Go with the brown. Seriously, go with the brown. Esp. since you are describing this couch as a ‘good deal’ chances are the brown leather will be better than the black.
I have to chime in on the painting issue… My home has no sheetrock walls - all tongue & groove pine, painted an antique ivory color.
This was custom designed/built about 15 years ago - inspired by an old Tuscan cottage (all terra cotta floors too).
I can’t tell you how many compliments it has received.
Paint can work…
Go with the brown. I have rough cedar paneling throughout my house and it is driving me crazy. We’re going to drywall over it–that way, if we decide to go back to the paneling somewhere down the road, it’ll be there right under the drywall.
Oh, and accent with bright colors to break up the monotony of the brown.
With knotty pine walls he’s going to be hard pressed to do anything but the rustic, lodge look. Don’t try to turn a room into something it isn’t.
Knotty pine walls, brown furniture. Black is too sophisticated and sleek looking for the walls, and since they can’t be changed, go with the brown.
It’s difficult to comment without knowing what kind of look you’re going for. I agree that black couch with chrome table will clash horribly with the knotty pine t&g walls. Rhum Runner makes a good point about quality re the brown couch.
If it’s a log home look you’ve got going, I’d say definitely go for the brown.
I also agree with jasg re painting wood. The bathroom in my house was pine t&g panelled when we moved in, and it looked rather dark (the pine was stained an “antique” colour. I stripped it from two of the walls, and painted the remaining wood walls in a pale blue colour. Because the wood wasn’t sanded totally smooth, you can see the texture of the wood grain, and it looks very nice. Quite Swedish. However, this sort of threatment won’t suit all styles. If you’ve got the “log home” thing going on, don’t paint. If you’ve got the “so much tongue and groove that it looks like a Finnish sauna in a kind of 1970s way” look going on, then paint can lift the room.
It’d be a lot easier to make relevant comments if we could see a photo of part of the room, and of the couches, or similar couches.
People keep saying you can spice up the black with bright colors, but you can also spice up the brown. Go with the brown couch and add red, green, ivory, and maybe even a navy to keep the room from looking like a chocolate cavern.
I have black leather furniture and I regret it. I suppose maybe it’s just because I changed tastes, but I still can’t really get over the sophisticate when all I want to do is kick back and watch tv.
If it were me, I’d probably want the brown leather couch, and BUY the black leather stuff.
Sounds like you are really getting a deal on the black leather!
If cost doesn’t matter too much, though I would get the brown leather!
Re: People asking about costs
Black leather Sofa $599
“” "’ Love Seat - $569
Any 3 Tables - $249
As a package, $1299.
Brown Leather sofa - $799
I beleive he said that the sides are not really leather, just the parts you sit on. In case people were wondering why it’s so cheap.
I’m not looking for a rustic look, or a modern one, I just need a new sofa. And the walls, well, they came with the house.
It’s interesting that the weekday dopers have a much different tastes than the weekend dopers, preferring brown by a wide margin, and they word their opinions more strongly. In fact I don’t think a single weekday doper has preferred black. Possibly, I could get both, put the black one in on Friday night, and switch to brown on Monday. But at the moment, I am thinking brown, since there are more weekdays than weekend days.
I still have till this weekend to decide, in order to have the sofa delivered by Christmas.
I really appreciate all the advice, and you are all invited over to sit on my new sofa, whatever color, when it comes.