It doesn't take much abuse for the beauty to fade very quickly. A single drop of coffee, a dab of butter - and the nice, light tan leather is stained forever. You can of course make strict rules for yourself and others about what not to do in that chair (regarding eating and drinking). There may also be treatments you could apply to the leather, to make it smudge resistant to some degree. But the best protection against ruining your leather furniture, is to buy something made with darkly colored leather.

When I say dark, I mean anything from a hazel brown, over maroon and grey nuances, to genuinely black leather. These will be excellent choices for an arm chair that will stay clean looking for many years without much effort on your part. Please note that nu-buck or suede is still very vulnerable, no matter how dark a nuance it is. This type of leather is just too open and will be blemished by even the tiniest amounts of dirt - whether in the form of dust or liquid. No, you should go for the more shiny, slightly polished looking leather when shopping for a leather arm chair. These have quite a bit of resistance towards liquids - which gives you just enough time to go get a wet rag, should disaster strike and someone spills coffee on the chair. Dirt in the form of dust doesn't stand a chance of penetrating here - it just lies on the surface and can be wiped right off or vacuumed away.

It is quite simple really: would you wear a white dress in the kitchen? If you were making gazpacho? Of course not - but that is the way you should think when you buy your leather armchair. For everyday use, light colors are just too sensitive.

This was a guest-post by Chris H, for homebuilderstips.com, where you can also read about wicker furniture, including armchairs.