Have you been in your home for a few years now and are beginning to notice the wear and tear of everyday life on your furniture? This was the plight I found myself in when I attempted to dash to the door to welcome guests for one of our impromptu game nights. As I rose from my seat, I found myself stuck to my leather sofa. After a fun night of games with family and friends, I decided to give my living room furniture a wipe down with the leather conditioner recommended when I purchased the set in an attempt to remove the sticky substance that had me captured by the seat of my pants earlier that evening. After a few applications, the problem seemed to be rectified.
Then about a week later, my husband expressed he had the same experience while trying to get up from the leather club chair that accompanied the set. As time went on, each piece displayed the same symptoms. We spent $2400 for our five piece premium leather living room set. We were young and we had carried these pieces with us from our first quaint cottage home to our family starter town home and at the time, this presented itself as an astronomical amount of money to us. I pulled out the Yellow Pages and searched for a leather repair and care service. Hoping to save my investment, I summoned the assistance of a specialist who offered to travel 40 miles away from a neighboring county to access my problem.
I greeted him with open arms, as I was desperate to save my furniture as it was in great condition other that the mysterious sticking that we were recently experiencing. Mr. Johnson, a leather care and repair expert of 30 plus years analyzed the furniture with a microscopic eye. He blurted out the manufacturer and correctly identified the large chain Department Store that we had purchased the set from before I could get my authentication paperwork and receipt of sale out of my Warranty Binder where I housed all my large purchase warranty paperwork. And although I knew the two year warranty had expired, I still hoped that there was some magic solution Mr. Johnson had for my premium leather living room set.
It seems that I had purchased a mid-grade pigs skin.
“Well you have three options”, he said. “I can reupholster it, you can donate it, or you can throw it away.” Of course I didn’t want to part with the set, so I set forth with option number one. Mr. Johnson provided me with a wealth of knowledge on the grades and types of hides being advertised as leather in the furniture industry. It seems that I had purchased a mid-grade pigs skin. I was astonished! As a young child, I assisted my mother in her lucrative hobby of making leather purses and briefcases and had become familiar with leather as only being defined by cow hide. While I knew that the money I spent on the furniture was not the crème de la crème, I would have never imagined that it was crafted in pig hide. After educating me on the difference in the pores found in pig and cow hides and their effect on the texture of the surfaces, he suggested a reupholstering fee approaching five grand. That was double the cost of my original purchase! “This was a good investment for the time you maintained it, most sets don’t outlive their two year manufacturer warranty”, explained Mr. Johnson. “Look, I see that you’re a young couple and you may not have the finances available to make such an investment at this time”, he sympathized. He then went on to name a few higher in furniture suppliers that would guarantee to supply us with a truly durable cow hide replacement. “Only thing is a single quality sofa will run you about $3000”, he said. Three thousand dollars for a couch? Are you mad?
I was astounded and initially thought Mr. Johnson was playing on my attachment to my furniture to make a sell. He encouraged me to take some time to think on the matter before I made my decision. As soon as I could hear him start the engine to his truck parked in my driveway, I logged on to the internet to research the claims he provided me. And sure enough, there were other purchasers and experts chiming in on the manufacturer of my sofa in a similar fashion.
Well after long debate, we chose to do away with the old set and invested in one of those $3000 couches and seven years, one more move, three kids, and one dog later, Mr. Johnson’s advice proved correct. My single cow hide leather sofa remains in excellent condition and I expect it will survive a number of more years of impromptu game nights. I guess the old mantra of, “Buy cheap, buy twice” is true.
Bridgett Allen is an Interior Designer and owner of District BluePrint www.districtblueprint.com
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