Sofa Club Cara recliner chair review

The Cara chair is an electric power recliner featuring curved, round arms and a rounded back, and upholstered in plush faux fur, creating a cosy, enveloping feel. As well as offering a recline function, the chair has a swivel base and can also rock, making it the perfect piece for lounging.

While not specifically designed as a nursing chair, we tested the Cara out for ourselves bearing this functionality in mind. As many modern nursing chairs also offer recline and rocking functions, we thought the cosy Cara looked like a great contender for a nursery, with its neutral colour palette and huggable comfort.

Here's what our Hub Editor Stephanie Spencer thought when she tested the Cara out for herself...

Testing the Cara power recliner chair

Sofa Club offer an assembly service where the delivery crew will bring the sofa into the room of choice and assemble it. They also take any packaging away with them to recycle, so this is a great bonus when you’re a new parent and are already snowed under with boxes from cots, car seats, pushchairs and all the other bulky items that you end up buying for your new arrival! When the armchair arrived I realised it was going to be far too big to get upstairs and into the nursery. So, we ended up setting it up in our living room. It arrived in two pieces, the back slotted on and it was plugged in and it was ready to go, so very minimal setup.

While the dimensions are on the website, there are no in situ or lifestyle photos of the Cara online, so this would be a helpful addition to the website to help envisage the armchair in a domestic space. Another improvement I’d suggest is providing a clearer instructions guide with the product. The instructions book that came with the armchair was not specific to the recliner, just more general information about the ranges. So, I actually couldn’t find the recline buttons on the Cara at first. It wasn’t at all obvious where they were and I couldn’t find anything on the website nor in the instructions provided. In the end I figured out where they were by a bit of trial and error – they’re tucked away down the side of the seat cushion, on the right hand side when you’re sitting in the chair. Aesthetically this is great as it doesn’t jar with the overall look of the product, but it would have been great to have this clearly identified in the instructions, rather than the stress of trying to figure out where the buttons were or how the recline functioned.

Once I’d figured this out the chair worked perfectly. There are two buttons, one for ‘up’ and one for ‘down’. The leg rest raises first and the back drops slightly, and once the footrest is up to a certain height the back lowers as well. Personally I’d prefer if the back stayed a bit more upright before dropping, as I would feel more comfortable to have my legs raised but my back supported. I also find that the way the seat is designed – with a cushion area in the lower back – makes me feel too slouched in the seat and like my head doesn’t have anywhere to rest. Without this I think it would be more comfortable. Most of the time I end up putting a spare cushion behind my head so it feels more supported.

Aside from this the recline function itself works well, it seems to be quite strong and even when I’m getting up (8 months pregnant) and can’t be bothered to lower the footrest part, it takes my weight easily and feels very secure. When not in recline the armchair can be rocked, which is great for nursing. If in recline you can’t rock the chair but it can still swivel. There's ample room to cosy up and you do feel like it's giving you a hug while you're in it, it's very comforting to sit in. For nursing (particularly as a first time mum) you have plenty of space to figure out where your elbows need to go, and to position a breastfeeding pillow if you're using one. There's also room to tuck my water bottle in beside me, which is a must have for me. But as mentioned above, it's a bit too laid back and I tend to position a pillow behind myself to feel more comfortable. It is also a very large chair, so I will say if your nursery is in a smaller bedroom, this won’t be the right nursing chair for you.

The faux fur material is wonderfully soft and cosy, and while it’s not to everyone’s aesthetic it is very comfortable. As a new parent I was a bit worried about keeping it clean, particularly as it is faux fur. We have had a couple of spills but I’ve wiped them up quickly and not noticed any stains or damage to the material so far. Sofa Club do offer a 5 year care plan to look after your sofa or armchair, the price of which varies depending on the cost of your purchase. Each care plan covers a whole host of stain types and also includes a £50 cleaning kit. If you can afford to pay the extra for the care plan, I can see that this would be quite reassuring as a new parent.

Personally, having tested the Cara for the function of a nursing chair, I think there are others on the market that fit this function better and for a cheaper price than this recliner. While the Cara is a very comfortable armchair, and it’s great that it reclines and swivels, it’s much larger than it needs to be for a nursing chair. I would also prefer something with better back support.