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Good Questions: Where to Find Cheap Upholstery Leather?

10-7-leather.jpgHello AT,

In the attempt to (relatively) cheaply yet stylishly furnish my new place I've been seeking used mid century furniture with good bones. The hope is to have all of the pieces recovered to kind of match - my fabric of choice is black leather. Any idea where to purchase upholstery-grade leather on the cheap????

Thanks, Tainu

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Dear Tainu, this is what we would do: first call Matthew Haly at The Furniture Joint and ask him where to look. After that we would scour these online resources:
www.justleather.com
www.weleather.com
Rich Leather
www.elmoleather.com
Gary's Upholstery - this is specifically for DIY'ers...

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I have ordered from Gary's Upholstery and can vouvh for them. They sent my vinyl so fast! I was amazed. I swear it arrived in like one day! Their prices are good too. (They were one of the few people who carried Naugahyde Zodiac vinyl- sparkle vinyl.) I highly recommend them.

posted by Emy on 2005-10-07 11:04:29

ebay, hands down. but tricky part is dertermining how much you need, since it does not come as standard yardage, rather hide size.

posted by jako on 2005-10-07 11:21:13

Good leather is not cheap.

posted by Lori on 2005-10-07 14:05:30

I second the ebay suggestion - I think the seller I've used in the past goes by the name of Golden Needle Imports (?) Sounds sketchy, I know but I was happy with what I got.

posted by elise on 2005-10-07 17:15:52

In Montreal, I phoned the local fashion school(s) and got them to tell me where THEY buy their leather from.

From there, I tracked down a local wholesaler. Since my prospective purchase was more than his minimum, he had no problem letting me visit. I asked him his opinion, saw in different lights, and did research on leather first so I wasn't wasting his time.)

You may wish to talk to whomever is doing the uphostery about what sort of leather THEY want to deal with, first. Nothing like buying a couple of cows worth of worth of lovely leather in a delicious colour and fiinding out that there's no hope in hell of fitting that to the style of furniture uphostlery you want.

Some are too thick, some are too thin, some aren't suitable for many other reasons (Colour match, stretchiness, etc...)

Also: You'll need more than you think, mistakes happen, new furniture happens (good luck getting a match 6 months later), and generally waste happens (When you find a huge scar from a close enmcounter with barbed wire right in the middle of the peice of leather, former cow, that was going to be centered on the couch.)



posted by Fred on 2005-10-07 19:03:10

Our firm has had good luck buying leather from Hightower Group http://www.hightoweraccess.com
they distribute Elmo Leather to the architects and designers in North America. They are professional and easy to work with - the minimum order is one hide.

Peace... Ann

posted by Annie Miller on 2005-10-08 15:47:34

My office recently bought a half-hide from Dualoy leather in New York...they're very nice folks and they have a wide selection of pieces. I don't know how their prices compare, but overall it was a good experience.

Their number is 212-736-3360.

posted by Emily Jean on 2005-10-08 18:11:06

I received a couple email asking for a more direct link.... here you go:

http://www.hightoweraccess.com/pricelist/leather.html

The designer price is $7.95 a square foot.

Peace ... Annie

posted by Annie Miller on 2005-10-11 22:54:51

WeLeather.com is high quality, great service and reasonably priced!

posted by Steve on 2005-10-13 12:57:52

great selection of reasonably priced leathers and vinyl


http://www.miamicorp.com/

posted by Dave on 2006-04-21 10:00:03