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Thread: Ottomans

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Default Ottomans

    My old sofa has an ottoman that the same height as the sofa, which I love because I did not have the room for a chaise sofa. It would block the fireplace and might be too close when I have a wood fire in it. I use the ottoman to basically make one end into a chaise when I want to. So I am having a hard time with none of the H&M ottomans seeming to be available in chair/sofa height. I understand Duane and others here like it a couple inches or more lower, but I guess everyone is different in what they like. Is it possible to have any of them made a couple of inches higher or would it add a large amount to the cost? I was thinking it might be able to be done with a few extra layers of padding under the material. I am also considering leather vs. Carpet on the ottoman and which would be more durable. I am concerned about leather wearing and showing color changes from frequent use, showing small cracks in the finish, etc. Which is more likely to look good in 5 or 10 years given frequent use? My last question is on size. My current ottoman is about 23x29" in front of an 84-86" sofa. The cocktail ottomans they make with the carpets sound huge. Do they go in front of something like the 9840 city sofa, or would I need to make the jump to the larger city sofa for it to look right? I am also considering the ottoman that they show with the City Chair and a half. Any suggestions would be helpful. For some reason I am finding it almost impossible to find pictures of these items in front of average size sofas to judge scale.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    I am doing an order right now like that using the H&M Your Way Sofas and doing a pair of custom " Chaise-Style" ottomans to custom-made the sofas. The price for the custom work on this order is $ 290 apiece up to GR 3 leather in addition to the regular price of the Your Way ottoman in the selected cover. These are done correctly modifying the frame, you don't want to simply add padding to gain height, that's a mistake to do so.

    "Carpet" ottomans are available only on the two selected styles, the Plantation Ottomans and cannot be customized.

    All leather will show age and use over time, and any cover will. Keep it out of direct sunlight and do the cleaning/conditioning maintenance periodically and the lifespan should be satisfactory.

    The only real guideline to building a custom chaise-style ottoman is that you don't want to do it with a T-Cushion sofa, it doesn't look right with them. Sofas need to be a Box cushion, which the 9840 & 9844 City sofas are. You can spec the length for the "chaise" part of the ottoman or we can do it for you based on proportions of the piece, etc. Note that you cannot get a leather match doing this buying a married cover sofa (Just in Time, Town and Country). To make sure all the leather is out of the same dye lot, it cannot be a program sofa.

    Here's two we did on a Donatella sofa, the entire piece was custom-made:

    http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...ight=donatella
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    I don't need a chaise ottoman that long but I was thinking along those lines. Are the carpet ottomans too large in scale for the 9840 City Sofa?

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    I think the smaller of the carpet ottomans (the # 044) will work fine for size. However the City sofa is more transitional whereas the 044 is Traditional in design, the two form factors don't work that well together. If you want a program sofa to go with the 044 carpet ottoman, I'd go with the September sofa, the designs work better.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  5. #5
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    Jan 2018
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    595

    Default Re: Ottomans

    Thanks, that makes sense. I would have to decide if I was willing to have a taller sofa in front of this window. It is 28" off the floor and is a bow window in the front of my house. It is the only place the sofa can go in that room. I was trying to keep the back of the sofa going too far up into the window because I am not sure that would ok from outside. I believe the smaller city chair ottoman is probably the only one available in Cavalier Mocha, correct? I seems that color is not available in very many choices. I thought the carpet would allow me to introduce some pattern and color and not worry about matching the leather. I also thought of doing something custom in another ottoman with a rug, but I don't really see anything would go with the sofa and look good with a rug on it. Oh well.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    Yes, that's the City Chair Ottoman, in the program leather. One of the things you want to do if placing a sofa into a window is be sure you have UV Solar Film block on the glass. That can be a Low-E window (you need to know if you have these) or you can have Solar Film put on the window that will block 95% or so of the harmful UV rays. Otherwise the sunlight will will bleach out the leather and turn Cavalier Mocha in Cavalier Milk Chocolate.

    Remember too, you cannot order a specific carpet ottoman, its pot-luck what you get!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    I do know about the rugs being a pot luck. I was excited about an option brought up by a local dealer that a lot of designers use. The only other nearby dealer than Stickly. They contacted H&M and found out that I can have any ottoman I want done in a rug I supply. They will do it as COR instead of COF. And they would charge fabric prices for the ottoman, not leather prices. That initially got me pretty excited. But I can't really see a City ottoman done in a rug or another ottoman that would look good in the rug going with the City Sofa, lol. I would also need more guidance on the type of rug and ideas on where to find them at reasonable prices. Most of the wool rugs I have seen would be too thick I think, even if they have no backing. Maybe they can use something thicker than I think they can, but I was thinking it would have to be more like a woven fabric rug or kilim. He suggested the kind of machine made, unbacked rugs you see at Ocean State or some place like that, but they still seem too thick to me. I wonder if I paid the leather prices how it might look to have the bottom of a city ottoman done in leather and the top cushion in the rug. Still playing with ideas since I have some time, probably a few weeks, before I actually order.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    You are working in uncharted territory, I have no advice on supplying your own rug to make into an ottoman.

