Love recliners, hate cheap-feeling ones, hate the aesthetic of the overstuffed ones. Stressless is a popular rec but I'm not into their separated ottoman design, and my wife doesn't like the looks of the powered ones. Is R&B the next best choice, or any other brands that stick out as BIFL?
Yeah, they're certainly comfortable but holy crap are they ugly-looking. I went to the La-Z-Boy store near me and everything looked like the kind of chunky overstuffed furniture my grandparents used to have. Again, absolutely not debating the comfort -- but it's gotta pass the aesthetic test, at least to some degree.
Any specific models they carry with more of a contemporary look that you'd recommend?
Yeah, I went and checked their stuff out in person. Feels really solid. What bummed me out is that their manual recliners require you to go with a separated ottoman that doesn't tuck away, and while the powered recliners do tuck the footrest away when not in use, I didn't really want to get a powered recliner if I could avoid it.