How to Buy Leather Furniture for your Home

The dining room seems to be where all the entertaining happens. Whether it is for the immediate family, holiday dinners or intimate romantic dinners, the dining room is a special room.  When decorating your dining room, we often forget about the flooring and the area rug that goes under the table. Believe it or not, the perfect area rug can make your room feel casual or formal, just by changing the rug.  Here are tips for choosing the right one for your home.

• What is your family lifestyle: The beauty of authentic leather is that it’s a natural material that will get better with age. It will develop a ‘patina’ or a rich color and luster over years. If you have pets, kids, and a busy household, leather furniture can take normal wear and tear. Although, pet claws and certain markers and pens will ruin leather.  For families that aren’t as busy, faux leather furniture is a good option for cost, and wear and tear may not be as big of a concern.
• Choose a style: Leather furniture comes in a variety of styles to match your décor. Slim lined, minimalistic leather furniture fits a modern décor while large pillowed sectionals lend themselves to more traditional home décor.  Leather furniture will last for years into the future, so choose a style that will reflect your home’s decorative touch and tone.

• Understand leather qualities: Leather has natural imperfections, such as discoloration, veins and uneven surface pattern. When buying leather furniture keep this in mind that it is not a defect and rather a quality of the leather. When buying pieces of furniture try to buy them all at one time. If you order at different times they can have drastic color variations and won’t look good when paired together.
• Know how to care for leather: Leather needs to have moisture and care on a routine basis. If leather isn’t cared for correctly it can lead to cracking, peeling and lead to a breakdown of the leather. When buying leather furniture, moisturizer usually is given with it along with care and clean instructions are also given. Before purchasing, decide if you will be able to keep up with the care. 
• Buy furniture from a reputable source: When purchasing leather furniture, ensure your source is a reputable furniture manufacturer. Often times the source can use a combination of vinyl and leather. Since vinyl is a man-made product it will most likely age faster than the leather causing your furniture to lose its appeal over time.  When you buy leather there should be paperwork or authenticity care for instructions along with the furniture.When purchasing leather furniture ensure that you are on board for the reality of caring for it. Leather is a gorgeous material and when used in furniture, can bring your home years of comfort and beauty. Consider purchasing leather sofas that have zipper leather covers. This will ensure that you can replace the cushion at a later time, and not the whole sofa! Ask your furniture store if they have leather guidelines and instructions before you buy to help make your decision an informed one.
  Freshome reader’s what do you think of leather furniture?  If you own it yourself, what factors should others consider before buying? We’d love to hear your comments!
  
  
  
  This article is taken from- http://freshome.com/2010/11/08/how-to-buy-leather-furniture-for-your-home/