    I know as a dealer, I would absolutely not take an order for that - too many variables and too many things that can go wrong with a high possibility you would not be pleased with the end result. If the piece doesn't meet your expectations when done, then what? H&M won't take it back, the Dealer doesn't want it, and you would be stuck with an expensive ottoman you don't like. I've been down that road too many times with customers in making unfamiliar customs in the past 33 years!

    Good luck on that if you decide to go forward with it - let us know how it turns out.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    Thanks, I will share if I do it, lol. I would fully expect to take responsibility for how it turned out aesthetically. Anything else would not be fair. Since they brought it up, I am assuming they would be willing to take the order. But I am not at all sure I would like how it turned out, either. Really just examining the possibilities and contemplating my options. It would be fun if it turned out, expensive if it didn't. Wonder what an upholsterer would charge to fix it. Not likely I will do it unless I come up with something I think will go with the sofa and look good on its own. I have not been able to do that yet with the ottomans I have seen on H&M's website. I did not see one that I thought would look good on its own as a rug ottoman and with the City sofa. Limited other options. Even the City chair and a 1/2 ottoman can not be obtained in the Cavalier Mocha as far as I know, at least not not one likely to match well, so the regular City chair ottoman seems like the only matching option I have with that sofa. Do you happen to know if there is a lot of variability in shades with Cavalier Mocha between hides? The only other possibilities I can think of are using my current ottoman as is or having it reupholstered until I can purchase a new chair that might come with additional options for an ottoman in a complimentary leather or fabric that I could use with both. I would rather make the next purchase a recliner, but its an option. Thanks for your ear and your opinion. An additional 5,000-10,000. would come in handy so I could go with a more stylish sofa, a non-program leather and a nice rug or tufted ottoman. I will let you know if I find that.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Ottomans

    Many years ago, I had a good customer that wanted a custom-made 4-poster bed. She was a very strong woman that owned her own business and did not want my advice to her that the custom bed we were going to make for her at a cost of $ 7,000 was hideous, and out-of-proportion. It was a duplicate of her childhood bed that her sister got from the parents, and she wanted her own. So we had plenty of photos, supplied by the sister, and they were good accurate ones. I took it to my custom turner/bedmaker, Stephen Plaud of Rhode Island, and he said "Duane, we can build this - but its all wrong, the design elements and scale are terrible". Stephen reiterated what I already knew to be true. I informed her and was told "Your job is to make the bed, I didn't ask for your advice". Fine. So I drew a special contract that had language in to the effect that we will build this bed against our better judgement, it must be 100% prepaid in full via cash/check so no credit card chargebacks, and there are absolutely no returns on it.

    The bed was done in a few months and we delivered it and set it up in her home. It was awful to look at, even my delivery guys said so. The next day this customer, who had bought quite a few items from me in the past, called and said "This bed didn't turn out like I expected, you need to come take it back". I gently reminded her that I advised her not to build this bed, and to review the agreement she signed that said it was hers when she commissioned the build, it cannot be returned. She became very angry and pulled the "This is how you treat your customers?" bit and said she would never shop in my store again, and would tell every one she knew what a lousy business I operated. This was before social media so there was not Facebook, Yelp, Google Reviews, etc. She was furious but I stuck to my guns. She even called Stephen in Rhode Island and told him "You are the professional, you never should have agreed to make this bed", and that rattled him as he's a really good guy. She threatened to sue me, but I had a signed contract in strong language putting it all on her, so she was smart enough to know that wasn't going anywhere. And she never bought anything else.

    This, and similar custom projects gone wrong, are why I decline orders if my Spidey-senses begin to tingle (I have another story on a custom 9' round table, but thats for another day). When I suspect that something is going to go wrong on a custom, I decline the order. Most dealers will not, they roll the dice and hope for the best, anything to "get the sale". That's not how I operate. Just yesterday for example, I took the Hancock and Moore Boot Stool out of my own home and gave it to a customer to take home and try it out with their chair Why? They want to add 5" to the height of an Ashmoore Boot Stool and I don't think it will turn out well, so I wanted them to try out my own personal one for a few days, then revisit the custom height aspect on one. I'm looking out for their best interests based on my experience.

    That's why I would not accept a custom rug ottoman order. I don't feel good about it, too many variables. I know you are buying elsewhere and that's fine - but just because your dealer says they CAN do it, doesn't mean they should do it.

    Yes, you can get a City Chair and 1/2 and ottoman in Cavalier Mocha, however it won't be married cover, the leathers will be from loose hides. It's not that big a deal on color matching, no married cover furniture is done out of the same dye lot anyways. If you order a program City Sofa and a program City chair, the leathers are not guaranteed to match as they were kit-made at separate times. Cavalier Mocha is a very consistent leather and 99.5% of anyone looking at a program sofa and another piece a few feet away made from loose hides cannot see the difference in colors. I can't, either - and I know to look for it. However, if you have a super-critical eye and demand perfection, you should always get your leather furniture made from the same dye lot and skip the promotional offers.
    Last edited by drcollie; 01-24-2018 at 10:01 AM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

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