Question:

I bought a recliner from Wayfair, but am sending it back. It is not good. I am now looking at Wayfair’s Tayla recliner. I want a great chair with the best leather in this wing chair style.  Is Tayla a good choice? 

Oct. 18, 2020

Answer:

The Tayla recliner is from Birch Lane which is one of Wayfair’s in-house brands made in China.

The frame is “manufactured wood,” the cheapest type of frame possible. Although this is more serious in a larger piece, such as a reclining sofa, it shows that the manufacturer was concerned with shaving a few dollars off the cost rather than producing a product that will last more than a few years.

(The additional cost for making the frame from plywood, which would have been stronger, is approximately $5.)

The leather is described as top grain and split grain.

• Split grain is what is left over on the hide after the top grain has been removed. It is far less durable and far easier to damage or stain.
• Although split grain leather is, technically, real leather made from animal hides, good quality furniture does not use split grain leather.

The cushions are “spring down.” Typically this is the construction used for top of the line high end leather cushions.

But, it is possible to make a cheap spring down cushion that loses its shape and becomes “lumpy” and uncomfortable in a very short time period. I strongly suspect that is the case here.

• The photo of the Tayla recliner shown on the Wayfair website shows a seat cushion that appears uneven and has prominent wrinkles that would be unacceptable on a high quality chair.
• Considering that companies like Wayfair spend hundreds of dollars and considerable time to set up room setting photographs, samples used for photography are usually very carefully made. If there are any blemishes they are “corrected” before the photo is taken. The fact that this seat cushion looks so bad indicates to me that the overall tailoring of the piece is what would be expected from a $599 fabric chair.

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