H&M Sundance Recline Sofa and Chair + Ottoman (Choosing Leather)

My husband and I have been eyeing the H&M Sundance sofa for over a year now and have finally decided to purchase the Sundance Recline Sofa as well as the Sundance Chair & Ottoman to replace our current furniture that I purchased out of college 11 years ago (cheap, microfiber sofa & chair which still look great and will be moved to another room). Just some background on our use/lifestyle.. we don't have kids yet but do have two cats one is declawed and the other is fully armed with his claws. They don't lay on the furniture much but the little clawed one is still young so he may become more affectionate with age and become a sofa kitty. He does jump up on the back of the sofa occasionally but avoids it otherwise. We eat on our furniture but I don't notice that we spill much when we do it. We've decided to go with leather for long term durability, but are having a hard time deciding which leather to chose. We have a lot of built in cabinets and bookcases made of bubinga wood, so there is a red hue to them so we thought that a red sofa would look great and the piece we saw at our local retailer was in Capri Claret (beautiful!) We really like the Capri Claret (Class 4, Unprotected) but are concerned with the capri since we do eat on the furniture, though we could always use a throw on the furniture when eating just incase. I do have some concerns with the cats and damage from their claws but hoping they won't find the leather appealing and that an aniline leather might be better than protected in showing any small punctures they may get from jumping on and off. Also I'm thinking the unprotected leather may be better for a moving piece (recline sofa). I'm also debating perhaps using the Crocodile Claret on the backside of the pieces though I'm not sure that my husband is onboard with that yet. Do you have any thoughts or advice on the leather choices, we want a quality piece that will last a long time and I am willing to do the needed cleaning/care to maintain it. A few others we have considered are the Caress Cranberry, Milestone Merlot, Bravo Cardinal, and Hombre Salsa.

Take care,
Elisha

Leather is an animal skin, and just like the skin on your own arms, it can be punctured and cut. And if a kitty decided to scratch you, you arm would bleed no matter what color /race / ethnicity / genetic makeup you were. Skin is skin and upon the application of a sharp enough impact with enough force applied, it will penetrate below the surface. So, its really temperament and behavior of the cat that determines what happens to the leather sofa, not the hide you select for it If that's a concern, then I'd be inclined to select a less costly leather, rather than a more expensive one.

Capri is a luxury hide and more prone to staining. There is a barrier product available from Leather Solutions (I have it in my store) that you apply when the piece is brand new, and it will drastically improve upon the stain resistance, however it won't stop everything cold. A finished leather is far more resistant to staining and marking, however it will not have the hand of a pure aniline. If I were buying a piece in Capri, I absolutely would barrier treat it as soon as it got in the house.

The Croc on the back can be big fun, a real decorator look. It's a GR 4 hide, so be aware that when you do the mixed leather application, the whole piece goes at that higher price (GR 4 in this instance). So if you did Capri ( GR 2) on the interior, the whole piece is GR 4. If you did Caress on the interior (GR 2) its STILL a GR 4 price point on the entire piece.

Thank you, after looking at the leather samples in the store we've decided to go with the Portfolio Claret since it is aniline leather but protected as well. Since this will be our first leather couch we decided to go for the GR 2 vs G4 leathers in case our cats do have issues with it, though I don't anticipate they will.

Portfolio Claret since it is aniline leather but protected as well

Portfolio is a semi-aniline, which falls into the category of a coated or pigmented leather. "Protected" does not mean armoured, it means a pigment (paint) has been applied to the surface.

Hi Elisha,

I live with a husband who eats in the living room every single day and a fully clawed senior cat. We recently purchased four pieces of Bradington-Young furniture in a semi-aniline leather. This is my experience:

We blocked off the corners of the furniture to keep kitty from using them as a scratching post (she is a vertical scratcher and we would have to do this no matter whether we bought fabric or leather) but I am finding that she is unintentionally leaving some light scratches and pinholes in the semi-aniline top coat of the cushions and arms just from jumping on and off to lie down. The semi-aniline I chose is dyed all the way through, so I don't have another color showing through, but there are definitely marks in the finish.

For months before we bought the semi-aniline, I was pining after a pure aniline pull-up. I chickened out and went with the semi-aniline because I was worried about stains from food spills. Now I am thinking that if I had gotten the pure aniline pull-up, perhaps I would only be dealing with pressure marks that could be buffed out instead of light top coat scratches that are permanent. And it probably would have been pretty easy to train hubby to throw a blanket over the pure aniline while he ate, but it is impossible to get the cat to retract her claws when she is jumping up and down from the semi-aniline :o