Advice: New Leather Chair Comfort

16 years ago

I'm considering buying this leather chair & brought it home for a test drive & DH approval:

DH likes it & I can purchase it for $79.99 (yes you read that right). There is a 2nd one waiting for me back at the store.

I've never owned a new leather chair before (let alone any new upholstered chair) & was wondering if there is a 'break-in period' just like w/ a leather coat? Reason why: The seat & back cushion are so 'fluffy' it almost feels like I'm sliding out & being slightly pushed forward. The back cushion is almost like a throw pillow & is easily removed. The seat cushion is made of a high density foam. Will this foam cushion break in & feel slouchy & lived in after some yrs of sitting in it? Should have have my kids bounce on it?! Should I not buy it?

The chairs are small in space requirement, something that I've desired & looked for many yrs. now but couldn't afford the $1200+ price tag at Crate & Barrel. On the flip side I could immediately sink into one of their leather chairs right away.

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Comments (8)

les917
16 years ago
If you are wanting the cushions to get 'squishy' and the leather to get soft over time, I don't think these are the chairs for you. I am no expert, but the foam cushions are not made to get squishy - over time the foam may compress and get flatter, but it won't ever feel like a soft leather pillow filled with down, etc. The leather also looks very stiff, so I am thinking that the quality and finish will keep it from ever having that 'old leather jacket' feel and look.

That is a heck of a price! Are you sure they are all leather, or leather match?
bungalow_house
16 years ago
I don't know the answer to your question, but that chair looks perfect size- and style-wise for that room. I can see why you want them to work!
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DYH
16 years ago
We have soft leather (like glove leather) chairs that we sit in daily. They were like this from day one. We have a leather sofa and loveseat in our multi-purpose room that DH had, so it's probably 10 years old. I can't sit on it. I slide right off and that's why it's upstairs where our sons hang out when they are home. The guys love it. I have to put a throw across it to sit on it.

We also have a leather chair and ottoman in the library. It's only a few years old and from the same company as our soft leather chairs. We got a lower priced leather for it and it's not as slippery as DH's old sofa, but I wish we'd put the higher grade leather on it.

Good leather can last a life time (I used to have horses and some of my favorite saddles were over 30 years old).

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kalinka_2007
16 years ago
I have all leather furniture and always have, its more dog proof. Normally it is sits hard or soft from the begining, I have never had to break one in. If it sits hard and slippery that is pretty much how it stays. It is a function of the grade and finish on the leather and the cushion. I dont think it will ever get squishy. We have some chairs like that in our office, they are very pretty and give the office a rich look but they are not my first pick to sit in for a long time. Some of the men in there like them because they find them very "supportive" and find them good for their backs.
mqmoi
16 years ago
At that price, not to mention the fact that the size is right for you, I'd buy them and make a box-welted cover for the seat cushion. I'd use a contrasting color fabric in a solid or a paisley. You could do the same with a pillow.
graywings123
16 years ago
I agree with the others, what it feels like now is how it is going to be.
ttodd
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all of your input. One of the things that some of you said that really stuck out was the fact that men seemed to like them even if they were a bit more stiff. DH wants to refinish the basement in our next home for a game/TV rm. That being said & the price being so good, I think that I'll get them. They are comfortable (albeit stiff) so I do not feel as though I am totally compromising. Ultimately I can move them to the finished basement when the time comes all the while saving up for squishier leather chairs over the next few yrs.
johnmari
16 years ago
At eighty bucks apiece I would buy them and replace the insides of the seat and back cushions with a softer filling - you'd still come out HUNDREDS of dollars ahead! back pillow would not push you forward as much.

FWIW, the leather couch and chair we got about 6 years ago did mush down quite a bit eventually, and the leather softened a lot with wear (okay, let's call a spade a spade, it's more like abuse! we're kinda hard on furniture, which is why we got leather in the first place) and use of leather conditioner once or twice a year (we like Lexol). In the next couple of years I'll be replacing the insides of the seat cushions, although there isn't as much of a rush now that it is not our primary couch.