I overheard Steve and Bob this morning talking about taking me along to a couple of fund raising events for SSAFA, (check them out at www.ssafa.org.uk ) during the summer. I am so exited i could crush a grape !!. Just imagine, out in the open the gentle caress of a warm summer breeze, the sound of children laughing and playing, i can`t wait. Mind you this is Yorkshire so it will probably pee it down. Never mind its nice to dream.

Not so many years ago, Having a 3 or 4 piece leather suite in your living room was seen as something of a class achievement. All pieces of furniture co-ordinated and matching, in the same fabric upholstery. But times are changing. Here at Distinctive Chesterfields, we have steadily been noticing buying trends moving away from the set suites. People are now, it seems, actively looking for a group of individual pieces of furniture, rather than a suite of chairs and sofas.

The larger, focal point sofas, in premium, soft, leathers are proving more popular than ever, and the old wing chair is being given a new lease of life with contemporary polished studs and brightly coloured hides.

The days of the old antique green and antique red chesterfield suite is numbered!

A demic chesterfield is a sofa which uses the offcuts of leather and is not made using full hides.

Prior to upholstery, a patchwork or leather scraps is sewn together and laid over the frame. It is then applied- using more buttons that for a usual chesterfield so as to hide the hems.

The frames will usually be of lower quality too, as the point of a Demic Leather Chesterfield is not best quality but cheapest price.

The real problem with a demic, though, will only become apparent over time. The stiching can pull and work loose- leaving unfixed holes on the sofa, which then let in dirt and grime and can rot away the sofa from the inside.

For a comparison- for a full hide 4 seat sofa in good quality antique hide you can expect to pay £1,000- £1,500 whereas the value if a demic of the same basic design is only £300- £400

The old saying does stand true here- you get what you pay for!

The problem with a Leather Chesterfield is that a good portion of the price you pay is for the bits you cant see rather than the bits you can, which is why i decided to write this article to let people know what to look for in a good quality chesterfield sofa.

Firstly, the easy bits to spot-

Is it real leather?

the easiest way to find out is to ask or smell.

Is it a demic?

This is also fairly easy to spot. Look at the arm from the front. Is the last button on the top of the arm or the outside of the arm? if the top then the leather is full hide, if on the side then the sofa is a demic. These are much cheaper in price and quality. I will post more on this later.

Other than that, without pulling the thing apart, check the weight- the heavier the better, and check the reputation of the seller- and bear in mind that many sellers DONT have anything to do with the manufacturing process, they just buy and sell