Looking for new furniture for front room

[Us+2 ferts&theDog]

Stupid question # 643 - yes, I know the adage "a stupid question is an unasked question" as it's one of my many mantras with my employees (my favorite is that I don't need children as I have employees), but still...

This one's regarding swatches. So what, exactly is the purpose of reviewing swatches? Since they're cut from the "scraps," the don't well represent the texture for the finished piece and, since the color can vary something like 20%+/-, they don't well represent the pigment of the cover at the time of the build. So what am I looking for when I receive swatches?

I just want to get it into my pea brain what the expectation of the final product after choosing covers from swatches might be. More importantly, I'll need to explain to DH what the end result may be after playing with swatches.

Thanks for your patience,
Tammy

[Riddle]

So what, exactly is the purpose of reviewing swatches? Since they're cut from the "scraps," the don't well represent the texture for the finished piece and, since the color can vary something like 20%+/-, they don't well represent the pigment of the cover at the time of the build. So what am I looking for when I receive swatches?

Depends on your starting point. Anything is better than the photos of the samples on the H&M site. At the very least you get a ballpark idea of how particular leathers look and feel. For example, Antelope is shinier than Quintessence. You also get to construct your own tests for abrasion and staining in your own home with your own stuff. You can see if the ferrets have a fondness for scratching or nibbling any of the options. (My cats all prefer natural fibers, but they each have very definite opinions about various leathers.)

[Us+2 ferts&theDog]

Ah, yes, kitties...ours, who is over the Rainbow Bridge, also preferred fabric...like the front of the arm of our reclining loveseat The ferrets, however, have a preference for silicone , but they're diggers too (as evidenced by the hole behind one of the back cushions in our sleeper sofa <sigh> and the missing dust covers under both the loveseat and sofa. They're lucky they're so darn cute...

I do plan to play with the swatches with regard to spilling and staining. Actually I hope to reconstruct similar tests to what dwainw did at http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...loveseat/page2

So here's a question...my DH rivals the Middle East in oil production (so he'll be the one with flawless skin when we're of the age to be gumming our mashed taters and racing wheelchairs )...should I anticipate oil staining with an unprotected leather? I'm not sure how I would replicate this on swatches.

Tammy

[drcollie]

Swatches are representations of the hide you will get, and the error a lot of folks make is thinking they are dead-on accurate samples. Cows are just like people, they have all sorts of different skin colors! So while a finished (painted) hide won't vary much because we are spraying a color coat atop the cowskin, a dipped (Aniline) dye is going to color to that individual skin and will vary more from the sample. This is why I take all those photos of pieces that come through the store, so you can see what a particular hide looks like when its made up. Yes, they will vary - and the customer who is setting themselves up for a disappointment is the one that holds onto a swatch and when her new pieces arrive expects it to match 100 %, or even 95%.

The best you can do for an accurate sample is to request a CFA (Cutting For Approval). Then you're getting an actual piece of the leather they are going to use on your order. The downside to this approach is it adds 4 weeks to your production time and you have to place the order to get the sample. And if you don't like the sample, you're back to square 1 to start over in another leather.

Other variables come into play as well. Time of day, amount of natural sunlight, what kind of lighting you have in your home in the evening, and what kind of light you looked at the samples in the store. Also, its a mistake to hover over a sample with it at the end of your arm. Samples should be placed on a chair back and step back and view it from 8 feet away.

Now the good news is MOST the time, the finished piece surpasses expectations.

When you do the torture test on samples, you'll be surprised at how many will absorb a spill, but then the stain will dissappear in 48 hours.

[Us+2 ferts&theDog]

So the swatches are primarily to provide the end user with a gauge of what the tanned hide (be it finished/protected, aniline or a hybrid of the two in a semi-aniline) is going to feel like (the hand) with some idea of the coloration, depending on if the steer (since all H&M's hides are steerhide and not cowhide) is a lighter skinned Nordic type or a darker skinned Latino (kidding about the race of the hide donor <wink>).

Don't place too much stock in the grain of the swatch, since it's likely cut from a part of the hide that would be considered too flawed for finished piece use, unless the description uses the term "smooth grained" (i.e. Caress)...in that case one can assume the hide, well, lacks much grain.

The swatches are good for spilling a portion of one's lifestyle on to see what the hide reaction will be to help with making an appropriate choice for one's own piece of furniture...and, more importantly, what my own reaction might be when DH spills his beer on the sofa.

Am I in the area of appropriate expectations?

<G>
Tammy

[drcollie]

Pretty much - you got it!

[Us+2 ferts&theDog]

With regard to shipping H&M hardware cloth to affix the the underside of the furniture, what sort of timing would we be looking at? Within two weeks after placing our order? One month? More?

The Journey sectional is listed as 42" deep...how wide a roll of hardware cloth should we ship?

Would you suggest shipping to H&M direct or to you, as the dealer, to be forwarded to H&M to cut out the direct communication between the manufacturer and end-user?

I guess we also need to provide enough hardware cloth to plan on the 072 Campaign ottoman, too (at 37").

So, exactly how much hardware cloth (between the 1724LAQ/1723RAQ and 072) do we need to plan on?

I was thinking of 1/2x1/2 cloth, DH thought 1/4x1/4 might be easier for H&M to affix...do they have a preference?

Tammy

[Riddle]

Tammy, you crack me up! I thought DH and I were the only people on the planet who were so over the top about the fur persons in our home! Maybe I'll do the same thing with my order. Make the good folks at H&M wonder if there's something in the water, solar events, or at least what-the-heck-is-going-on!

Gail

[Us+2 ferts&theDog]

Gail,

Yes, we love our fur-kids...until they start their own customization projects (as I sit here listening to Ellie, our Jr ferret, digging at the inside of the arm of our sleeper sofa...which she accessed thru a hole behind the back cushion of the sofa). That's my only other worry, their digging thru the furniture behind the cushions. Somehow I think applying hardware cloth there would negate the comfort of the ultradown cushions. We don't call them "monters" for nuthin <head shaking> I'm hopeful that with a leather cover, they won't be able to climb up on the furniture...unless the dog becomes their elevator (which is possible because she does pick them up).

Take my word for it, neither you nor I are over the top OCD with our 4-leggeds...I just consider ourselves choosing to be preemptive because we've been around the block a time or two (and, with regard to ferrets, little brains = little training likelihood)

Tammy

PS At least they don't play with Sharpie markers like some 2-leggeds do

PPS Just out of curiosity, are you two similar to us where it's not DH that thinks of these things but DW? OK, so maybe I am a bit obsessive <shrug>

[Riddle]

A dog picking up ferrets without damaging them is quite an image!

Our house is pretty sedate now. At 19 and 16, the girl cats aren't all that active. Maxie (see my avatar) is huge. He'd love to shred the dust covers on furniture, but he's too big to get under anything other than a dining room chair.

Yep, I'm the OCD one. DH is legally blind. He never wanted his home to look like a blind person lived there (i.e., all of the furniture just lining the walls), but the visuals are pretty much a mystery to him. He's very sensitive to texture and cares greatly about how things feel and sound. He wouldn't notice a shredded dust cover unless there was something that he felt with a foot or leg.