A few months after we finished the reading room, we inherited a very beautiful piano passed down from Chris’s great grandmother. So the reading room went from this:

To this:

And it’s been like that ever since, while our cream Lily couch shuffled into the living room. Lots of shuffling. The problem with the set up above is 1. we actually enjoyed having a couch in this room and used it daily and 2. The piano and shelves are competing. A few weeks ago, we set out a plan to rework the room, fitting the piano onto the far wall with bookshelves surrounding it–feeling very inspired by this photo. We’ll move the couch back in the reading room and the plan was to get a couple of leather chairs for the living room. Well, the whole process has kind of been quickened because over the weekend we found this guy:

We were browsing a name-brand furniture outlet store (Downeast Home for all you locals) and I spotted it from across the room. It was deep and had that expensive worn leather look. Chris sat in it and got the biggest smile on his face. One of the rules of the store is, I guess, they can’t tell you where the furniture is originally from. They are usually floor models from big names though and having been looking at leather chairs for months now, I had my money on either the Restoration Hardware Maxwell or the Pottery Barn Turner. Either way, it was marked at $750–a steal for this size of chair and quality of leather. We immediately grabbed a sales associate to see if they had two, but unfortunately this was the only one they had. We bought it on the spot hoping we could find its match. They wrapped it up for us and when we got it home, we turned it every which way and discovered a Pottery Barn label underneath. It WAS the Turner! Specifically in the Crackled Walnut Leather finish. It was one of the chairs I had pinned and had my heart set on.

The leather is so deep and rich–you can see some of that warm leather color and the wear on the back. We plan on conditioning it a bit, but actually embracing those imperfections, too. When we saw the chair is $1700 new, we cringed a bit because we the living room is begging for two, but we’re also thankful we got one for so cheap because at least it put this chair around our budget now.

Our original budget was $2000 for BOTH chairs, but $2400 for two of these doesn’t sting too bad. If $1700 leather chairs aren’t in your budget, I’ve rounded up a few of my favorites in a wide range of prices:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Something for everyone, I hope! One thing to remember is usually, but especially for leather, you get what you pay for. Leather comes in a variety of ranges from faux to bi-cast to top grain, which not only factors into how they feel and look, but how they wear as well.

We’re squirreling away money here and there for a match to our find, but couldn’t be more thrilled with the way the living room is shaping up with the new, cozy leather and the addition of the window! We finished up trimming and painting and caulking and dressing that over the weekend and will share all of those details tomorrow!