Leather or not, I would solve the humidity problem before I put any furniture down in the basement. Once you have that under control, sure, the leather/leather match will be fine.

High humidity creates excess moisture and condensation that potentially leads to mold.

When the humidity in the basement gets to high, it has to go somewhere. The furniture, wood or upholstery will start sucking it up. A good level of humidity is around 60% and not lower than 40%, as too low tends to dry out and crack furniture.

Consider a split unit. Worth every penny as it saves the room and saves the new furniture.

Thank you!

Both leather and vinyl will wear different when exposed to the elements. Leather stays supple by taking in moisture through the pores in the skins while vinyl does not. Although Palliser does a good job of matching the colors of the leather/vinyl they will wear different through the years because they are 2 different materials.

The basement should not be a problem for the leather I am just not that familiar with how the vinyl will age when exposed to a higher moisture content and humidity.

Thank you so much! That helps tremendously! I will ask more questions.

A portable dehumidifier only costs a couple hundred dollars from a home improvement store and can help keep the humidity within an acceptable range to prevent mold and mildew. It has a condensate tank that can be emptied by hand or if there is a floor drain, it can send the water through a small tube to a drain.

We have a Palliser leather sectional that is 12 years old and has spent almost 8 years in a finished basement (We move it around when we redecorate). It also is leather with a vinyl match. It has worn extremely well and besides a few scratches it picked up moving from house to house, I don’t see any issues.

The leather seating surface is soft and it has survived a burst pipe flood and the extremes of gas fireplace heat (when teenagers leave the fireplace on overnight) and chillier winter temperatures. We are in Southern Ontario so our basement does range in temperature and humidity.

We do have a dehumidifier that we turn on from time to time but we certainly don’t run it all the time resulting in some variance in humidity throughout the year. I have never noticed any impact on the sectional.

It has been a solid piece of furniture for us and has survived the abuse our kids and cats have put it through. .

Do you by any chance know the level and type of leather? Analine or semi-analine? I am so glad to hear that the vinyl match has weathered well. I am really leaning to that route because the back of the sofa will be up along a wall and most of the vinyl will be hidden. I cannot say thank you enough for the information!

Do you have cats or similar pets? If so, it wont hold up anywhere. On a side note, does anyone actually think leather is comfortable???

ST5330, no pets. Our whole family loves leather. I don't know if it os the look or feel, but leather was requested.

Patricia, I think I will be saving up for all leather furniture. We have 2 Lane leather match chairs that are 18 years old and are still beautiful today. However, I think things have changed a lot since we purchased those chairs. I don't know that vinyl match is made to the same standards anymore.