This may be a bit household specific, but I was wondering if you could help me out with some recommendations on a leather sofa and possibly a matching chair/ottoman. Hopefully someone else can benefit from your recommendations, too. I have tried more local dealers but ended up frustrated; they refuse to give any recommendations without a concrete promise first to buy. What they don't realize is that if they provided me with a decent price and solid recommendations/ demonstrated knowledge, I probably would buy from them! I stumbled on your forum kind of circuitously through a gardenweb thread and you seemed like an excellent resource.

I am looking for, above all, COMFORT and DURABILITY; I would like something that has a long lifespan. I am leaning toward Hancock and Moore because of their reputation for quality, traditional leather products. I am fairly flexible on color--pretty much anything in the "earth-tone" family (chocolate, reddish brown, dark tan--I don't want anything too light--olive, etc.). However, I do have some broad limitations. Namely, I have a 90+ lb lab that does go on the furniture and a set of twins on the way, so I need as scratch/puncture/stain resistant a leather as possible while not looking "plastic-y". Finally, as with most people, price is somewhat of a barrier. I would love to keep it as much below $3000 as possible (after all, I do have two kids on the way!); I would prefer the $2500 range, but I'm assuming that is likely a pipe dream unless I get really, really lucky with a floor sample or something. I debated posting versus calling about this, but I figured there are likely a lot of people out there with similar needs.

To give you an idea of aesthetic preferences, my husband and I like clean, classic lines (e.g. H & M's Charter sofa, or in 2nd place, their Kodiak sofa, both with nail trim). I would also be open to alternative suggestions based on my above-described needs and preferences. If it matters, we are both pretty ordinary sized people--5'10" and 5'7", normal weight range. Feel free to email me with any questions or price quotes (I am in Ossining, NY, just north of NYC, for reference); I assume you can pull my email from my username, but if not, post back to me as to how I should get in touch with you regarding prices.

Thanks! Katie