Buying Leather

[lorilei]

(While we're talking about red dining rooms and such... )

ALright. We're to the point where we've GOT to start thinking about buying furniture. This new house is the cusp of a new life... and things must change

So many people I know have sworn that leather is the way to go, since it's so pet/child proof. We don't have children, but we do have two cats (with claws) who tend to stay away from the furniture -- but who have been known to put snags in our existing couch.

I do like the look of leather -- but am hesitant. Will leather keep my living room from being warm and cozy? Will it be off-putting in the summer? In the winter?

And even more importantly -- when we shop, what should we look for?

We don't want to break the bank -- but if we go with leather, I guess I'd like to know what I'm buying.

Any opinions, words of advice, or amusing tales from y'all would be appreciated.

[akairo]

We love our leather sofa. It was about $2000. I find our room cozier with the leather than with the fabric sofa we had previously. It is a warm brown/red tone.It does not get direct sun so the leather always seem to match our body temperature. (Our summers are 100+ and our winters occasionally fall below 32.)

We looked for a leather that was soft and supple to the touch. We didn't go with the "velvet" soft leather because of kids, and the "vinyl" hard leather wasn't inviting. When you shop ask the sales person to see the leather samples. It is the easiest way to feel the different grains. You may want to research terms like "top grain" and "split grain". I don't know how accurate my info is, but I believe that they split the leather in half. Top grain leather is for seating areas or anyplace the hand will touch. The bottom half is used for the undersides, sides, and back of the sofa. So if they say it is all leather, it probably isn't all top grain leather. You will be able to feel the difference. This was important to us because you can see and feel the back of our sofa.

BTW it is just like buying a car. The price is negotiable and you probably should wait until the end of the month to buy, if they work on commission. That is when they are trying to make their next paycheck and are more likely to deal on price.

I am sure there is alot more I am missing, but baby is crying and I need to go.

Tamara

[TamiKnight]

We bought leather sofas when we moved into our house 4 years ago, and they still look great. Every time I clean them, I'm SO glad I don't have upholstered furniture. We're pretty clean people, but they just get lots of dirt and stuff on them. Be sure you don't buy unfinished leather; it will stain just from your normal body oils. Shop around. In our case, we found a place that sells an eclectic mix of used and new furniture. They were about to get a shipment of Omnia (sp?) leather when we were ready to buy. Omnia is a line that is carried by one of the premier furniture stores here. We called every day, and when the shipment came in, we went straight to the store. We ended up with two sofas, instead of a sofa and love seat, which has actually worked out better in our living room. We paid $600 each for brand new sofas that would have cost over $3,000 at the "other" store. Just like everything else, do your research. There is leather furniture that is very cheaply made, and there is wonderfully produced leather furniture. We find the leather comfortable all the time; it quickly conforms to body temperature. We would never go back to upholstered furniture.

[lindrusso]

Oh darn. I thought you were going to tell us about some exciting new leather clothes you bought or were thinking of buying!!

[wallycat]

My whole life, I wanted an ox-blood red leather sofa. I bought one and LOVED it. I met DH and he didn't I spent quite a bit on it, but it looked almost new till the day I gave it to my best friend.
To replace it, we bought those egonomic chairs (Stressless??) in yellow leather. I LOVE THEM TOO!!!!
As far as being animal/child proof...I don't know. Our cat has claws and doesn't claw furniture, but trimming his nails isn't a routine thing for DH and we have several noticeable (to me) scratches on the foot stools and chair. Still, because I have cat allergies, I'd much rather have leather...hair and dandur just don't burrow into the material like it does with cloth.

DH also has an old, old leather (blue) chair from one of those Scandanavian Design type places...waaaaay before he met me...it looks brand new (except for some cat scratches )

Have fun shopping!!
What's your color scheme??

[Paula H]

It seems I'll be the dissenting voice here. I love leather, but after having two leather couches for years, I'd never get another one.

Sure, it smelt great. But in summer it was oh so sticky (legs stuck to the leather), and in winter it was pretty cold to sit on.

And then it got a huge gash in the leather when the carpet cleaners got lazy moving furniture around. Which was followed by a two year drama of trying to get the couch repaired/recovered in the right shade.

I am now leather couch-free, and plan on staying that way. If I need a leather fix, I'd buy a leather jacket.

[badunnin]

Originally posted by Paula H
And then it got a huge gash in the leather when the carpet cleaners got lazy moving furniture around. Which was followed by a two year drama of trying to get the couch repaired/recovered in the right shade.

Paula, with all due respect, you'd have the same problem if someone ripped a cloth sofa.

We have leather at my house, and I have very few problems with it. Yes, you stick to it on occassion. But cat fur doesn't stick to it, and that's a plus for me. It's easily cleaned, fluids roll right off instead of sinking in as with upholstery (no stair remover for me!) and, as I recently found out, you can change the colour of them if you decide you don't like it! We just finished redying our couches that we've had for 10 years, and they look BRAND NEW. Unbelievable. Fairly time consuming (ok, it took about 3 evenings - not all that bad) and it cost less than $300 for a full-size sofa and a loveseat. If anyone is interested in seeing other pictures or the website, let me know. It was part of my "while my parents are out" redecorating project (which, by the way, resulted in a red family room!)

[lorilei]

Am grateful for all of your input, guys! Keep it coming!

I really like the aspects of less cat hair/dander/dirt lying around on my couches (also part of the reason why we're considering leather). And since we have central air, I'm hoping that the couches won't be too "sticky" to sit on in the summertime.



Ana - So far we haven't completely decided on a color scheme. The living room has blue carpetting at this point -- but we plan on ripping it up, since there's dark-stained hardwood underneath. The walls are white, thus far. So, we have plenty of room for "redecorating". I'm thinking we might just find furniture that we like and then decorate AROUND it