Room & Board Metro Sectional: Leather or Fabric
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Anonymous
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So we've pretty much settled on the metro sectional from R&B: https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/living/sectionals/metro-sectionals
But we are struggling with whether to get leather (Urbino Camel - $9000) vs fabric (Tatum Gray - $5000). We have a baby now and plan on getting a dog and maybe more kids down the line. I know leather > fabric when it comes to kids but is $4000 really worth it (most likely not)? We have kind of a small house so only one living room (and unfinished basement right now), so effectively this is the anchor to our space. I understand that R&B stuff lasts a pretty long time so I'm hoping anyone here can offer any comments on how their leather R&B stuff has held up. 
vs 
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Anonymous
| I'm curious how R&B leather holds up as well, and whether it's worth it. Personally I'm not sure I'd want to drop $10k on a couch in a house with multiple kids and a dog. Plus do you think you'd stay there much longer if you're a growing family? In which case the couch might not work in your new space? |
Anonymous
That's the other thing that has been bugging me. I think we'll stay in the house at least 5-7 years, but I imagine with some renovations we could make it a much longer term home. But how does one buy a couch for now for a hypothetical future home you have no idea what it looks like? Blech! |
Anonymous
| If you go with fabric, make sure to get a performance fabric. There is a page on the Room and Board site that lays out which fabrics are performance, Personally I like the look of the leather better between the two you chose, |
Anonymous
+1 If your dog will be allowed on the furniture nothing will remain pristine. |
Anonymous
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I will say that I used to love and trust R&B until I dropped a ton of money on a hardwood table and bench. It looks like crap. Price doesn’t always equal quality. I take very good care of my things.
Their leather isn’t magical. A dog and kid will leave their marks on anything. I do have a friend who has the metro in fabric and has a dog. It seems to have held up well. Whenever I used to visit, it was in very good condition. Can you use the 4K for something else or, save it in case of bad times! |
Anonymous
Which table and bench? What happened to them? |
Anonymous
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I can't speak to R&B leather, but as a general rule leather holds up much better to kid and dog abuse than fabric does. Our leather chesterfield sofa in oxblood, bought by my parents in 1993 and then given to DH and me, has survived 2 kids, a dog, and a cat and still sits in our living room. It was our primary sofa when the kids were little. During its lifetime, we've also had a leather Ikea sofa (which actually did great for an Ikea sofa--we had it for a decade), and we currently have a Crate and Barrel fabric sofa (3 years old) and a Room and Board fabric sofa (8 years old). None of these other sofas lasted or will last even half as long as that dark leather chesterfield.
I strongly recommend going with a dark color for a main sofa. Our C&B sofa is a lighter color. I figured my kids are almost grown and they don't spend a lot of time in this room anyway. Still, I regret this choice. Just with DH, me, and the dog using it most of the time, it looks dingy. The older R&B sofa isn't as nice/sturdy as the C&B one and was used more by teens, but with the dark fabric it looks nicer than the C&B one. |
Anonymous
| The main thing is I feel like fabric is so much cozier for sitting than leather. |
Anonymous
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You won’t want to hear this but the best fabric with kids and animals is definitely microfiber.
Leather problem - scratches look TERRIBLE. You can steam them out to an extent but not back to pristine condition. Fabric problem (woven like you’re showing). If you have any animal with claws it will get pulled - especially if you have a cat. Stains will be hard to get out too. Microfiber. It washes up easily and you don’t have to worry about scratches. Save getting a nice couch for when you’re past the kid stage. The stress isn’t worth it. |
Anonymous
Leather always wears better than fabric, it isn’t a room and board specific thing. |
Anonymous
This is false, there are performance fabrics that wear better than microfiber. May have been true a decade ago. |
Anonymous
Eww no microfiber! It looks and feels cheap. I would not got with Tatum. We had it on the Morrison and it pulled over time. I would go leather or pick a different fabric. We have the Ian sofa with orla gray and it held up perfectly! |
Anonymous
* pilled |
Anonymous
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I have a room and board sofa and it's held up pretty well for the past 15 years. It's definitely showing signs of wear now, but we don't treat it very nicely, especially with two kids, so it's done better than expected. We got a performance fabric. We plan on replacing the sofa in the next couple of years -- maybe when our youngest is 8?
I just like the feel of fabric better than leather. Leather is not cozy. |