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wow, that looks pretty nice AZ – doesn’t look IKEA at all. IKEA is vinyl or leather? Your property looks so nice!
I’m not sure why guests are so so hard on the furniture – the place is unoccupied for 50% of the year so it actually gets much less use than our own furniture. I guess it’s the suitcases that thrash things – walls, baseboards, and sofas.
k9 – there’s an app called Dolly that I might use – kind of like uber for people with trucks who are willing to lift and move things…
Would you put a couch like this into your rental? I currently have very dark brown leather (my sofa looks like K9’s pic) and I’m wondering if this tan color is too light (I’m thinking of a little kid with a pen or something).
That is beautiful.
Even if I kept the markers out of my toddler’s hand, my teenager would probably lie down on it with his muddy shoes while I was distracted by the markers. 
I would. [quote=“chicagohost, post:22, topic:13792”]
if this tan color is too light
[/quote]
I share that concern. Maybe if you have the proper cleaning products you can remove some marker marks.
Check to see how the hide is dyed ? If they used Aniline dyes , then it means the dye was mixed with a bit of wax and injected under pressure to the hide . Other hides may just be dyed by spray coating and the dye does not penetrate through the entire hide . It can also be dyed by injection but without a wax mixture , but the due penetrates all the way through . You want aniline dyed because you can use conditioners to maintain the softness . You can also get pen and marker marks out by using a hair dryer and some soft rubbing of the area . These leathers are also not likely to crack .
You want to check if the quality of the leather is the same on the entire piece or if there is whats called Leather Matching . All it means is that the best hide parts are used on the front, arms and seat cushions , the back areas use a lesser quality leather but is dyed the same and conditioned to match the rest of the leather upholstery
It’s aniline dyed but they said the leather will wear quite a bit and to expect it to take on a weathered look. I’m afraid it will look a bit thrashed in a year.
Anyone want to advise on what to do here – I can get Catskills’ $500 couch new and not worry about it. Or I can pay a few hundred more and get that pretty tan couch (used). The latter will make the unit look a lot better, but it probably won’t wear as well as the cheaper $500 couch.
They tie breaker might be the decor of the space. Want to offer a pic of the room it goes in?
The weathered looked is what most aniline dyed leather sofas are meant to look like with age , just like a fine worn men’s leather jacket . With the aniline dyes you can rub out some of the fading with your finger over the area . Its a look that most people like and expect , so if you don’t want that look for your place then the other choices might be the best for you .
It was marketed as the Finley. I know the same sofa goes by different names, though. It was super firm but softened up well. The cushions are NOT removable but I like that. It always stays neat.
@KKC - When we bought our vacation home, it came with a good bit of furniture, including three off-white and three red leather sofas and chairs. The white sofas are in good shape, but the red ones are in the TV room and were showing some age. I researched online, and this company came up. I wish I had “before” and “after” pictures. The red ones were cracking and flaking and starting to look very used. I bought the repair kit, and the wine-colored dye, and in a few hours, repaired the damaged areas and had a coat of dye on them. They really look a whole lot better!
If you do end up using them, let us know if you are impressed with the results, too.
By the way, I’m buying an off-white color for the next time I get to our place to do the other sofas and perk them up.
I did email today and they wrote back asking for pictures and gave advice. I appreciated their quick answers. I’ll let you know.
I bought the more expensive, light colored sofa… hope I’m not kicking myself in a year. I’m going to look into that leather repair kit too as I’ll probably need it sooner than I want to.
I just bought a new car for the first time, and I immediately noticed this unfamiliar stress of needing to take care of something. This is why I can’t have nice things.
This is why I try to buy used things. LOL.
I would contact the repair place with a picture of that sofa - I don’t know if you can replicate the variegated look with dye. But they will be able to help you figure out what to do if you are interested.
Stalk your local Crate and Barrel outlet. I always find great deals there.
