apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Not too much, especially since the dining table base is iron.

You're good. (imho)

Btw, that credenza is bee-yoo-tee-full.

And I think the variety of "mass" of the pieces will keep it from looking "all off one truck". But if you are really concerned, consider a tall home office credenza as you desk. But same wood tone.

But maybe watch the next layer of wood... coffee table, side tables... maybe they need to be iron and glass, for example.

Althought there is a very boxy all dark wood coffee table at Mitchell Gold that would look awesome with what you've already collected.

I think you should either match all of the wood in a single room to the greatest extent possible, or you should go with something else entirely. Having light, medium and dark wood all within the same space looks odd. Instead, I would go with gloss, enamel, plastics, stainless, etc.

That's what they are proposing, not mixing wood tones.

This is a rhetorical question, right?

I think it will be fine - if your sofa is red, that's one of the largest items in the room and it's not the same color as the rest of your pieces.

In any case, it sounds like you've already got/ordered all your furniture. Might as well wait for it to be all in place and see if the brown is overpowering. If it does seem like a bit much, I think a nice, contrasting runner or tablecloth on the dining table would solve your problem easily.

I sympathize with the "too much brown" syndrome. It seems like every piece of furniture in our living room is wood and most of it is in the same deep color. This is because most of it was inherited from my wood furniture-crazed parents. I have been making a conscious effort to break it up as time and money allows with new pieces or new finishes and it really makes the room more interesting. I'm not sure gloss white would work with your other furniture, but the red west elm desk might look nice with your red sofa. More glass or metal will also help. With the soft furnishings that you mention, however, it sounds like there is a good amount of variety in your room already.

Your responses are reassuring. I'm in the process of staining different woods to match (all dark brown) and I was beginning to get nervous and have the same question as the original poster.

Deep breath. OK then. Does everyone really think it'll be OK?

I went through a "too brown" period. My home is inherently brown (wood floors, natural chestnut moldings, built in wood cabinets) and my largest piece of furniture is a brown leather sectional. I looked around one day and decided that the brown had taken over -- but it *really* didn't take much accenting to make the brown neutralize. Personally, I love tone on tone browns with accents of other colors -- that's the great part -- I got a new area rug and a few throw pillows with plum/deep lavender in them and my room looks totally different (accents were sort of gold/cream before).

Even though your brown surfaces will all be around the same height, I think that it will be easy to "break them up" with your final layer of decorative items and artwork. And, yes, that credenza is really, really nice!

The problem with all this dark brown wood furniture (and accessories) is that one day in the not so distant future all of these rooms will be criticized here as being TOO Crate & Barrel, West Elm, Pottery Barn, etc. and TOO turn of the century (i.e. DATED). It's all going to be replaced by something new..don't know what yet, but it's coming. In the twentieth century dark stained furniture was replaced by the industry once by oak, twice by blond/painted and once by fruitwoods. Start to break it up now. Add a piece with a mixed wood or painted or lacquered surface. Add a vintage or ethnic piece. Don't have all your bookcases, shelves and picture frames in the same dark wood. Don't' buy more than one piece from the same store to avoid the "catalog" look.

Brown can be a nice color. It still scares me however when it is not a natural material.

What worked for me is matching or chaining if you will with texture and color. A matte leather stone red couch, a matte leather light green seat. A painted light green table. A painted... and so on.

This allows variety while still keeping stuff together. The brown table has black steel legs. Black steel chairs with say red or blue legs would allow you to use that color for shelving perhaps.

Careen,

YOU ARE TOO RIGHT! This boxy dark brown furniture craze is VERY trendy and it will very soon be dated. I agree that it's important to avoid major trends and instead create a timeless and eclectic look by choosing a few items that you really love from a trend.

I also think it's perfectly acceptable - in fact it's better - to mix wood tones.

Anyhow, good luck Jen David!

Thanks for everyone's input. I especially agree that we're all trying to avoid the "catalog" look. I think the credenza is the only piece we have at the moment that falls into the strictly contemporary category, that might be the item that looks most dated in our place 10 years from now, I think, but we love it (and thanks P.TOO and robyn for the kind words). Our other wood side/end tables have some earned patina on them, it's a nice mix most times. We have mostly vintage and thrift store pieces (read: cheap), our favorites right now are some old Chromcraft office chairs in gray aluminum, we're using them with the dining table.

You've all given me some great ideas to help break up the wood-look and I think I will feel even better once the artwork is in place.