the other. If you plan to "float" your sectional, get a roll of blue painter's tape and map out where your sectional's going to go, right on the floor with the tape, until the proportion looks right and then measure that; if you have the standard sofa-loveseat combo now you can shove them together into that space and get a rough idea of scale. The biggest "pros" in our house are that it wastes no space in our small living room - when we had a couch and loveseat, there was a substantial area in the corner that was wasted (furniture arms take up a lot of space) and we couldn't both stretch out to watch TV, read or nap while now we can and still have room for the dog. :-) The main con is that it IS a little bit heavy-looking for the small room, although cut-back arms, a relatively low back, and a slightly-bland midtone sage color do reduce the visual weight somewhat.

It was purchased at Jordan's Furniture. I think it is Natuzzi brand. The recliner has been an ongoing *discussion* for us! He had one that was more streamlined, but when it needed to be replaced, we couldn't agree on one. Then, we ended up compromising on one and it was not comfortable for him and too big for our space. Finally, I just decided to go with this sectional and be done. It was difficult to find one that wasn't ginormous and overstuffed looking. As far as sectionals go (esp. with built in recliners), I think we did okay, but I am not in love!

Thanks for all the responses so far. I'm thinking it should be 90 degrees, not a curved one. I like the look of the curve, but the room is small and I think having so much wasted space behind the curvy part would be odd. As far as style goes, my house is very farmhouse/country/flea market in style. Right now our sofas have the big rolled arms, but I'd like to get away from that because it's overwhelming in a small room. I need to go for maximum seating space without a lot of "arm-ness", IYKWIM. I like the look of the one patches posted, but it is perhaps a little starkly modern? But something like that in arm style and cushions with perhaps a little more "country" in the legs would be great. I do want arms high enough that you can prop yourself against them and drape your legs over - nothing armless or with teeny tiny arms. Patches - how is your Rowe furniture holding up? There is a whole thread on the furniture forum that pretty much bashes them....then again, it seems like there's a thread bashing just about every brand on the furniture forum, LOL!