Michelle at Schneidermans's Profile

Monica,

The thing to watch is not so much the liquid but the heat.
The issue is not that the leather has been damaged, but the protective coating on the leather has. Top grain leather, as the ottoman is described by Pottery Barn, is not always a naturally finished leather which distresses beautifully and marks over time. In order to get that smooth, almost shiny look, that top grain leather has had a thin protective coating made of some sort of polyurethane (kind of like wood furniture with a lacquered finish). It is this coating that has peeled off. The best thing to do is trim the edges and seal them with something like a clear nail polish so it won't keep peeling. If the color on the inside is even remotely related to the color on the outside, it will still be considered a top grain leather. Bicast and PU leather look completely different on the inside than the picture you provided.
On a hot, humid day, the wood sealed with the protective layer and pulled it up, kind of like when you sit on plastic on a hot day and it sticks to you. The felt will help in the future, but so will watching the temperature and making sure to seal the edges of this so it doesn't keep peeling. - Michelle, Schneiderman's Furniture