When we want to buy a new sofa, we have to choose from many different options. Manufacturers surprise with a huge variety of patterns, styles and types of finish. Let’s see what will work better in your home – leather sofa or upholstered in fabric? I will try to tell you what to look for when choosing a material.
The choice of material and trends
Often, the decision-making process is not helped by trends that change so quickly that it is sometimes difficult to keep up with them. Interior design brochures provide a lot of inspiration in terms of styling and tempt us with fashionable shades of colours that change every year. There are new fabrics with modern technical parameters that extend the life of the sofa cover. In such a situation, it can be dizzying to decide what type of cover to choose when buying a sofa. So how do you do it wisely?
Colour is not everything
If you are just thinking about buying a new sofa for your living room, you are sure to take into account not only what functions this piece of furniture offers, but also whether its appearance suits your taste and the whole arrangement. When making a decision, you check whether the sofa can be folded out to sleep, whether it has a bedding container, whether it has high or low legs, narrow or wide sides, a high enough backrest for you and whether the filling is soft enough to rest comfortably on furniture. These are the elements that affect the overall comfort of rest.
Another aspect is the visual line of the sofa, which decides if it will match the climate you want to create in your living room. The overall look is influenced by whether the line of the furniture is more rounded and softer, or angular, as well as the number of possible quilting and stitching, the shape and height of the legs and the type of upholstery. Contrary to appearances, this last element does not come down to the choice of color only. Of great importance is not only whether you choose leather or fabric, but also what type of each of these upholstery materials you choose.
www.homeflair.com Outer Fabrics
Leather sofa or fabric?
Leather or fabric – what type of upholstery will work best? There is no clear answer to this question. The material should be adjusted to your liking. Regardless of whether your living room will have a leather fold-out sofa or a sofa that will only serve as a lounge – leather will certainly give it a more dignified and classic look. The fabric, in turn, will make the piece of furniture visually a bit cosier and “clean”.
Modern technologies of fabric production and natural leather processing make both upholstery materials very easy to keep clean. Fabric manufacturers offer many collections produced with the use of specialized technologies, thanks to which, with a sufficiently quick reaction, you can clean even spilled coffee or red wine, using only a damp cloth. On the other hand – modern methods of leather processing allows for the impression of a “warm”, velvety texture, which completely breaks the stereotypes of feeling cold when touching it.
Remember that the same sofa model will look completely different when dressed in a leather cover and a different one made of fabric. What’s more, its appearance will also be influenced by the texture of the selected upholstery material and its parameters. Depending on the type of lighting, velvet and velour fabrics will make the surface of the furniture appear in a continuous play of light and shadow, enhancing the impression of three-dimensionality. The fabric will “shade” depending on the direction it is smoothed over in.
Quite stiff flocks with a uniform surface will fit well on a minimalist piece of furniture with smooth seats and backrests, while they will look less favourable on a piece of furniture with a large number of quilting. On the contrary, soft and flowing fabrics will look good on a springy and soft sofa with rich quilting and stitching, while on large, smooth surfaces they may slightly wrinkle.
All this means that the decision regarding the type of upholstery should be as carefully considered as the choice of the furniture’s function. The most important thing is that the piece of furniture exactly matches your taste or makes it look similar. Remember that just as there is no fabric that is completely resistant to the claws of our pets or the stains that may arise as a result of our little ones’ games, there is also no upholstery material that would resist the passage of time and be resistant to traces of everyday use. However, with proper maintenance and cleaning, both leather and fabric can survive in excellent condition for many years, pleasing to the eye and providing a pleasant tactile experience.
www.homeflair.com – Fabric Grey Como Sofa Collection
More furniture upholstered in natural leather and fabrics can be found at