It's a stereotype, of course, but one that we'll go with just for a moment - the first time sofa buyer who goes for black leather as the upholstery of choice - the perceived staple of bachelor/ette pads everywhere. Whether or not this is true is a debate for another day, but what IS true is that it can be a challenge to elegantly incorporate black furniture into a room.
We rounded up a few examples of rooms where it works and looked at the reasons why. Here are a few takeaway tips:
• Warm it up by balancing with brown. This glossy leather sofa reads as cozy and homey, thanks to its placement in front of a warm wooden wall, an effect that could be done just as easily with brown paint. Via Living Etc..
• Make it just one of many black details in the room. To ground the black chairs in the design, Jenna Lyon's living room also includes a zebra patterned rug, pillow, accents on the chandelier and a lack painted doorway visible from the room. From Domino via Anh-Minh.
• Soften it up with unexpected textures and patterns. This very well known style of black leather chair looks unexpected thanks to a fuzzy patterned throw, a graphic pillow, mirrored and rustic accessories and a leopard carpet in the mix. Via Apartment Therapy.
• Feature it in as a major contrast piece is an all-light room. This is a daring way to go, but it's striking, dramatic and makes the choice to go with a black sofa appear very intentional. Via Living Etc..
• Pair it with a bold and bright backdrop. These black leather cushions are the tamest part of this tableau, which features bold white curvy white shelving in front of a bright green wall. Via Dwell.
If you have black furniture, share your thoughts on it below - how do you make it work in your home?
Images: 1. Living Etc., 2. Domino via Anh-Minh, 3. Jill Slater/Apartment Therapy 4. Living Etc., 5. Per Magnus Persson/Dwell
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In my day, plaid sofas were the bachelor seating of choice. Black leather is a serious improvement!
perfect post for my decor dilemma! i just moved in to a studio (i am a bachelor, so i guess it is a bachelor pad) and inherited a black leather couch. i have a black/white/grey theme going on in the rest of my apartment (i'm monotonous) but am stuck when it came to decorating the living room 'coz the couch is so.... black.
so thanks for the ideas!
Black is powerful, especially if, as most people, you live with light colored walls. I have always used a lot of black, since childhood when my mother's mantra was "spray it black or spray it gold"! (Gold was for small things like baskets or lamp bases...) Many second-hand furniture items got the black "lacquer" treatment!
Black looks good with nearly any other color/s, and has a lot of visual weight when you need a room to feel grounded. These days I have more espresso (brown-black) than true black in my life, which is a bit warmer and less "in your face", but I still love both. I usually try to have at least three blacks in a space -- but I do that with any strong color. (If I'm using turquoise or red, I want three bits spaced in the room to kind of justify each other as a deliberate design theme.)
Bright colors especially look fantastic with black, like the leading in a stained glass window! I say never fear to try it!
(However, overstuffed, puffy, black leather sofas are STILL bachelor pad items -- that comfort and durability at any (design) cost look is hard to overcome! Tailored black is much less of a difficulty.)
When we were buying new leather furntiture for our living room, I was certain I ws going to go with brown leather, because black leather had this very reputation. But then as I thought about it some more (and, admittedly, *overthought* it) I came to realzie that BROWN leather now has a reputation for being the leather peoplr choose most often because they're trying so hard to not choose BLACK leather. It's almost like... brown leather is the new black leather, and everyone's buying it up.
Or maybe I made that up. Either way, I went with the black leather and think it was the absolute right choice. Brown would have been to obvious.
Bookmarking this as inspiration. My bf has quintessential bachelor pad furniture - chunky, square, black leather, chrome, and glass. Meanwhile, I have neutral furniture, cozy upholstery, and lots of wood. It's going to be a challenge merging those!
Bookmarking this as inspiration. My bf has quintessential bachelor pad furniture - chunky, square, black leather, chrome, and glass. Meanwhile, I have neutral furniture, cozy upholstery, and lots of wood. It's going to be a challenge merging those!
I have a black and green living room with espresso wood, I have found having a lot of varying but complimentary green with different textures helps a great deal. I've never used black before in design and was very worried about having it dominate the main room of the house, but it compliments everything else (very open floorplan) and highlights the contents of our saltwater aquarium. I wouldn't trade it for anything else.
I don't necessarily agree that black sofas are something to contend with. Black is a sort of neutral after all. And as a married mom, I don't get the stereotype either. All I know is the black leather lets me rest a little easier when it comes to the inevitable spill or, forbid, run in with a crayon/marker.
I have had a black leather sofa for a decade. I love that thing. Initially I thought was a bit much, but you know I don't even care anymore. It has proven its perfection so many times. We have spilled entire glasses of wine on it, scuffed it moving, and piled on two plus size humans, a meaty little dog, and an angry cat. Everything buffs out with saddle soap and black shoe polish. I actually don't think I would even consider owning anything else.
My house has a lot of white, cream and brown and I want to introduce some black leather chairs for some contrast. Something similar to the Poul Kjaerholm pk 22 chairs, but much cheaper. It is so easy to get stuck in that brown rut.
That is a stereotype I was unaware of...a black leather sofa seems pretty classic, to me.
Ha! Yep, when I think bachelor pad furniture I think black leather couch, entertainment system, and lone torchiere.
Doesn't seem all that hard to deal with—srsly, look at your advice, "use brown," "used bright colors," "use other black things," "use no other black things (white/neutrals)," "use patterns"? What else is left, exactly?
... but I want to say that I don't think "wood" and "brown paint" would have the same effect at all, whether or not it's as a backdrop to a black sofa. o.o
I second lepidoptery... everything looks great with a black leather sofa. It's not that hard.
I want to see a post on how to make something REALLY ugly look good. Like those plaid and wood sofas mentioned above.
@laurakz
That would be fun, but I think for most ppl it would be easier to replace the sofa rather than decorate around it (ultimately, probably cheaper, too?) Unless they had some reason to keep it, like maybe it were super comfortable (is such a thing possible???)
Ditto on missing this stereotype, but it must be why the salesperson at Room & Board tried so hard to convince me to go with brown leather for my couch. I'm so glad I followed my gut and went with black leather--it looks fantastic and clean whereas I think brown would have been pedestrian and muddled.
I WOULD'NT TRADE MY 2 LEATHERS SOFAS FOR NOTHING. BOTH BY ZANOTTA -BLK MILANO AND WHT TUFFTED BAROCCO...THREW ON SEVERAL OVERSIZED RICH DEEP PURPLE MOHAIR VELVET PILLOWS AND A LARGE FAUX FOX THROW...DREAMY!
that coffee table is great, anyone know where I can get something similar?
And we love our black leather sectional, numerous spills and a dog and it still looks great..
Black sofa's are always classic, they are not just the the perceived staple of bachelor/ette pads - if you visit chesterfield settee you will see a large range of black settee's.