Great Online Resource for Leather Furniture Information & Reviews

April 19th, 2010 categories: Decorating

I was in the market recently for a family room sofa. After two fabric sofas that quickly showed their age, I decided to go leather. Not an easy decision to make with three dogs who have sharp claws. I was worried that I’d have to buy a lifetime supply of Liquid Leather.

The major benefit of leather is the ease of pet hair removal. You can easily wipe it off of leather - with fabric, the pet hair sticks and can be hard to remove even with vacuuming, lint rollers or even washing. And leather ages - fabric just looks old.

One resource I found while researching furniture is My Furniture Forum, a chat room set up by The Keeping Room out of Alexandria, Va. The Keeping Room sells brands like Hancock & Moore, Bradington Young and Leather Craft. The owner of the store, Duane Collie, manages this forum and answers questions about furniture, especially leather furniture.

I looked on-line and went to some local stores. I asked a lot of questions - about leather grades, construction, size, durability, etc. But I found that no one answered my questions better than Duane.

Once I decided to purchase from his store, he suggested I choose an altogether different sofa than the one I originally wanted based on my family’s height and where the sofa was going. The Journey Sofa from Hancock & Moore.

And it is honestly the most comfortable piece of furniture I’ve ever owned. I spent a little more than I wanted to but it’s the right size for my tall family and incredibly comfortable. The seats are high enough so the dogs can’t easily hop on. And it tilts back a little for television watching.

If you’re on the hunt for furniture and don’t know what to buy, especially if you want leather furniture, My Furniture Forum is the place to look.

Another place to look for advice on buying furniture is on IVillage’s Garden Web furniture forum, where I originally found the link to My Furniture Forum.