Evening Sofa with customized straight back cushions

[mcarey]

*Attached are a couple of photos of our new Evening sofa with the customized back cushions. We selected the Antelope leather since we have a dog (Finnegan) and though he's not technically "allowed" on the sofa, he would occasionally end up there when the lights went out! Ironically, we haven't found him lounging on the sofa yet, and were not really sure why?! Also, we do have solar film on our windows since the back of the sofa is exposed to the sun. The lighting in this room is rather dim and my camera isn't the best, so hopefully, the photos are clear enough to give you an idea of the design changes to the Evening.

After many months of planning and decision making, the H&M Evening sofa in Antelope Nugget that we ordered from Duane at the Keeping Room finally arrived. For less than $200, H&M customized the sofa with straight back cushions since we felt that the original curved design might require too much primping to maintain a neat and tidy appearance. We had also ordered the Abbott Recliner and Evening chair and ottoman. All of the pieces were delivered by Sun Delivery without a problem. The only minor issue that we had was with the Abbott footrest, where it appeared that a staple/nail had been displaced and left the sharp end pointing outward. I contacted Duane for advice on how to handle and he advised me that I could remove (a simple procedure requiring the removal of 4 screws) and either ship back to H&M or take to my local upholstery shop for repair. I decided to go local and carefully packaged the footrest to avoid the staple puncturing the leather. I even pulled my car over one time on my way to the shop to assure that the footrest was properly padded and positioned for its ride so that the staple/nail would cause no further harm. Anyway, the upholsterer took one look at the footrest, picked up a large wooden mallet and whacked the leather over the sharp point of the displaced staple/nail! I thought I'd have a heart attack since I had been so careful not to even touch the area for fear of puncturing the leather. According to the upholsterer, in order to physically extract the staple, it would have been necessary to remove all of the 's' nails due to its location. He said that there is a very slight chance that the staple could relocate and again cause a problem, but since that is unlikely; he thought it best not to disassemble the footrest. He made the repair while I waited and there was no charge. Anyway, it looks great and the problem appears to be resolved. So now we can just sit back, relax and enjoy our new H&M furniture!

In closing, I liked to add that we are so happy with our decision to take our business to Duane at the Keeping Room which is 3 hours from our home, even though we have an H&M furniture dealer nearby where we purchased our first sofa. With shipping added, Duane’s price was slightly higher, which I would expect due to the location of his store, (our local store is remotely located and surrounded by farms and fields). The big difference is that Duane has provided us with excellent advice and service throughout the furniture planning process. We are also very grateful for this forum that has provided us with the opportunity to learn so much about leather and quality furniture construction. Thanks again Duane and the Keeping Room will surely be a stop off point for us the next time we are in Alexandria, VA!