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You know, I've been looking for a distressed leather chair like that for a couple of years after sitting in one similar owned by my friend.

I wouldn't recover it if you can get away with it.

Keep in mind Anthropologie would sell a chair like that for $2000. At least.

if you're going to invest in getting it recovered - i think spend the extra dollars to do it in leather as it will look beautiful.

this chair would look great with a sheepskin on it.

My estimate - to have it reup. in leather $1300 and up - that would in the Philadelphia area. Good Luck

You could go with the "English Country House" look and upholster only the seat and footrest cushion in a nice heavy tapestry or chenille and leave the body of the chair and ottoman alone...

get it restored..its probably not as comfortable as it could be but if you restore it it will still retain some of its distressed charm! In the interim i would throw a plus throw on the cushions in a gray or navy...

and what i mean by plus is PLUSH...

i agree with patrickmc....

If it was mine, I'd leave it as is.

I like it the way it is.

Another vote for leaving it as is.

leave it, love it.

I'd leave it as it. However, I can't tell if that's a large tear on the ottoman or a shadow. If it's a tear, I would fix that. I love the texture and age of the chair. Restoration Hardware sells similar chairs that look aged, but are over $2K.

repair it if at all possible - it's beautiful as-is

Tracy here - Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I'm really glad to hear people like it as is; the only thing I've been worried about is that there are a lot more tears than are obvious in the photo. Probably about 50% of the creases you see actually go all the way through, plus there's a button that's broken, a place where the top seam has come unsewn -- just making sure it doesn't come apart is my main concern. I didn't realize that there was any chance at all that it could be repaired or restored, though, so I'll look into that. And yes, putting various throws over it has been my main strategy so far. :) Thanks again!

We have the same chair! It was in terrible shape and I took some shoe polish and saddle soap to it and it looks great and is softer than when we first got it. We have a lot of scuffs and scratches on it but the black polish cleaned it up. Lanolin based leather dressing keeps it from cracking more. We keep a fur throw on it and it looks luxurious.

I love a distressed chair as much as the next person but shabby isn't always sheik. If there are tears multiple tears in the leather i would venture a guess that repairing it is going to cost very similar to recovering and the leather will be weaker.
I would suggest recovering it in leather. Just pick a decent leather to recover it in. If you pick a waxed leather you will get a distressed look fairly quickly.
The key to keeping leather supple and soft and supple in warmer temperatures is using a leather conditioner about once a month. It is easy to do and will keep leather from drying and cracking. It works the same way as hand lotion. (leather is a skin)
I always recommend staying away from saddle soap as it is not intended for the finishes of upholstery grade leather.
Take care of leather from the start and it will last forever, neglect it and consider it ruined in a few years.

toss.

Keep! My vote - But I would recover the seat and the top of the foot cushion with an already distressed leather of a similar colour.

On a slightly different topic -
Where does one buy a good quality leather conditioner, suitable for upholstery grade leathers? I have a long bank of southern exposure windows, and my leather couch is drying and fading in the sunlight.

Keep it! don't do anything, I love the beat up look of distressed/used leather.

My dad had a chair just like that since before I was born - I don't think it survived the last move. He loved that thing, and I have so many sensory memories associated with it - how it smelled, the feel of the leather, the squeaky wheels on the ottoman...

If you can't get it restored for a reasonable price, do your best to fix the bad spots and go over it with some saddle soap and oil and/or shoe polish. It's definitely a keeper!

No idea of how much it would cost to restore, but you can probably get a ballpark estimate on the phone from someone who does it near you. (Or maybe by email, where you could send the photo.)

Maybe they could take the seat cushion and ottoman and just remove and replace the surface portions, and then treat the back to make it look refreshed.

If it turns out to be too expensive, You could make a panel of tapestry fabric that works with your room that is the wideth of the seat, long enough to tuck under the front of the seat cushion, tuck behind it, then drape over the back and overhang enough to not pull off. (peel and stick velcro might help.) Shoe polish on the ottoman, maybe...

Love your chair!

I love it just the way it is.

Keep it keep it keep it! I'll do the job.
Goto my website and contact me. I'll give you a quote.
www.properfurniture.net

Never throw away good old furniture people!

that's beautiful leather.

We were just looking at reupholstering a similar chair and ottoman in Sacramento. We were given an estimate of $80 per yard of fabric for labor, plus the cost of the fabric, plus $75 per cushion for new foam cushions. We were told it would take about 9 yards of cloth to redo, so the cost would have been $720 in labor, $150 for new foam cushions, plus the fabric cost which would have been at least another $100. Using leather made it much more expensive (I recall it doubling the total cost). Hope that helps.