Not sure what you have going on there, but I sell about three hundred leather pieces a year and never come across peeling like that. Usually there are only two things that can cause that. 1 ) Something was applied to the leather that caused a severe chemical reaction and the topcoat is stripping off 2 ) This is common to see on bi-cast or bonded leather. Let's explore what bonded / bi cast "leather" actually is: When leather upholstery is produced at an upholstery maker they save the hide salvage. Appx 1/3 of the hide is scrap on a build ue to wrinkles, scars, marking, or being on the edges. If they can. they make swatch samples out of the remnants. Otherwise, they all go in the "Bins" which are in the cutting room of factories. Here's a set of "Bins" at Hancock and Moore's factory in Taylorsville NC. These are sold to a company that goes around to all the leather upholstery makers in an area and bins are picked up every two weeks or so. They are then put into a container and shipped to China for processing. Once they arrive at their destination, they are chemically melted into a leather slurry and bonded to a polypropylene sheet, then embossed with a grain pattern, painted and topcoated. These are then sold as either bonder or bicast leather. There is no benefit of real leather any more as the cellulose structure genuine top grain leather has been destroyed in the melt process. Bonded and Bicast leathers don't have much longevity and tend to "Strip" away like you are seeing in your photos. Neiman Marcus is a reputable company, I would suggest you start by contacting the Store Manager in person if possible. If these units are only two years old they should go to bat for you, they are the selling agent and have a duty to respond and interact with the manufacturer on your behalf. Find out what you really have for a cover and then what they will do for you. As long as you did not' apply something to the units that would cause that, they should take care of in some form or manner. Good luck

That combination of lgreen, purple and berry in your picture is lovely, Lavender! I agree with the inspirational nature of clean and organized, that seems to be a unifying principle in these thoughts and comments. Regardless of what we have, want, or plan to get, it is far more enjoyable if it's well organized. The past three weeks our vacationing son has been cleaning out our storage basement (my decorative accessories graveyard, lol) and the local thrift shop that supports our women's shelter has a new "boutique" annex that is stocked with the five full size pickup trucks of stuff he has taken there and all the stuff everyone else has donated after Christmas.... Houses all over town are getting cleared out. In one way it's embarrassing to think we've accumulated that much stuff we no longer need or use, but I am grateful it will go to good use--- in someone else's home looking lovely (if slightly outdated) and whose sale will benefit women in my own community. Our long time housekeeper has finally retired :-( We've been making do with her granddaughter, who is NOT a long term solution. So I am now faced with finding another person who can do the same job, or at least attempt it. I am biting my tongue looking at all the cobwebs and fingerprints.

A million years ago I belonged to a decorating board at BHG. It was there, that I first 'met' Magnaverde and was introduced to his talents. Below is a picture of a sofa in his home, followed by his instructions on how he painted it. If it had come from almost any other source, I'd never have bothered saving it all these years. I haven't done it yet but I'm sure someday there will be an opportunity to try this technique on something. The mention of Picturesworth at the end is another old, old site. Kinda makes you rethink painted furniture, doesn't it? Here's the process, as I originally described it on the AOL Decorating Board last year, and where the original post was unearthed from the AOL archives by the lovely and talented HOST HOME DECOR. She's the best. ....................... Forget all that nonsense about teensy bottles of expensive paint medium from the crafts store. You don't need anything more than regular latex semi-gloss paint--and a lot of guts. I found a beautiful Baker Chippendale camelback sofa, with cool curved arms and a fat down cushion, but it was covereed in a hideous glazed chintz in the ugliest colors I ever saw. I found some great yellow wool damask to reupholster with, but it would have cost me $3OOO for the job, so I painted my sofa instead. Everyone freaked out when I told then the plan, but it worked. I was planning on painting my room dark green, so I decided to go with the red leather look. First, I painted the whole thing with bubblegum pink semigloss latex paint, using the widest foam brush I could find, and brushing it on in long strokes front-to-back and up + down. Think of that as the primer coat. I let it dry 2 days, and sanded it super lightly with fine-grade sandpaper to get rid of the burrs--there were a lot. When I couldn't feel any more sharp things, another coat of paint, spread thin. Dried and sanded again. Then spread--with my hands--a thin coat of raspberry red semi-gloss paint I had deadened a little with brown to make it a little less vivid. Because it was a deep color, there wasn't much white filler in the paint, and it was almost like a glaze or stain, instead of paint, which is just what I wanted anyway. I just smoothed it on, like suntan oil, and worked it into the pink paint. I let it build a little thicker at the back, on the inside of the arms and at the back edge of the loose cushion, so that the paler, thinner red took on an air of wear at the high points. I let it dry 2 days, then CAREFULLY sanded the few new sharp things, and touched up those spots with my fingers. I let it dry 2 days, then waxed the whole thing with regular paste wax. After it was dry, I polished with a soft cloth, then dusted with talcum, and vacuumed it all off. It was a little stiff the first few days, but now it not only looks like red leather, it feels like it. This worked great on glazed chintz, and probably would work on any smooth fabric, except that some may have more burrs and therefore require more sanding, but I wouldn't try it on anything with a heavy texture. And no, the paint doesn't come off. And it's not stiff, either. Think about it--it's latex paint, and essentially, that's what's in those little bottles of fabric medium. By the way if anyone finds this topic before he or she finds the picture that shows the finished results, it's over in the PicturesWorth album, probably at the bottom of the pile, in MAGNAVERDE'S SCRAPBOOK. Have fun. Magnaverde." ............. For those who STILL don't think you can do it and who need a little pep talk before you start, go to magnaverde.com and look for the link that says 'consult magnaverde'--and I'll talk you through it. It will cost you a few dollars, but of course, my advice is priceless. And besides, I'm cheaper than a new sofa. You can talk to me and then go out for coffee. Good luck.

Thank you for all your help and advice. The swatch arrived yesterday and it is (ahem) terrible. It is soft and not shiny (which are two requirements) but it looks as if the some of the color has been rubbed off. Very rustic and not what we are going for. Tomorrow I'll call for a swatch of the last sofa I posted and hopefully we will have a sofa in place before the holidays. My guests hope so too! :)