H&M Sundance Sofa and Loveseat in Portfolio Claret - Ottoman and Wing Chairs dilemma

First of all, THANK YOU Duane and all the members for this wonderful forum!
I've been reading it for few weeks now and PM'ing with Duane, and I'm so grateful for all the information, photos, and advice posted here!

It all started with looking for a leather sectional for the family room in our new home. Soon enough I fell in love with Hancock and Moore Sundance collection :) Its beautiful back is perfect for our needs; it will be definitely visible when entering the house.
First I thought about sofa-sofa sectional, then sofa-loveseat sectional, but I just adore the sides of the sofas so finally decided on Sundance Sofa and Loveseat (4716 and 4716-2); would love to do two regular 4716 sofas but with 17' width room I'm afraid it will be too tight... won't it? I attach couple of floor plans I've been playing with; comments are more than welcome please!

As for the leather choice, oh my! I love them all! However, since I need to furnish the whole house, I need to be a bit budget conscious... taking into account the considerable savings with Town & Country program, we decided on Portfolio Claret (hubby agreed but he's still a bit concerned with "soooo much red" which isn't a calming and relaxing color we were originally planning on...) I just hope that since the sofa and loveseat won't be in direct sunlight and in general I don't use much bright light, this red leather won't seem that bright... or will it anyway? If you have a piece in Portfolio Claret please share your experience.

One problem that we may face is that 4716 sofa is in T&C program while 4716-2 loveseat is not... which means they may not match exactly! Has anyone ordered a piece from T&C and asked H&M to match the leather on another piece? I read that H&M would try to match the color to a particular sample color (since samples' colors vary often significantly). I wonder if they'd do it in our case as well...?

Then we looked at the ottomans. I love the 084 Robinson (the one with the drawers), hubby likes the 093 Chancellor. BUT neither one will work for us due to their sizes. Hubby definitely wants something bigger. At first he demanded that it's big enough for everyone sitting on the sofa and loveseat to put their feet up... he wanted it to be as long and wide as the seating area of each sofa... Well, it took some convincing not to end up with an ottoman of a size of almost a full size bed! I built it with boxes and covered with a blanket in front of our living room sofa, what a sight! You didn't even notice that the sofa was standing next to it! Still hubby murmured 'it looks fine...' Anyway, NOT happening!

The only large ottoman/bench from H&M is the 045 Plantation Bench (ca. 61" x 33"). Unless H&M website doesn't show all of them? Again, I built it with boxes and I think it may work. The thing is, we are not crazy about that ottoman :( Hubby doesn't like that it's so "airy", meaning too much open space under the leather section and kind of delicate legs; plus we don't like the wheels on the legs. I'm afraid they will ruin the carpet too; has anyone had any experience with wheels like these? Can the legs be changed for different ones (without the wheels)?

Or maybe I should start looking at ottomans from a different company; something like H&M 093 Chancellor ottoman but bigger; any recommendations?

If we decide to get 045 Plantation Bench, we would have it made tufted, but another dilemma is whether doing it in Portfolio Claret will indeed make the whole setup too RED...? It will be a lot of red surfaces... Any other leather suggestions that would compliment the Portfolio Claret would be greatly appreciated! (I saw pictures of this bench made with oriental carpet but it's too much commitment to the pattern... I don't know yet what the draperies will be like, I may want to have a pattern rug under the ottoman etc.)

I also considered covering this ottoman with Crocodile Claret (not tufted)... but it is unprotected leather with serviceability 3... and it will be used under the feet and occasionally trays with food will be placed on it too... Bad idea? I haven't seen a sample of it and also wonder if it's shiny or matt? Will it go with Portfolio or distract from it?

Finally, we'll also need two Wing Chairs, by the fireplace. I haven't decided yet which ones but I'd like them to be tall and have decorative legs (comfort is not a priority here at all ;) ) There is no way we can do these in Claret; that would really be too much red for us! I wonder if maybe we should do them in fabric with some Portfolio Claret accents...? Or maybe mix two leathers (if for example we do ottoman in a different color, then chairs would be a mix of that and Claret)? These chairs will be in constant sunlight, I guess I just need to accept the fact that they will fade etc. over time...

Any input and advice will be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank you all! :o

Lots of detail in this post! OK, let's see what we can come up with...

Here's a photo of the Sundance Sofa in Portfolio Claret taken in my store some time ago. It shows MUCH brighter here in the photo than it really is - its a nice red when you see it. Not too bright, but you will know its definitely red:

http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...rtfolio+claret

Yes, I think two Sundance Sofas would push the space a bit too much. I don't recall photographing the Sundance Loveseat, though there *may* be a photo on the High Point Market series of shots, check the 2012 and 2013 Markets. You will not get an exact color match doing a town and country pre-sewn married cover and another piece from loose hides. We guarantee that! However, the 'off' may not be too severe and will be acceptable to most folks. Portfolio is a painted leather, and therefore the color is made from a formula. Matching aniline hides is much more tricky. At the end of the day, the only way to get color matches is to do all the same pieces from the same dye lot batch.

If you want a big ottoman, with a filled in lower area, here's two:

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1547 < traditional

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1537 < wonderfully funky

Change the color and cover on the ottoman - don't do it in any shade of red. If I wanted a large ottoman with a pair of red Sundances, I'd probably to it in Cayman Rust (all or 1/2 of it).

