Shopping for a leather sectional

[Sofadoo]

Hello. My wife and I recently moved into a new house West of Philadelphia and while this has been an exciting process, we're now ready to fulfill one of our most important life aspirations... becoming proud owners of a quality leather sectional. We have decided that the best configuration for a sectional in our livingroom would be a 3 seat sofa with a chaise lounge attatched on the end, however, it seems that this will really limit our choices to something custom made.

Anyway last weekend we decided to visit some showrooms in the Philadelphia area. We wanted to actually sit in some sofas (Hancock & Moore, etc) to find out what we like, and see if we could get at least a ballpark estimate for something made in our desired configuration.
One particular store had a very nice leather sofa that we both thought was very comfortable. When I asked the salesman about it he said it was their "custom line", made in the same fashion as Hancock and Moore (hardwood frame, 8-way hand tied, etc.). He had a couple of H&M sofas as well but not the ones we were interested in.
He said that getting a sectional custom made from H&M would cost a fortune and that this is why he started with his own custom line. His custom furniture comes from N.C., i think he said Durham, and it's a shop that his company "has a stake in". That's about all the info I could get about it. We picked out a leather and he gave us a quote of about $6200 (without actually crunching all the numbers).

What are your thoughts? I'm skeptical of the "custom line" mostly because of the way he was pushing it. He first made it sound as if he built the furniture right in the back of the shop, and when I asked him questions about it, he seemed defensive.
Also, is it true that an H&M sectional made in our desired configuration would cost a fortune? Are there any other quality leather sectionals you can think of that are already made in our desired configuration (so we wouldn't incur the cost of ordering something customized)?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I feel I am already in debt to this forum for the wealth of knowledge it has provided me!

[organic_smallhome]

I would run, not walk, to the nearest exit.

[MRSSQRDAWAY]

Go to hancock and moore site pick out your sectional . Work with duane to place order.
You can not go wrong with hancock and moore.

[drcollie]

Who knows? There are literally dozens of 'private label' booths and showrooms at High Point where they will make anything a store wants them to. Everyone says "as good as H&M" but they never are. Doesn't mean its bad, but I'd bet big money that I could point out a half dozen faults on the piece as to why its not Hancock and Moore in the first two minutes looking at it.

[Sofadoo]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm ready to put this guy's "custom line" option behind us.

On the H&M website there is only one sectional shown in our desired configuration and that is the tower sectional, shown in fabric:
http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1499
While I do like the style of the tower, I don't think it will sit deep enough for us.

What we are after is something like the city sofa:
http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1028
it's the larger #9844 model with an inside seat depth of 23". We would like to have this sofa made as a sectional in the same configuration of the tower sectional above. Hopefully, with a chaise lounge attached to the right side, the overall width will finish around 120".

Duane, can you PM me at least a ballpark price for this to be done with a class 2 leather?
Also, do you happen to have any of the larger #9844 city sofas on the floor? I realize now that your store is less than 3 hours away from me and it might be a worthwhile trip to drive down one Saturday...

Are there any other quality leather sectionals from any maker that you can think of that are already made in our desired configuration (so we wouldn't incur the cost of ordering something customized)?

[drcollie]

I think the Tower series sits pretty well for most folks, and with a 21.5" Seat Depth its slightly deeper than average. If you like everything else about it, the thing to do is tweak it to gain a little more on that interior depth. We can gain 1" by slimming the back cushions for a nominal charge, but to do any more than 1" would require a frame modification, and then you're into an $ 800 to $ 1,000 charge. The Tower is the only one they currently do with a chaise, but they did introduce a new contemporary one with a chaise that I think I took a photo of.....

I don't have a 9844 on the floor, sorry. I do have a 9840 City, a Kodiak, a Member Apartment Sofa, an Austin High Back Sofa and there will be a Parisian coming in but that's still a few weeks away.

Not many makers offer a chaise, that's the limiting factor you'll run into. To do a City Sectional with a chaise, I'd have to put in for a custom quote....PM me with your specs and I'll be glad to do that.

[Sofadoo]

Ok great I'll PM you with specs. We'd like to keep it as cheap as possible though and not mess with any dimensions we don't have to. Hopefully we can make the overall length so that the cushions are the same size as they would normally be, and maybe the original City Sofa frame/sring layout can still be utilized, etc. Will this make a difference in the final price?

If it will then please follow my math for a sec:
The inside width of the #9844 City Sofa is listed at 73". Divide that by 3 to get the width of each individual cushion... 24.33". Add 24.33" to the overall width of the City Sofa which is listed at 93" and then the overall width of the custom sectional should be spec'd at 117.33"??

By the way, slimming the back cushions on the Tower is also an interesting idea, but I'm a little concerned about this sacrificing the comfort and/or the overall look of the piece.

[drcollie]

HA! You must be an engineer by trade. In Upholstery World, we don't work in fractions! In fact, there is a 2" +/- tolerance from all the makers on a given piece. Once we get the specs (total length) that you want, we'll have H&M figure it up.

You'd not even notice 1" out of the cushions, either in comfort or visually. I do that all the time for customers. We can add 1", too...same thing.

[Sofadoo]

Well I think tomorrow will be a good day for me to finally take a trip down to The Keeping Room and see if I can narrow down a leather for this custom sectional. The Black Friday deal is too good to pass up. Unfortunately my wife won't be able to join me. Maybe Duane can send me back with some swatches for her to check out...

Like most people, we really want the softness of an unfinished/aniline leather but we're not sure if we'll be able to maintain it. Here are some arguments in our favor:

1- Our dog will surely be climbing on the sectional. I'd rather she put a bunch of small scratches in an unfinished leather (that can probably be rubbed out) than for her to put a few permanent scratches in a finished leather.

2- Oils from her fur are another non-permanent stain that we can deal with.

3- We're leaning towards an aniline with a slight pull up effect. I am under the impression that the small amount of wax in such a leather will help a bit with spills (we don't have kids yet but some day we'll have at least a couple)

Honest advice on this would be appreciated as I fear the strength of my desire could be clouding my judgement

We haven't seen any leathers in person yet but we know we'd like something dark brown. Some of the leathers that we're particularly interested in are the Kipling Java and the Atticus Java/Sable.

Hey Duane do you still have that #9840 City Sofa on the floor? I figure at least the back angle, seat height, etc. would be the same as the #9844 and maybe I can get a better idea of what we'd be getting...

[drcollie]

Here today until 5:30 p.m. ! Come on down...about 3 hours from Philly/Valley Forge area.

Yes, I have the # 9840 on the floor, its a smaller sit than the 9844, but just by a small margin. I also have a Kodiak on the floor which is sort of an up-sized version of a City.

I have had Golden Retreivers, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and now a Westie all on our aniline leather for the past 26 years. Sunlight and UV rays have done far more damage to the leathers over the years than the dogs have ever done.