Please add some photos taken in broad daylight with all the lights on. Show the seat cushions and any cracked areas. Taking the sofa cushions over to a window may help get good photos.

Is the sofa still comfortable? How old is it?

I suggest trying another leather restoration company to see if they can clean the seat cushions. You can have additional feathers or polyester batting added to the back and seat cushions.

If your current sofa is full grain why can’t it be restored? There are many grades of leather and full grain is the best- it’s literally the top of the hide and therefore the toughest. Top grain leather is leather that has been ‘topped’/ outer tough layer removed, and a new perfect texture applied. Then you get down to the dregs like ‘genuine’ leather which is leather dust and glue. Good times. I love my American leather sofa!

If you're in Cleveland, Sedlak carries Michael Thomas. Fish Furniture has several different leather lines at different price points.

Consider Hancock & Moore if you are willing to spend more. I have one and the leather is really nice and the cushions are extremely soft and cozy. The styling is more traditional on mine, but I think they do offer a variety of styles. Made in America.

https://www.hancockandmoore.com

King Hickory might be another option. I don't think they're quite as high end as Hancock & Moore, but good quality. Made in America as well.

https://kinghickory.com

apple_pie_order I will take your advice....more pics ...better lighting. AND THE SOFA IS REALLY REALLY COMFORTABLE!!

HALLET & CO. I THOUGHT aniline full grain leather was the best but I asked Roger and Chris (I was considering one of their sofas) this about their upholstery choices:

" forgot to ask: Is the aniline leather "FULL GRAIN" Leather?

Mon 1:19 PM

Roger + Chris

Some are some are not. I don’t really know why people obsess over the full grain terminology- it doesn’t have much to do with the quality or durability of a leather. TODAY after I PUSHED BACK THEY SAID "

Yes, I understand that but it is more complicated. Many aniline leathers today are still lightly finished which technically makes them sort of a hybrid. It's just not as simple as one category or the other anymore, so I don't put a lot of stock in those terms." SO I GUESS I MUST BUY FROM A REALLY REPUTABLE COMPANY....NOW A DAYS THAT MEANS I WILL HAVE TO SPEND A FORTUNE ....I MIGHT PURSUE RESTORATION AGAIN...BETTER PICS ETC.

The sofa is old; you are old (me too); go with Hallett & Co's advice. The sofa and you still have many years left. Remember Gene Autry and Roy Rogers and how they soaped their saddles?

Elcieg 😊

Hancock and Moore, and Taylor King, will BOTH give you a ton of options in both style and leather selection and are quality.

As to Michael Thomas?

It was a great brand, carried by JC Penny Portfolio. Wonderful and lasting construction, 8 way hand tie. What happened? When the JCP went under? They turned to Calico Corners which ......destroyed the brand in the hunt for pricing and profit. and the quality descended.

It is NOW M.T and I am not certain as good as the original.

https://www.themtcompany.com/locator/find/retail-partners/usa/50/14610

( I would suggest you avoid a 100% feather fill. Look instead for spring down.....much better for longevity and some support and LASTING cushioning. Remember-----you can't flip cushions with leather, you can only rotate.

I would go so far as to say consider fabric, indoor outdoor fabric has evolved to easy clean! Soft and luxurious as well. I defy you to discern a difference: )

JAN MOYER I bought the Michael Thomas sofa in North Caroline (High Point). It was custom. It was, at that time, considered a good brand. Then, after I tried to search for their furniture locally, Sedlak Interiors brought Michael Thomas in to their store. Sedlak, in the day, carried only high end furniture (not so much anymore)....I sure was not aware of JC Penny carrying MICHAEL THOMAS " Now MICHAEL THOMAS has "renamed itself to the MT Company. at the time of my purchase Michael AND Thomas were two people, one a designer and one was a craftsman. Their specialty was chairs. I think they are still considered good....but then everything has gone down hill. ....a lot of solid furniture brands went downhill...Thomasville, Broyhill, Berne, ...list goes on. Maybe MT went that direction too. Their site says " The MT Company furniture is a high end custom upholstered furniture company specializing in casual, yet comfortable furniture .. " Made In The USA Our products are proudly made in America.

I have two of the MICHAEL THOMAS "White-washed" adirondack chairs in my solarium....should have purchased two more!!

NOTHING is as good, made as well as it was twenty years ago. Not one thing. Exceptions may exist, but rare.

There is more soy in the foam, springs are lighter weight, made in China , not here, so even the best of the best ? ......the guts of a sofa have parts within , with lesser quality than before.

When my sister had a fire, we replace her Michael Thomas chair, with an identical. Within a month, the cushion was pancaking. Yes. from Calico corners. three cushion replacements later? We gave up. So...... I have no clue on the new M.T. or whether there IS even a leather selection at all.

Until I retired this past June, I sold hundreds of leather sofas every year. The best brand is Hancock & Moore, they build the strongest and use the highest quality foams and construction methods. Second would be Whittemore-Sherrill (who currently supply Restoration Hardware). Century and Taylor King are not competitive in price with those two companies (Century owns H&M), yet build quality pieces. Leathercraft is also well-made though their leather selections and styles are a bit dated.

Bradington Young is second tier along with American Leather and Smith Bros. B-Y has excellent price points but is not made to the same levels. Smith Bros doesn't use 8-way handtied springs in the seat suspension.

"Full Top Grain" is going to be a pure aniline hide - which are the finest leathers available however they are subject to staining and sunlight fading. "Top Grain" is typically a sanded and coated leather that lacks the fine textures of pure anilines but is more rough and tumble as its painted, so no sunlight fade and stains wipe off for the most part.

Avoid Bonded and By-Cast leathers .They are made of re-processed leather slurry applied to polypropylene sheets and will not hold up over time and typically will fail with strips peeling off the seating surfaces.

The real key is to check on cost of replacement cores. All cores wear out over time, but should last appx 10 years. As of today, most companies will charge you appx $ 280 per seat core, so one sofa will be $ 1,000 to re-core the seats with shipping and taxes. Hancock and Moore is the ONLY company that will replace cores to the original owner at no charge other than you pay shipping costs, which are around $ 100 to $ 150 per sofa. That's huge, because a quality leather sofa not abused should last 40 years (that's three re-core jobs). You can't just stuff foam and feathers in a cushion, they are all engineered.

Keep genuine leather cleaned and conditioned twice a year, and out of direct sunlight and it can be a buy once, use for a lifetime purchase. - Duane Collie

The KEEPING ROOM Thank you so much for your thorough reply....I "cleaned" the leather and screwed it up! (total stupidity)....BUT I am interested in the "core" ...it appears to me that the only thing inside my cushions (back and seat) and feather filled "pillows" ....is that a core? So Michael Thomas should be able to replace the "core"? That would be AWESOME ....Then the back of the sofa is all leather ....couldn't this leather be used to replace the middle panel in the damaged seat cushions? I am stuck for a reputable upholsterer....VNTG (Vintage Home) might be better than most...I am going to look into it