Cowhide Chairs
Buy the best cowhide chairs selected and recommended by interior designers. By Chloe Hughes.
Made from naturally soft cowhide leather and rich in colors, cowhide chairs are a quick way to boost the visual appeal of your living space. If you ever want to create a comfortable reading nook by your bookcase or need extra seating for impromptu meetings in your study, a cowhide chair will be a magnificient addition to any décor style. Here are some top-quality, genuine cowhide chairs that you can invest in.
Cowhide Chairs
Buying Guide
Chloe Hughes
Interior Design Expert
Chloe is a highly-regarded expert in all things vintage and antique. She’s excited to share her vast knowledge with readers and clients wishing to infuse their homes with a mixture of old-time warmth and modern comfort. In addition to her design work, Chloe regularly volunteers at her local community center, teaching DIY projects to adults and kids.
Back in the days, it was common practice to throw a cowhide over a chair to rev up the aesthetics and the comfort. The process was a little rudimentary, if anything. Just flesh out the fat and meat using a tiny draw knife. Treat the hide in the barn, throw it over the chair, stretch and tie it under the bottom.
Cut to today, cowhide chairs are trending again. And why not. At a time when most furniture bought off the shelf starts to deteriorate within months, cowhide is a long-lasting material that can easily sustain the wear, tear, spills and everything else that it will be subject to, even in a busy household.
It is hypoallergenic and with the ready availability of premium quality hides, there are tons of designs to choose from.
As surprising as it sounds, not all upholstery used in cowhide chairs is authentic cowhide. Some manufacturers use faux cowhide instead. It’s cheaper, low on maintenance and matches the look and feel of real cowhide. But it’s not even close to it in terms of durability.
Authentic cowhide is soft, thick and durable. You can select one in natural colors. For example, Holstein cattle with their large black and white splotches, Texas Longhorns with their random coloration and speckles or Herefords with their bright browns and whites.
Or you can pick dyed ones in bright and bold colors. Cowhide can also be dyed to resemble exotic wildlife skin, like Zebra, giraffe, leopard and Lion.
The use of cowhide is usually reserved to occasional chairs or accent chairs where the aesthetics matter more than the functionality.
However, it is also well suited for dining chairs or club chairs. Wingback chairs with the patterned part of the hide used on the rear look stunning. So do chaise lounges.
Ensure that all parts of the upholstery use leather from the same hide. Some manufacturers may use cheaper varieties of hides in inconspicuous parts of the chair that are not easily visible. This may lead to premature fraying or tears in the hide.
The ideal frame material for any furniture is wood. It is timeless, durable and blends into any décor theme. However, solid wood is expensive. Not to mention that a full-sized club chair with a wooden frame will be really heavy.
If it’s a high use setting, like a dining chair or a club chair in a commercial space, wood isn’t the ideal choice. Metal and plastic frames are lightweight and inexpensive. They can easily be moved around and are surprisingly low on maintenance.
Oh, yes. That affects quality too. Brazil is credited with exporting the best quality cowhides that are tanned using Chromium. Brazilian hides are suppler than the ones that are exported from other countries like Argentina and Mexico. And they last much longer too.
A lot of the cowhide that is used in furniture in the United States comes from Mexico. If you are unsure about the origin of the hide, speak to the manufacturer. They’d be more than happy to provide you with the information.