Come up with a price point and see what is the best value for your funds.

For example, if you have $300 to spend on a sofa there will be a couple Ashley ones available through their homestores (on sale days) or their discount outlets every day. Their Darcy's or Dominators are quite decent for the money.

Now comparing either to a $1,000 sofa heads up, I HOPE your $1,000 sofa is 3 times better lol.

Leathers vs fabric is up to you. Each has their drawbacks and advantages. Consider the leather that is good for the sippy cup spills this year is inferior for putting up with Hot Wheels next year. The fake and blended or bonded leathers can even be ok at different price points.

Leather is the perfect choice for families with young children and pets. No odor and stains and just wipe it clean. I would stay away from bonded or blended leathers. These are not going to be as durable as genuine leather. If you want to cut cost and still have real leather consider full top grain where you sit and touch and perhaps a split on the outside arms and back. The split is the second cut of a hide and although it is considered leather it is not as soft as the top grain. For medium priced American made I would take a look at Mckinley Leather or Bradington Young they only make all top grain but take a look at Palliser their headquarters are in North America but I think they do manufacture some in Mexico. There is a line made in China that is warehoused in the states for quick delivery and they are solid 100% top grain everywhere really good quality and designs they are called Palatial Furniture. If you buy it right the first time you don't have to come back in a few short years to buy again. Remember that local is good but you can't always find what you are looking for. Large online retailers like RH and Amazon prove my point.

Craigslist, thrift stores and consignment shops.

Buy sturdy used furniture.

See Acarame, we are ALL OVER the place in advice w/o a budget.
If yo do

go second hand I do favor buying from an individual. That way you get to see how clean their residence is. Case goods like end tables and dressers generally can be cleaned well enough to eliminate the chance of bed bugs, fleas or whatever. Sofas, I dunno

Our living room design makes it very limited on where we can put things. We really want a nice recliner, but the optimum scenario would be one of those double recliner loveseats with a center console. My big reservation, is that it doesn't seem any of them are well made. I hear horrible reviews about the Flexsteel Lattitudes line, and Cheers/Man Wah seems just as bad. There are a few other scattered manufacturers, but I either can't find much information, or I see a few bad reviews and it scares me off.

For the double recliner loveseats look at Omnia and Palliser.

Someone makes bad reviews about everything. Is your budget about two grand?

$2-$3k max for all pieces is what I'd like to keep it at. We want a full sized couch, a nice recliner, and either a loveseat or chair-and-a-half. We'd ideally like one of the reclining type loveseats, that has the center console/beverage holder.....but the more I research the manufacturers that tend to make this kind of furniture, I am really nervous about what I read. And granted, I probably shouldn't expect a $1,000 piece to last forever, but that's still a lot of money to me and I don't want something that's going to need replaced just in a few years.

Take a look at http://www.paolomarchetti.com/ . This manufacturer makes really decent and modern furnitute at reasonalbe prices. My appartment looks just fantastically!

What you might want to do is explore the various types of furniture construction so they you will a more educated consumer when making your choices rather than relying upon a particular brand.

Whatever you do! DO NOT PURCHASE HOMESTRETCH FURNITURE !! Cushions will sink in within a month of purchasing it !!