Fabric or leather furniture? Help me decide.

Leather damages so easily and scuffs and tears cannot be hidden.

I have both; a fabric sofa and a leather swivel chair. Both have pros and cons, and there are lots of fans here for the leather.

One thing to consider is the sound quality of your room. Fabrics tend to absorb sound, and leather or other smooth surfaces will bounce the sound. Too many smooth surfaces and your room will be noisy. This is especially true if your house is open plan. An acquaintance had all leather furniture with no rug, and the room seemed cold to me, without the cosy feeling.

Can you not have a suite of furniture the same? Perhaps choose only one leather item. Add a rug and choose drapes instead of blinds.

We only bought our leather (Stressless) recliners at the end of a long day's shopping when we flopped down into them exhausted. We'd been looking for a dining room table but those chairs were off to one side and we couldn't resist. They felt so wonderful that we immediately ordered one each. Never regretted it. Still a treat.

Tbh it never occurred to me that there are different types of leather (I think I need to get out more!).

Thanks for all the replies. The answer to my dilemma still isn't obvious - your messages seem to be 50/50.

I'll give it some more thought and visit some furniture shops. I need to find a shop where they'll let me curl up on a chair and have a snooze - maybe then I'll have my answer.

Thanks again for your opinions. Greatly appreciated.

As with everything, I suppose it’s down to personal preference.
However, I’ve had both fabric and leather and for me, the leather wins hands down.

As with fabric, there will be different qualities of leather. We’ve had ours over 25 years now, probably a little longer. Admittedly, it’s looking a little worn in places now and getting ready for replacing, but it will be leather again as I find it much easier to clean.

I don’t find it cold to sit on in winter, nor too sticky in the summer except for the rare hot, humid days we sometimes get, but that’s easily remedied by using a throw on the seat. Neither does it creak, but again, that might be due to the type of leather.

I suppose you are more confused than ever now, supernanauna1 so my advice would be to try them out in-store, now we are allowed back into non essential shops, to get a feel for them and to judge the quality. Good luck.

I'd not want to sit on animals' skins if only for aesthetic reasons. Tightly woven strong textile is good enough especially when covered with ample washable throws.

Corduroy is pretty but is too soft for sofa covers.

I've always had leather, and have just rehomed my last suite with my son. I'm going to choose a fabric sofa this time.

True molly. Good point.

Leather for us,easily cleaned and no worrying over spillages.

Notspaghetti, I guess we wore shorter skirts as a girl, or even short shorts like hot-pants. I probably would never notice sticking to leather now as, apart from short shorts in the garden or on the beach, the top of my legs are always covered.

I'm not a fan of leather however I do accept that there are different sorts. In fact some years ago I bought leather for a project and had to visit a trade show which really opened my eyes.

My mother-in-law has a G-plan leather swivel-armchair chair which is pale cream leather and fabulously comfortable. On the other hand my lovely friend has a large 4-seater sofa that is uncomfortable and slippy (if you lean back a lot or tuck your legs up). I don't think either can have been cheap knowing what they tend to buy.

As a girl one of my parent's friends had a leather suite and I do remember peeling my legs off that in the summer. Also, the leather car seat of Dad's old car.

Horses for courses.

We switched from leather to fabric just before Christmas. We had our leather suite for about fifteen years and it had worn really well - DH used to treat it with leather conditioner a couple of times a year. But it was dark brown and we wanted to lighten the room up, so we went for two pale grey tweed sofas. I definitely didn’t want another leather one. Surprising the difference it has made. It is stainguarded but we use throws on it.

I prefer fabric and have a type of velour which I find easy to clean. My sister has a leather sofa which is uncomfortable, it's too big - I slide forward and cushions never stay put either. But it's purely a matter of personal choice, isn't it?

I have fabric and prefer that but it does need more effort to keep it nice, the dog makes a mess as does OH. I have a wet vacuum with a upholstery shampoo attachment and have to do the suite twice a year at the same time as the carpets. In fairness OH does most of the hard work.

Very interesting. Although good and bad leather is undoubtedly obvious I never thought of the consequences as such. My only experience is of visiting two different in law families and on each occasion I found the suites both cold and one slippery. These would have been 'good' quality. I have no doubt. Each had a couple of travelling rugs draped and I noticed they were used regularly. Might have been a habit or comfort thing, of course. My red velour suite is 35 years old and still going strong. However, am looking towards a recliner chair and, again, it certainly won't be leather.

Obviously there's leather and leather. Good quality is not cold to sit on or sticky in Summer. No need for throws or cushions.
As to 'tart's boudoir I can't comment as I have no knowledge of such places. Others obviously do.

Leather furniture? Tarts’ boudoir springs to mind especially if white and with fluffy cushions. I hate leather , but hate new furniture generally , especially if made in China, I

I like leather but we have always had cats which are invariably attracted to sharpening their little paws on fabric. Leather is one of those things that looks good even when it is worn but fabric just looks tatty.I don’t like light coloured leather though.

We chose leather for the sitting room in our current home, our sofas are now eight years old and look new. They are a fairly pale colout and wearing very well. I’ve never found them cold or indeed hot and they certainly don’t creak. Cushions can slide, we don’t use throws. There are no animals here but we do have grandchildren. Any spills wipe straight off, we clean and re-polish twice a year. I suspect type of leather and style of furniture makes a difference, ours are fairly soft and high backed. .

The conservatory has very pale cream fabric covered furniture. The sofa has treated loose covers which can be washed if necessary. The chairs also have washable covers, they came from our previous home, all survive mishaps from grandchildren, their parents and us.

Previously we always had fabric covered furniture which treated with stain repellent lasted well, no trouble to clean at all. This probably doesn’t help you decide, if chosen wisely both can be equally resilient to wear and grandchildren. It’s very much personal choice.

I dislike leather. It’s cold, especially in winter (or maybe that’s just because I’m in Scotland!), it creaks and is slippery. I can never curl up comfortably on a leather seat.

Dh bought a leather recliner armchair about three years ago. It had a throw over it most of the time and then we cut our losses recently and took it to the tip, as our cats had inadvertently ripped tears in it as they jumped onto dh’s lap. A waste of money.

I will only sit on a leather sofa if there's absolutely nothing else to sit on. I hate them. Cold, creaky and why would I want to sit on a dead animal?
Soft furnishings to me are sofas with washable loose covers.
Sorry but you did ask

Another vote for leather here. I've had my suite for 15 years and still looks as good as new. No worries about spills, stains and dust mites.

I put a throw over when it's hot and humid, so my bare legs don't stick to it; probably no more than 20 days in the whole year (if that)!

I've had leather sofa's since about 1980 and none of them have been a problem with heat/cold, nor do throws or cushions slide off. There are several different finishes to leather usually reflected in the price and depending on the finish can stand up to dogs claws etc. I've never bought a cheap sofa, the last one was 3k for one sofa and 2.5k for a swivel chair and so far they have no marks or scratches even though the 3 Pugs think they're dog beds and treat them accordingly. My seats all have a matt finish as I'm not a fan of shiny leather so there's a leather out there to suit everyone you just have to find it and no doubt the same applies to fabric. Each to their own.

We’ve had leather for many years and are replacing with new leather, never slipped, stuck, neither too hot nor too cold. We don’t have throws/cushions or pets, but it’s been through children and grandchildren, easy to wipe off or dust.

I bought dining chairs with leather seats - they stain easily and the labradors fur sits on them.
Fabric sofas been in use for twice as long, no problems at all and comfortable