Very cool H&M wing chairs for the corners that might go well with the Sundance series - without getting into the ornate and high cost ones:

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1501

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2212

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2223

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2387

I have a recliner in Portfolio Claret. Is is the only red thing in the room, and nobody has ever seemed shocked by it - it really isn't that bright. It might not be a cool, relaxing color like the current schemes popular in a fancy spa, but it isn't the McDonalds playroom either.

I probably wouldn't do several pieces in it - both because it would be a little much unless you did every single piece in it, and also because on anything not in T&C, I'd chose another leather. Don't get me wrong - I'm perfectly happy with it at the T&C price, but against all of the other grade 2 leathers there are others I would like as well or better.

Thank you hglaber for your reply! Yes, T&C price is impossible to beat... I wouldn't hesitate to order one sofa in Portfolio Claret, love it! Just worry about two of them, and then finding colors to go with it... on ottoman, wing chairs, draperies, rugs, lamp shades... DH actually likes the texture of Portfolio, I used to like it more... before I spent dozens of nights reading this forum and slowly but surely started to appreciate uniqueness of other leathers LOL Can't wait to get the Master Set to truly get the feeling of all of them!

Thank you Duane for your suggestions and advice, both here and in PMs.
Yes, unfortunately I have to admit that two full sofas would be probably too much... I'm going to the new house again and will check just one more time (bought blue painter's tape and new measuring tape - weights a ton!)... but I'm probably wasting my time...

069 Campaign Bench - this one is a bit too heavy looking for my taste (especially after you see which wing chairs I love)
047 Carrington Ottoman - love it! DH won't agree bc it won't be comfortable for him to rest his legs up (he already gave up having a recliner sofa he wanted so I can have Sundance I love :o)

I mentioned to you 013 Giddyup Bench over the phone... I like it since it has two parts and we could use two different leathers, but 1. the fringe would have to go, 2. the legs would have to be changed so they don't stick out, 3. the new legs would have to be super short bc this bench is 20.5" high, too high for the sofa, after which it may become too heavy looking again... - probably not worth even thinking about it... What do you think?

So probably we'll go with either:
045 Plantation Bench in Cayman Rust (do you know how high the leather part is? half of the height of the ottoman?)
or 024 Plantation Ottoman in the size of the bench; here we'd do two leathers - how do you see Portfolio Claret for the lower part, and Cayman Rust on top? I haven't seen a sample of Cayman Rust so have no idea how this would play out.

btw, Cayman Rust looks fabulous on the H&M website! Would you say it looks similar in real life? It's not shiny, is it?
I still worry a bit about it being unprotected GR5... After all it's going to be on the ottoman which will be used a lot...

I've been browsing leather pictures on H&M website as well as photos of H&M pieces here on the forum but can't come up with another leather that I could use on the ottoman to "cool down" yet "compliment" the Portfolio Claret on the sofas... Any recommendations would be highly appreciated!

OK. I'm going to browse the web and look at the wing chairs again now!

Just a note on the texture thing - if you are looking at a leather sample of Portfolio it probably has a bumpy, almost quilted look and feel to it. Once fastened to a frame, however, it is pulled tight and is absolutely smooth except where it remains loose. On my Sadler recliner that is only on the sides of the back cushions at the top (in the loose folds), and even those aren't as "puffy" as the swatch. To get a better idea, try stretching/wrapping your sample tight over the arm of a wooden chair or something. It looks and feels fine, but I just don't want you to be disappointed if you're expecting it to look at feel like the loose swatch.

You are so right hglaber! I keep focusing on the sample and kind of forgetting that indeed it becomes quite smooth when pulled on the sofa. We did see it once and I did notice the effect you're talking about. I need to remind dear hubby about it too! He really likes that "quilted" look... (I on the other hand am becoming very spoiled by this forum and can't wait to order something in Capri for example ;) ) I think that this "stretching" also causes the Portfolio Claret looking a bit brighter and more red on the actual sofa than on the sample. I drove to our new house today to check out the lighting and I took the sample with me. Needles to say, I loved it, it was looking quite dark in fact... But you are absolutely right, I should keep in mind and be prepared for the sofas to look lighter / brighter than the sample. Thank you!!!

Sundance sofa in Portfolio Claret--best purchase we've ever made! We previously had a brown leather sofa and decided to go with Portfolio Claret after seeing it in a store, advise from the wonderful folks on this website and of course, Duane. When you walk in the front door of our home you are not overwhelmed with the color--it actually looks like it goes with the room. I am 5' and my husband is 6'2" and we both love the fit and feel of the leather and pillows. We purchased the regular pillows (no upgrade) and we're glad we did. You won't be disappointed with the look--very rich but you can dress it up or dress it down.Attachment 5503 I'm not sure if I posted the photo's as I'm not well versed in how to attach. If not, I'll try again.
Sheriink

Thank you Sheriink for your reply and the photo. Just when I think I can't possibly love Sundance any more, I do! It looks AMAZING! Thank you!!!

I'm sold on Portfolio Claret! I'm planning on mahogany color for whatever other furniture will be in that room (TV stand, end tables, floor lamps), and ceiling to floor draperies probably in dark reds / browns / golds. I hope the room will turn out warm and cozy and inviting :)

I went to the new house and tried one more time to squeeze in two 4716 sofas... Just wanted to get the feel in the actual room how tight they would be IRL (two blue crosses on the floor loosely represent where the columns will be). Well, 2 ft is still 2 ft and still very tight LOL Sofa and Loveseat it will be then!

Attachment 5506 Attachment 5507

Also attached two pics of Portfolio Claret sample. It actually looked much darker IRL, but then again, the leather on the sofas will be stretched and reveal more red tones. Either way, I love it!

Attachment 5508 Attachment 5509