Refurbished Our Leather Couch

We have had a leather couch, chair, and ottamon  that we bought way back in 2005 when a local furniture store was going out of business. It was a big purchase back then for us. I thought it was outrageously priced even on sale, but we had decided after much research that we were getting a quality piece of furniture.

I will stand by that decision today. It is like the old saying you get what you pay for.

After 12 years and lots of teenagers and dogs, I think it has held up pretty well.

This is it before the refurbish.

Doesn't look bad from afar, but if you look at the front seams on the closeups you will be able to see the wear and tear.

I will show you some closeups as well.

It has begun to show signs of wear some of which are due to my slacking on cleaning and conditioning it, but the biggest thing was the chair. My husband sits in it daily and it has basically conformed to his body and of course he leans to one side and it sits lopsided.

The chair was way worse than the couch.

So begins the idea that you need something new and of course you see all the new things out there and you begin to wonder if you need something totally different. After some searching and thinking about it, I first came to the conclusion that leather was a must for us.

One I would never ever be able to keep a light colored couch clean - I don't care what kind of spray finish is put on it. I would die with white slipcovers no matter how stylish they are. They just wouldn't work in my house.

Then  I began pricing new leather couches. Still expensive.

Two other things played into my decision to refurbish. I loved the style of mine and I had trouble finding something similar. Either too modern which wouldn't fit in the room or really big ones. I also brought home samples with colors. I thought about maybe going with more of a tan so it would be more neutral and then I could play the pillow switch out that everyone does.

I was never sure I loved the color of ours UNTIL I brought in the samples. I didn't like any of them. I finally realized all these years that I really liked the color of mine even though there are none out there in ANY magazines the same as mine.

I especially have been pleased when I changed out some things in the room and added blue. I think I had always been trying to keep it neutralized rather than accenting if that makes sense.

After I made the decision that I liked it, I looked into finding someone to give me a quote to refurbish and if it would look good, etc.


The guy that did it came by and gave me a quote and raved both the day he came to give me a quote and the day he worked on it about the quality of the leather. He said it was much better than a lot of the new stuff and that it is leather all over and that many have vinyl backs or sides.

Anyway for $700 I have a new looking couch and chair. I was super pleased. He pulled out each cushion and added new stuff to it the old. He said it was like putting pajamas on a bear to get it back in. I had no idea that the backs have zippers at the very bottom so that the cushions on the backs are removable. He cleaned it for hours and then restrained it. He says the stain will hold up better than the new because in the factory they spray them and he rubbed it in.

This picture was taken immediately upon leaving. He had moved the items all close together so he wouldn't mess up the whole room.

The backs are stuffed to the brim.

Leather is a difficult choice, but if you make it you need to like it for a long time. You can buy an upholstered couch for less and change out more often.

I did condition mine very regularly until about three years ago when life just got too busy. I think the leather would not have looked so poorly if I had kept that up. The stuffing probably would have needed help either way.

The guy that did mine recommends conditioning once a month and cleaning every three months. He says not buy the products that have cleaner and conditioner in one bottle.
I will be a little more diligent with it this time around, but I am pretty sure I will have this couch and chair for another decade plus. Like I said you better like your choice. If you do, then the extra money is worth it.

I am keeping them covered during the day for the doggies👍