STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Elle · Hermes

Grown-up furniture is expensive!

jj · Kate Spade

Hmmmm....because they are leather, I will guess around $2000 for the chair and $1000 for the ottoman. Am I close???

I guessed those numbers because that's how much our chair and ottoman cost - although that was five years ago, so prices could have even gone up (!!!!!).

I'm with you, isn't it INSANE how much furniture costs? But I think leather chairs are worth the investment - ours has only gotten comfier and more beautiful with age. And it really will be a piece you can keep for a lifetime. But shelling out the cash still hurts.

itsapinkthing · Coach

We are in the same boat. My husband and I just priced oversized upholstered chairs at almost 1k each! So I bet those are even more. At this rate I question our ability to furnish our whole basement...

Elle · Hermes

You're on the right track, JJ. It would be easier if we were just getting one chair, but while one is expensive 2 feels ...

. I'm thinking of all the other things we could do with that amount of money! We could probably replace the rest of the furniture in the entire house, and then some!

jettie · Kate Spade

Those are beautiful. I don't know if you'd consider it (I know it creeps some people out) but take a look at craigslist. I got an amazing leather couch and two oversided chairs that match and an ottoman for $1100. These were amazing, high quality leather (I knew I did well when I went to the house to pick them up - the house was amazing). The chairs were in their living room and barely used. Sorry for getting off track here but I'd consider it as another option.

But those chairs are beautiful and if you really both like them, consider it an investment!

Elle · Hermes

jettie wrote:

Those are beautiful. I don't know if you'd consider it (I know it creeps some people out) but take a look at craigslist. I got an amazing leather couch and two oversided chairs that match and an ottoman for $1100. These were amazing, high quality leather (I knew I did well when I went to the house to pick them up - the house was amazing). The chairs were in their living room and barely used. Sorry for getting off track here but I'd consider it as another option.

But those chairs are beautiful and if you really both like them, consider it an investment!

Oh I've been keeping an eye out, trust me! The stars just haven't aligned yet I guess - all the sets we've found are ugly or damaged by cats, and a few decent things were lonely-only pieces. We seem to get alot of horrifying floral sets around here, or those overstuffed monstrosities that look like someone sewed bed pillows all over them. Bad taste, my neighbors!

lynnie · Chanel

OH yes ! I know! Now that I'm finally looking at furniture, I'm realizing how expensive it is. But think of it this way... so much more leather and freight costs go into a chair than a leather bag that could be the same amount.

I've also been looking on craigslist constantly- NYC always has a fair share of wealthy folks unloading their fancy furniture at around 50% off retail.

Do you need two of those chairs? Could you get one and then mix/match with a fabric chair that is less weighty?

Suasoria · Chanel

It also amazes me how our perceptions of pricing changes. Years back when we wanted couches, we were thinking we'd spend $800 for a sofa, $600 for a loveseat. Then we realized what decent furniture really costs, and after lusting for many in the $2000-4000 range, suddenly $1500 for a sofa seemed downright reasonable, even though it was about what we'd intended to spend on both pieces...

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Yeah, as you know I sold high end furniture, so I know what those babies cost... probably about $1200- $1500/each. Just when the time is right, think of it as an investment and then cost per wear type approach, might make it easier to swallow. Also a lot of furniture stores offer 12 months no interest financing and it really is a good option as long as you pay it off in that time frame.

BTW, those chairs are gorgeous!!! I'm also in the market in the near distant future for a leather chair and ottoman, may have to look into these :)

ETA: also, just for reference, that lovely animal print combo upholstered chair I recently bought set me back $1000... and that was the tent sale price!!!

-- Edited by FashionPrincess on Saturday 28th of March 2009 02:28:52 PM

Elle · Hermes

Lynnie - We'd like two because we fear the durability (and inevitable reupholtering) of a fabric chair, and they basically forbid you to order one of these at a time if you intend on a set at some point. If they're ordered together, they craftspeople ensure they match as they're made.

Su - now we look at pricing at places like Pottery Barn and think "Hey! What a bargain!". We found a chair like this somewhere else but ever so slightly larger in scale and the place wanted $3k a piece, so the fact that these were less than that made me happy off the bat!

FP - if they were charging $1,500 each they would have been mineminemine! They're $2,300 each in the lowest grade leather, and that's already with 20% off the recommended retail. I think the tufting makes it a little more labor intensive which is understandable, but at the end of the day $4,600 for a set of freaking chairs is still alot! I bet you could get yours for wholesale though!

So I'm torn. They're very expensive, but they're perfect for us and would last a lifetime. Cost per wear - if they lasted 50 years, it would cost us 25 cents per day to have the set in our home. If you think about it that way .....

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Elle wrote:

FP - if they were charging $1,500 each they would have been mineminemine! They're $2,300 each in the lowest grade leather, and that's already with 20% off the recommended retail. I think the tufting makes it a little more labor intensive which is understandable, but at the end of the day $4,600 for a set of freaking chairs is still alot! I bet you could get yours for wholesale though!
So I'm torn. They're very expensive, but they're perfect for us and would last a lifetime. Cost per wear - if they lasted 50 years, it would cost us 25 cents per day to have the set in our home. If you think about it that way .....

Yeah, after I got to thinking of what I paid for my upholstered chair I was thinking that I must have been thinking wholesale instead of the actual consumer cost. Sigh, I miss those days of buying furniture for cost...

Vanessa · Kate Spade

I was going to say $2500 for the chair, $1500 for the ottoman. From what I've seen, details such as tufting really add to the cost. They are really beautiful though, and would be a nice long-term investment if you are certain you'd never get sick of them, which I'm sure you wouldn't (I don't think I would but my taste has changed a lot over the years).
I also have three dogs who love to lay on couches, so leather is about the only way I can give them free rein yet remain sane. I plan on spending a small fortune to furnish my family room as soon as I move... *sigh*

Elle · Hermes

So I think we found some sort of compromise! If theoriginal chair is the expensive, designer/runway version, then we've found a perfectly acceptable mid-range knockoff

at Thomasville of all places. It's not quite as sleek as the original, but it's even more comfortable and better yet only $1,600 each on sale, and I still get the tufting I wanted. We went with a nice waxed leather that will distress with time, dark feet, and distressed nailheads. They will arrive in roughly 6 weeks!

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Good choice! And thomasville is a good brand. May you and your chairs live happily ever after :)

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

Good "knock-off" Elle. I would have not been able to stomach the price of the original ones as well. A lot of my friends have been using Roomstore for furniture and the stuff they have is really nice looking and pretty good quality from what they have been finding. I used Ashley Furniture to buy my couch but that has been the extent of my furniture buying. I was going to recommend them but then saw you found the Thomasville stuff.