Quality of Pottery Barn Leather Couch?

April 1, 2019 1:30 PM

I am thinking of buying a Pottery Barn leather couch -- but I see mixed reviews of the quality of the leather online. I trust Ask.Me implicitly, so tell me the truth -- if you bought a leather couch from PB, how did it wear? Especially interested in hearing from people with dogs. I am in the U.S.
posted by OrangeDisk to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I owned a huge aniline-dyed leather monster couch from Pottery Barn for probably 12 years. I didn't treat it very well--I failed to clean and condition it except maybe yearly. It held up really well to dog and human abuse and but eventually the leather on the seat back and arm rests start cracking. I think that if I had been more diligent about keeping it conditioned it would have lasted longer. I figure 12 years life from a Pottery Barn piece is pretty good, but I don't know if you could perhaps spend a little more and get something a lot better. I think Pottery Barn quality has gone down a lot since I purchased it, but I have no evidence, only anecdotes.
posted by tybstar at 2:32 PM on April 1, 2019

I'm also not sure whether there have been any changes in quality, but I had one from 2003-2009 (it then had a second career with a friend who I believe still has it). My cat poked holes in the arms with his sharp little claws but my (small) dog did not do any damage to it. Very comfy, still miss that couch, would recommend.
posted by karbonokapi at 2:46 PM on April 1, 2019

I don't have one of their couches, but a good way to see how well couches hold up is to go look at a used couch on Craigslist (assuming that a model hasn't substantially changed over the last few years). In my experience, if things hold up well, it might make sense to just buy a used couch rather than a new one. Looking at listings on CL, you can also see how badly some cheap couches fall apart.
posted by pinochiette at 4:00 PM on April 1, 2019

Up until last week, we had one in our home. A leather sofa from PB two years ago.

Our dog clawed it up, as did our cat. Cosmetic damage, but damage nonetheless.

Our new sofa is made of a different material, and so far (knock wood), the dog hasn't damaged it.
posted by dwbrant at 1:04 PM on April 2, 2019