Lighter Colored Leathers Appropriate for Family with Kids?

[SofaInSF]

Hello,

I find myself favoring the oatmeal/tan colors such as Piazza Camel and Piazza Parchment. I haven't decided on the color yet as everything is so overwhelming right now. (It has taken me a month just to narrow down my sofa selection to two choices.)

I have two younger children and this sofa and loveseat will be around for many years--inlcluding their teenage years!

Are the lighter leather shades a silly, unpractical choice from a cleaning standpoint? We have medium gray leather seats in our minivan, and I am amazed at the dirt that they can get on that leather. Of course, we will maintain the leather as recommended by Duane. But will the frequent wipings that come with kids affect the durability of the leather?

Thanks for your advice!

[drcollie]

Vehicle environments are considerably more harsh than in the home. Not only from weather and temperature extremes, but spills and dirt coming onto the covers is fairly severe as well.

Lighter leathers will certainly show more dirt and so on, but its really fairly manageable for most folks, you may have to wipe things down a little more often. That won't hurt the skin of that cow any more than washing our own hands several times a day cuts down the usefulness of our own skin. Pretty tough stuff.

[Monique]

Hello,

I find myself favoring the oatmeal/tan colors such as Piazza Camel and Piazza Parchment. I haven't decided on the color yet as everything is so overwhelming right now. (It has taken me a month just to narrow down my sofa selection to two choices.)

I have two younger children and this sofa and loveseat will be around for many years--inlcluding their teenage years!

Are the lighter leather shades a silly, unpractical choice from a cleaning standpoint? We have medium gray leather seats in our minivan, and I am amazed at the dirt that they can get on that leather. Of course, we will maintain the leather as recommended by Duane. But will the frequent wipings that come with kids affect the durability of the leather?

Thanks for your advice!

We have an 11 year old American Leather sofa in our main living area. It has had hard use even from our dog. The leather has held up beautifully. The sofa itself is failing but the leather looks almost as good as the day we bought it. I find the lighter leathers make the piece look visually lighter which is good in some cases because sofas are large furniture pieces.

[AZJoe]

I know growing up, my parents had a lighter colored leather sofa, and it would always pick up blue dye from our jeans.

[SofaInSF]

Monique/AZJoe - I have loved following your sofa journey on this forum. I look forward to the day when we will post pictures of our new sofas! Some of my coworkers have teased me about finding this forum and spending so much time deciding on a sofa, but I just want to make a wise decision. I guess that is why I am up at 3 AM reading this forum and looking at pictures...

The first set of samples I requested from Duane arrived. As the experienced forum members advised, the coloring that I see on-line differs from the actual samples. Once I saw the difference first hand, I ordered another set of swatches in colors that I ruled out previously. Those swatches should arrive in a few days and we'll see where I go from there.

Oh no-- dye from denim jeans! I would think that a quick wipe on a finished leather would take care of removing that? AZJoe, I also started my sofa search at LaZBoy. I thought the company delivered a solid sofa, but a quick search online showed all kinds of problems. And as you discovered, their prices are pretty expensive considering the quality of what you get.

[drcollie]

HA! Well, there's a lot to filter through here on the forum, that's for sure...will keep you busy!

The string dye from blue jeans is just that - a dye. It depends on the process the manufacture uses to make the blue jeans how well it stays on the pants or transfers to a leather (dark or light it transfers the same, but you notice it on the light hides). Newsprint does the same thing.

A finished leather is going to be easier to maintain against blue jean dyes, and frequent cleaning is the solution. You can try some barrier creams as well (made by Leather Magic) but you want to test the 'flag' under the seat cushion first to make sure they don't alter the color or tone of the leather before applying them.

[Monique]

Monique/AZJoe - I have loved following your sofa journey on this forum. I look forward to the day when we will post pictures of our new sofas! Some of my coworkers have teased me about finding this forum and spending so much time deciding on a sofa, but I just want to make a wise decision. I guess that is why I am up at 3 AM reading this forum and looking at pictures...

The first set of samples I requested from Duane arrived. As the experienced forum members advised, the coloring that I see on-line differs from the actual samples. Once I saw the difference first hand, I ordered another set of swatches in colors that I ruled out previously. Those swatches should arrive in a few days and we'll see where I go from there.

Oh no-- dye from denim jeans! I would think that a quick wipe on a finished leather would take care of removing that? AZJoe, I also started my sofa search at LaZBoy. I thought the company delivered a solid sofa, but a quick search online showed all kinds of problems. And as you discovered, their prices are pretty expensive considering the quality of what you get.

Glad you are enjoying my sofa journey! My husband is totally frustrated with it and doesn't want to hear about it until we're ready to buy. He is ready to make the deal.

It is a huge decision to buy another sofa...harder for me than buying a car because I know I'm going to have the sofa for maybe 20-30 years. Cars come and go.

I've got it down to either Hancock and Moore's Reserve sofa, chair and ottoman or Leathercraft's 902 sofa, chair, and ottoman. Since Hancock and Moore will replace cushions for the life of the original owner, I'm leaning heavily towards them. The ONLY Reserve sofa anywhere within driving distance for us is at Duane's so we are going to pop up there and "test drive" it.

I need to start thinking about the leather choice too! I need to take a look and ask Duane to send samples.

About Lazyboy! Don't get me started. We bought Lazyboy matching fabric upholstered rocker/recliners when our babies were born (now 35 and 37.) Those were the best chairs....baby spit up just wiped right off. We used them about 10 years and then passed them on to my husbands parents who used them exclusively every day for 20 years. Someone in the family has them now and I bet they're still going strong.

I just bought a glider/rocker/recliner when my first grandson was born 8 months ago to put in our M BR. It is very comfortable but already the mechanism is making noises. I know it won't last. I was in too big of a hurry. Wish I had known about this Forum then. I knew the dog bone made in China from the bank teller almost killed my dog but never dreamed about the furniture. Too bad.

Good luck to you in your quest too!

[drcollie]

"It is a huge decision to buy another sofa...harder for me than buying a car because I know I'm going to have the sofa for maybe 20-30 years. Cars come and go."

I got a big laugh out of this, because its TRUE!

[AZJoe]

"It is a huge decision to buy another sofa...harder for me than buying a car because I know I'm going to have the sofa for maybe 20-30 years. Cars come and go."

I got a big laugh out of this, because its TRUE!

Indeed. This is proving difficult for me. Partly because I know nothing about furniture..lol

At least with a car, if you buy smart, you can get out of it with little to no loss if it turns out you want something different.

[hglaber]

That's the logic I used deciding what type of furniture to buy: I paid about $20k for a car that will be decent for maybe 10 years. I spend an average of about 15 mins a day in it going to and from work. So how much should I spend on furniture for a room where I spend several HOURS per day, and is likely to last 25+ years?

After that, the answer seemed obvious - the best I can afford.