Ekornes/stressless furniture ... opinions??

I think they're really ugly.

--Andre

Unfortunately, I have to concur.

Yes, they are very ugly. Other than that, the durability and quality of mine seems pretty high. The leather on mine is a little too coated for my taste, but that also means it will hold up forever. I think there are some better options, but if you are most comfortable in one of the Ekornes chairs, then you should get it.

OK, most of them are ugly as sin, but the original design had quite nice clean lines, and was just leather and chrome (and the build quality is very good): I don't think this new model is too bad, either:

True, there are a few that are pretty tolerable. But mine is awful and about 90% of the ones on their site look awful as well. I'm also not a fan of tubular chrome bases for lounge chairs anymore. I like them to look a little more substantial and also warmer. JMO.

I dunno. It's too much like something you'd find in the back of an Office Depot. The other one is better, but still not wonderful.

I was thinking more the starship Enterprise.

still, I bet it's comfy.

They're very comfortable and I seriously considered buying one. I instead went with a knock-off that rocks and has an ottoman that rocks when the chair rocks, making it even more comfortable (it rocks!!). It's in my home office for times I just want to relax and read.

Here's a cool site to browse tons of furniture options: http://www.archiexpo.com/cat/living-...irs-B-549.html

I would very much disagree with the people who say that Ekornes/Stressless is ugly. After all, which Ekornes/Stressless pieces are they talking about? For just the recliners, there's at least 30 different ones, broken up into about a dozen different 'style families'. There's also about a dozen different sofa/loveseat/chair lines. Most of them do look significantly different from each other upon any kind of close inspection. Thus, blanket statements don't really cut it here, at least for the aesthetically open-minded. It's probably fairer to say that some Ekornes/Stressless stuff isn't so pretty, some is okay, and some of it is quite attractive. However, I'm definitely a 'form follows function' guy... it can look like a million bucks, be the biggest iconic status symbol in the world, etc etc, but if it's crap to sit in, you can keep it. This is where Ekornes/Stressless really SHINES, in my opinion. A goodly number of their pieces are heaven to sit in, really. Now, I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to comfort. I'm the guy who'll A-B-C comparison two or three chairs or sofas for hours on end, to the despair of many a salesperson. I've sat in a LOT of good and allegedly good recliners, loveseats and sofas, especially in my latest quest to find something I could 'fall in love with' and keep for the next 10,15, or 20 years. After much near-obsessive-compulsive searching, Stressless won. I just have not found anything as comfortable, anywhere, PERIOD. And yes, I've sat in the legendary Eames lounge chair. It was better than some of the lower-end Stressless stuff, but not as good as the better Stressless recliners (or sofas or chairs). And, it costs more. Quite a feat, considering that the better Stressless stuff is quite pricey itself. So, to answer the original poster, I'd say yes, definitely give Ekornes/Stressless a shot. Make sure you go to a store that carries all or most of their stuff, because their pieces/lines vary quite a bit in terms of aesthetics, and of course comfort. For example, in their recliners, the Orion/Taurus line is pretty comfortable. You sit or lie in it and think, hmm, pretty nice. Then you go lie down in one of the Savannah/Memphis line recliners, or the Dream/Spirit/Vision line. Quite a bit better. Sadly, also quite a bit more expensive too. It's the same way with their sofas/loveseats. Sat in a Manhattan... comfortable on the back, but the armrest is positioned too high, and that particular piece doesn't recline, nor does it have any kind of headrest. Then you go try the Paradise. Wow, perfect. Totally and completely relaxing AND reclines AND the has the wonderful adjustable headrest (in the highback). And, of course, it costs about double what the Manhattan does, because Ekornes knows that. So Ekornes/Stressless is evil, pretty much. I'm not kidding. Even so, I'd try 'em out. I haven't found anything better, and you could do quite a lot worse. See too if you can get a return or a cancelled-order piece, you might be able to save some money, assuming the color is to your liking. And that's really the only thing bad about Ekornes/Stressless... the price (well, that and the long lead time). Would that the knockoffs FELT like the real thing, instead of just looking kinda/sorta like it. But they don't. I've tried 'em. ---

Congratulations! I think you picked quite the winner. That particular line has a kind of 'old school' charm I really do like. And the comfort! Your confusion is understandable too, the Buckingham and the Windsor are almost exactly the same thing... the Buck is just the wide version, the Windsor the narrow. That's another cool thing about Stressless, they even have couches in the same style that come in different sizes. Nice. I myself have a Savannah recliner on order, and I'm trying to see if I can score a deal on a Paradise loveseat... I'm hoping I can find a returned or cancelled order in a color I like and get some money off. Stressless's pricing on their highback stuff is pretty vicious, I wish I wanted the lowback but I don't. I do feel for you on the wait, it is difficult. I kind of don't like Stressless's thing where they only have a VERY limited number of colors in their New Jersey 'quick ship' warehouse, and everything else has to come from Norway and takes several months (is there a seperate QS warehouse for Canada?). I mean, I understand the logistics, but for the couches and loveseats, there's exactly ONE color/wood combo available for quick ship, and that's it. And it's often not even the most popular color. What if you don't LIKE Snow/Wenge couches? They need to have more like 4 colors available for QS, including the goes-with-anything Black. They do for most of their recliners. But other than that, I'm pretty happy with them. Thank you, you wacky reindeer-eating, furniture-crafting Norwegians. ...