10 Ways to Coordinate Your High Quality Leather Sofa with the Rest of Your Room
10 Ways to Coordinate Your High Quality Leather Sofa with the Rest of Your Room
Looking for some solid leather furniture design tips?
We created this list because we know:
Buying new furniture is usually easier than designing around it.
Whether you already have a new piece of high quality leather furniture or plan to soon, you must consider how it’s going to fit into your home.
Traditional leather furniture presents unique challenges:
The highest quality pieces are often large, threatening to completely dominate the space. Then, the best leathers often come in dark earthen tones.
These can seem like huge obstacles for the average person designing their living room.
At Wellington’s, we often encounter homeowners who are in love with a furniture set but are doubtful about how it will work in their home.
Well the fact is, it really comes down to you.
As long as you don’t try to cram furniture in a space that is simply to small for it, most other issues can be remedied. Aesthetics is generally simpler than people make it out to be.
Simply take stock of what you have. Then mix and match the following strategies depending on the space, its other furnishings, and your tastes.
#1 Nestle It In Layers of Other Furniture
If you want to make sure your new leather sofa or furniture set dominates a space:
Put it all alone with nothing else around it. This will surely create that suffocating, unbalanced look you’re going for.
However, the average person will find the space more pleasing if this large piece is surrounded by other furnishings. End tables, coffee tables, ottomans, and bookshelves are all standard. You could also consider more unique items—things like globes, grandfather clocks, and models.
If you really want to make your new leather furniture fit in, you have to be willing to rearrange the space around it. It’s that simple.
#2 Layer the Couch Itself
One of the most obvious ways to break up a couch is with accent pillows and throws.
This is a great place for contrast:
Light couch? Darker pillows. Dark couch? Lighter pillows.
You might also think of including any color, pattern, or texture you’re using as an accent in the room.
Just be careful not to over do it. Don’t forget the purpose of this piece of furniture. If you overburden it with accessories, there won’t be anywhere to sit.
#3 Rethink Your Lighting
Designers like to warn that large pieces of dark furniture have the ability to make a room seem gloomy. And rightly so.
If you aren’t careful, a dark leather couch can seem to soak up all the light in a space.
If you are eyeing one, consider how you can increase or adjust the light in the space to accommodate it. Consider both the day and the night.
Sunlight is obviously the best way to light a space during the day. (Just be sure not to place any of your leather furniture where it will receive direct sunlight.) Open blinds and curtains more might be a no brainer. Adding mirrors and other reflective surfaces can also help.
When it comes to the night, stick to what you can adjust. Overhead lights are generally stationary, so focus on lamp placement. Taller lamps with more transparent shades provide a space with the most light. Don’t worry about having too many sources, as you can always turn some off.
#4 Draw Attention to the Walls
One of the best ways to draw the focus away from waist-height furniture is to use the space on your walls.
Framed pictures are the old standby. Mirrors, shelves, and lighting fixtures are also traditional options. But nowadays people put up all sorts of hangables.
Whatever you use, be creative.
Humans prefer odd numbers, uneven layouts, and multiple points of contrast. So while many people naturally default to symmetrical designs, this can actually keep your space looking plain and inorganic.
#5 Add Contrast to the Floor
Another great way to pull eyes away from large pieces of furniture is by bringing them down.
Hardwood floors and luxurious carpets both provide unique backdrops for your furniture from a bird’s eye view.
However, most people don’t want to change their flooring just to get a new couch.
If you have hardwood floors or dark carpets, you want to stay away from dark pieces. Without adequate contrast, your beautiful leather furniture will be lost in the look instead of highlighted.
On a smaller scale, throw rugs can help to add the right contrast to a space. They come in so many different shapes, sizes, and texture that the possibilities are truly limitless.
You can also consider low-lying accents such as magazine racks and floor seating.
#6 Utilize Different Dimensions
Probably one of the biggest mistakes the casual home designer makes is not introducing enough sizes to room.
Be strategic about the width of the couch, the depth of your coffee table, the height of your end tables. Rooms designed in one size are boring. So mix things up.
For instance, use pictures of varying sizes instead of all one. Make sure your surfaces have different heights. Even consider placing lights at different levels.
Don’t worry too much about things getting too busy.
If you over do it here, it won’t be that hard to see or fix.
#7 Add Other Textures
Texture is the main thing leather is known for.
That texture stands out a lot less in a room filled with it. Luckily, the interior design world is chock-full of texture options.
We’ve already mentioned the contrast created by hardwood floors and plush carpets. The aforementioned couch throws and pillows can also serve the purpose.
You can also create textural contrast in a space with other pieces of furniture, different curtain materials, area rugs, and even items like lampshades.
The only real limit here is your imagination.
#8 Infuse with Color
The importance of color to interior design could never be overstated.
If you have lighter furniture, you leave yourself with more color options. You can stick to earth tones or use bold accent colors.
If your leather couch is on the darker side however, there is more to consider.
Paler hues on the floor and walls are crucial. It’s generally a good idea to try and incorporate lighter earth tones near a dark couch, but your accent color is important too.
The mood of a room is determined by it’s main accent color more than anything else. This is especially true when you have a large dark brown leather centerpiece. Be sure to select a warm palette if you the space needs to be cozy.
#9 Incorporate Different Patterns
No matter what palette you choose, nothing but solids will almost always come up flat.
Not only is pattern essential to a cozy room, but it is one of the best ways to inject your unique sense of style.
Patterns are a great way to invoke a particular time period. Or, use them to evoke a particular mood. Just like color, pattern is one of the most important ways to accent a space in a way that makes it truly feel like home.
Don’t go pattern crazy, but feel free to express yourself with a bit of mixing and matching. You can make it a core theme or a subtle accent.
#10 Throw In Some Other Organics
A little plant life is always a great way to liven up any space.
But add leather and you’ll really be onto something. Aniline and semi aniline upholstered furniture will really bring out that natural look.
For the foliage, you can try small palm trees, flowers, a cactus garden—preferably something that fits your overall theme and climate. Just make sure they are real. There is nothing that can make a space feel dead quite like fake plants.
Literally bringing more life into the room, plants can help you to appreciate the organic nature of what you’re sitting on. Plants also create a great opportunity to add in accent colors in strategic locations.
The right plant life can also add to the atmosphere with pleasant aromas.
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You don’t have to try all of these tips to create the space you want, but any one of them might offer the ideal solution to your particular design challenge.
High quality leather furniture is a great starter for a well-designed living space, as long as you make sure you purchase the right leather furniture for you .
What you put around it though, will ultimately do a lot to determine how you feel about it.
Hopefully, we’ve helped with some practical tips as well as some inspiration. If so, please like and share this post.
