A leather sofa is a big investment – and one of the most permanent too. Choose a quality leather furniture piece, and it will last for decades, seeing all of life in your home.
Leather is a coveted material mainly because it has an air of timeless elegance about it, and more than a touch of the contemporary too. But how do you choose the perfect leather sofa? Is a leather Chesterfield sofa the perfect piece, or do you want something quirkier? We offer some hints and tips…
Look for the signs of quality
For any piece of furniture for your home, look for signs of quality. A leather sofa should have a pleasant and familiar sturdy and heavier feel to it. In fact, with high-quality sofas, you can see this sturdiness – it looks well made, with the leather pulled tightly around the arms and back.
Look at the stitching as well as the quality of the leather itself. Consider any wooden elements on show and don’t forget to ask about the ‘inner workings’ of the sofa. It is coil sprung under the seating area, for example, or a hardwood platform and frame?
You also want to know what the seat and cushion padding is too. A dense foam is better and longer lasting than a less dense, springier foam. It may welcome your curves for the moment but given time, the foam will relax too much, and it stops being such a comfortable seat.
Style
There are various styles of leather sofa from the low-backed Chesterfield sofa with its rolled arms to the high-backed, modern tan leather sofa style with pleasing contours and lines. Bear in mind that whatever style you choose, it will need to be one with a long life in terms of appeal.
Size
Size is important – too big and it will swamp a room, but you also need to have plenty of seating for everyone – one two seater leather sofa won’t fit everyone on after all. In some spaces, choosing two smaller sofas produces a more intimate seating arrangement, better for conversation and interaction.
Top tip – mock up a sofa with empty boxes or mark out the dimensions of the sofa on the floor. How does the size translate in situ?
To make more of space, producing an uncluttered appeal to a room, choose a leather sofa with lower back and arms. Don’t forget, you can vary the height of furniture in the room with a contrasting armchair so that it doesn’t look flat or characterless.
Depth
Not often considered but important in terms of comfort is the depth of the seat. A narrower seat is not so comfy for long, languid afternoon reading the latest bestseller but too deep, and it becomes difficult to get up from the sofa.
Colour
And finally, choosing a colour that suits your home is essential. Leather comes in all kinds of colours and shades but remember, if you plan on keeping the sofa for years, you will be decorating around it deep, cherry red colour for a long time!
Tan or black leather sofas tend to be seen as having more longevity in terms of how well they will ‘fit’ with style and decoration in the future.
Our top tip for buying the best leather sofa is to stretch your budget because you won’t be disappointed.
