Great Room Layout and Picture

[drcollie]

No visible wood on a swivel chair. Just the metal ring base. H&M does make a leather cover for the base, however - which is a nice touch.

I'd have to check on custom options for TK. Which hide are you considering for the ottomans? I have to do a square footage calculations and some hides are larger than others.

Thanks!

[aluebcke]

My current thinking is: the Sundance sofas in Garfield Chesnut and the Author chair in Garfield Mocha. I'd then like to do the ottomans in both colors, with the mocha on top. Will this work with TK? Do I have to buy a whole hide from H&M, which would make doing two leathers more costly?

I think we've also picked out the wood and nailheads. (We stopped by a local dealer to look at the samples this weekend, and took a drawer from our TV cabinet.)

For the wood: oiled mahogany. Looks to be a close match to our cabinet....and won't be too much wood seen anyway.

For the nailheads, what do you think about the R & S nails. The A and AA are copper in color and very shiny (at least the sample we saw). The R & S look more nickel in color, and not too shiny. Will these work okay with the Sundances in Garfield chesnut?

[aluebcke]

Need input on the leather choices.....the following are our two options:
1. Sundance sofas and Author chair in Garfield Chesnut, ottomans in Garfield Mocha (Is this too much leather in the same color?)
2. Sundance sofas in Garfield Chesnut, Author chair in Garfield Mocha, ottomans in Garfield mocha on top/Garfield Chesnut on bottom (Is there enough contrast between the chesnut and mocha to do an ottoman in these two leathers?)

Duane...please don't miss my post above about the TK ottomans. We're hoping to order this week to avoid the rush next week when the sale ends.

[drcollie]

Taken a bit of time to chase down the leather square footage requirements for the Taylor King Ottomans, Amanda.

Onto the questions!

Leather options: The Garfield Chestnut has a reddish tone to to, whereas the Mocha is a pure, dark brown. I think you should consider the contrasting leather to be Garfield Fawn, as its a full brown (no reds) and lighter. When you introduce a leather with red tones into a room with browns, it can sometimes give off the impression that you tried for a match - and missed. Whereas using the Fawn color will be an obvious contrast and in the same hues. Something just to consider, its not written in stone.

Nails are really just a personal preference, but the R/S are not nickel, just a distressed, darker brass. Yes, they will work well!

Yes, you can 2-tone the ottomans, they look good that way. BTW, we need 77 s.f. of leather for each Taylor King Ottoman, and that includes waste. So 154 S.F. total for the pair and that will come to $ 2,310 in Garfield just for the leather, before we buy the ottomans from Taylor King! Ottomans in COL are $ 640 apiece, so the project would be at least $ 3,590 for the pair before we get into any custom welts and 2-tones charges. Sure you want to do that? Gets a tad pricey doing COL's like that! Now, if we use a Taylor King Leather such as Excelsior Tobacco (GR 3) then the ottomans are $ 1,035 each for a total of $ 2,070. That's $ 1,520 difference.

[aluebcke]

Sorry for being pushy....starting to get a little nervous about the end of the sale quickly approaching.

Thanks for the suggestion on the leather....I love the fawn but was worried that it looks too close to the chesnut sample I have. We'll look at the three colors again in our room. (I'm hoping the Garfield Chesnut will come in not too red/orange....like the sample we have.)

Do you think it's better to do a darker color for the chair....or does it matter as long as the leathers are obviously different?

Wow!! Sure is pricey to do COL....I was hoping it would be less than the Jessica Charles modified ottomans. Too bad! We definitely don't want to spend $3,590 on two ottomans. If we do the sofas in Garfield Chesnut, the author chair in Garfield Fawn, what would you suggest for the TK ottoman? The Excelsior you note? Or will that be too many different leathers....so perhaps we should do all the H&M in Garfield Chesnut and the TK in a contrasting color?

Where can I see the TK leathers? I cannot find them on their website.

[drcollie]

I like to see a noted contrast when using two leathers in a room, especially if in the same series hide (Garfield). You want them distinctive in appearance, not similar. The Fawn should do the trick with Mocha, but Garfield varies a lot from batch to batch, so you can request a CFA (cutting for approval) prior to production. That's the safe bet, but it will build time by 30 days on average.

