New sofas needed - leather or fabric? Where best to buy from?

[TricNorthCarolina]

Our faithful leather sofas are way past their best & we are looking for a replacement. We've always had leather sofas and am now thinking maybe we can get a fabric one instead?

We have a 7 year old, adult kids & a non-moulting dog (who is allowed on the sofas & has a blanket to lay on). No more kids or dogs for us either!

Can we get away with a fabric sofa now? What sort of fabrics are best for our busy household? I want our lounge to feel cosy & having really comfortable sofas that you can snuggle into, are high enough at the back so you are supported but you can also manage a nap by lying doing flat are our essentials!

We have a 1930s semi and due to fireplace & door positioning, we had have one 2 seater sofa at one side & either a 2 or maybe a small 3 seater sofa on the long wall. We cant have a corner unit due to the bay window.

Any recommendations for good sofa shops to go & test them out? Happy to spend a day trailing round lots of shops to find the best sofa.

Thank you!

It depends where you are, but there’s a company called Darlings of Chelsea. They have a vast range of fabrics of all kinds and their sofas come in different sizes. They’re online of course, but if you can get to a shop, you can really see the quality. They will send fabric samples too.

They have a store in Chelsea and there’s one in Ash, in Surrey. I don’t know if there are others.

We have a Swyft sofa (Model 01, I think, but we were limited by needing it modular as we have a tight turn from the front porch into the hallway which most one-piece sofas can’t do, I preferred other models) in dark green velvet and it’s held up really well. No children or pets, but we do eat and drink on it. I use a velvet treatment spray on it every so often which helps repel spills and marks, as well as buffing with a micro fibre cloth every so often which apparently keeps the pile in good order. Definitely comfortable for a slouch and a nap as well.

My leather very dark brown sofas were trendy back in the day. I grew to hate them but my god they put up with twins and two dogs. Swapped them out after 17 years for cream (!!!) don’t know what I was thinking. Superbly comfortable (Next) but cream was not a good idea

I work in the trade OP, and fabrics have come a long way. You can get Fibreguarded and stain resistant fabrics these days which mean you can just wipe with a damp cloth and the stains won't go into the fibres. Leather is hard wearing but only if it's good quality (and not Chinese) leather. We've got grandchildren and dogs, and have a Linwood printed velvet on our sofas which is bullet proof. It may be worth looking at second hand (something like Tetrad, Duresta, Wesley Barrel, Multiyork and getting it recovered) if you can't find anything decent new.

https://fibreguard.com/

Best sofa we’ve ever bought 20 years ago was a M&S Abbey flatweave fabric, it hid everything and I had a toddler, two dogs, 2 cats and a very clumsy DH. Then when we moved here a couple of years ago and needed another sofa, we bought the same M&S sofa in the same type of fabric. However I think M&S have stopped doing sofas last year. I also have 2 Laura Ashley leather sofas in another room which look nice, but I find very cold to sit on. I’ve also still got the original armchairs to the first M&S sofa in my study. So I’d definitely recommend a thicker flatweave type fabric as durable.