Taylor King leathers are not posted anywhere that i know of. I'd have to get samples sent.

COL leather is just nuts, too costly. And there is too much chance of waste which is why they ask for so much square footage. Better to buy in the hides offered by the manufacturer. TK has decent leathers. If you want to decide on everything else, just let me know the final hide choices and I'll go through the TK leathers and see what we can bring in to work color-wise.

[aluebcke]

Thanks Duane.

We're doing the Garfield Chesnut for the sofas....so I'm thinking both the fawn and mocha are too close in color for the ottoman. The Garfield Chesnut sample I have is a nice brown, no orange....but some of the samples I saw definitely ran red/orange.

One more option I'm now thinking for the ottomans is the Author ottoman (it's 27x30.5x16.5 tall) in weston cane burnished (and the Author swivel in the same). Do you think the author ottomans (2) would work in front of the sundance sofa? Are the author ottomans flat enough on the top to use as a cocktail ottoman? To make them match the sofa more, could we use the Sundance ottoman legs? This would raise the ottoman up a bit, I think.

Would it be too much of one leather if we do the 2 sundances and author chair in Garfield Chesnut? I'm thinking it would.....

Thanks
Amanda

[drcollie]

Amanda,

Ready for a fastball late in the game?

Garfield Chestnut will look GREAT on the sofas. Approved. No orange in my samples, either. But request a CFA (Cutting for Approval) if its a concern. Yes, it will slow your order by 3 to 4 weeks, but you can be sure that way.

Here comes the pitch: Take a look at Ostrich Chestnut for the ottomans. Color hues look great together and it would be visually fun and unique. I took a photo of them to show you, but they are throwing considerable orange casts on my Nikon digital camera and its not fair to post it because of that. Do the whole ottoman in Ostrich or just the tops (above the welt). Below the welt, use Garfield or even a suede if you want to go full designer look.

I think a pair of Author Ottomans will go well with the Sundance. I should have found those for you! Yes, we can put the Sundance legs on them, but its going to bring the ottoman height up by 1.5" to 2" (currently its 16.5" H). Even at 18" to 19" on the ottomans you're OK as the Sundance has a seat height of 21". I've got a call into H&M to get me measurements on the legs and will post them soon as I can.

Now, here's something else to consider.... *IF* you were to do the Ostrich on the ottomans, do the outback of the Author chair in that leather as well, the interior in Garfield Chestnut as planned. That ties in everything and softens the look from all being in one color. That's a bold move, and it may not be something you're comfortable doing - but that's what is done in the showrooms at H&M at market and it looks great rather than everything looking like it came off the same container from China. Take a look at the High Point Market Photos in the 'Trade News' section and you will see a lot of this sort of thing and can decide if its for you ... or not.

Your turn at bat!

[drcollie]

OK, Sundance leg is 5", Author Ottoman bun foot is 3", so a +2" height increase. Added cost is $ 225 per ottoman for the swap.

[aluebcke]

Duane, I LOVE your suggestion on the Ostrich leather for the ottoman and back of the Author chair! I definitely want something unique, and I think this is it.

Can you please PM me a price for the 4690 ottoman in Class 5? And the Author swivel chair, too? I believe that would put the whole chair up to a class 5, right?

I checked H&M's leather choices after your suggestion, and found the following embossed leathers that I also like:
Flora Honey
Laredo Whiskey
Santa Rosa Copper
Segovia Cocoa
Vineyard Trellis

Can you please give me your thoughts on each of these?

Also, will the Author ottoman be flat enough on the top to use as a cocktail ottoman (we plan to put a tray on it for drinks)?

Why is there an upcharge for the change in feet? I thought we could do that for no charge...and $225 seems high for feet that are very similar. Just need to understand. If we decide not to change the legs, do you think the ottomans will be too short in front of the sofa?

Finally, if the class 5 leather puts the chair and ottomans significantly higher, I may need to consider an alternate in class 3 to do the two tone ottomans and back of the Author. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Amanda