How to Soften the Look of a Room With a Leather Sofa

Colors

• Begin your room upgrade by establishing a color theme for your decor. Whether your leather sofa is black, dark brown or another dark color, surrounding it with pastels or light, neutral colors lifts the heavy feeling of the leather. Start by painting your room a neutral, such as beige or white with a slight undertone of pink, yellow or terracotta. Warm colors offset the coolness of dark leather.

Additional Furniture

• Upholster side chairs, ottomans and additional seating with soft fabric. Wide-wale corduroy or velvet adds depth to the adjoining seating areas. A loosely woven tweed combining several of your room colors or even duck cloth painted in the pastels you’ve selected will bring more texture into the room. Add a leather ottoman to complement your sofa, either to match the color of the sofa or in contrasting leather, and top it with a tray displaying colorful accessories. Use glass-topped tables that allow the eye to travel through the tops to a patterned area rug below. Open-legged side tables also create airiness in your room.

Artwork

• Select pieces of art that incorporate your color scheme and use wide matting for visual impact. Frame the art in your accent colors, being careful not to mix too many different frame colors. Choosing one color for all the frames while differing the frame styles brings your themes together without being monotonous. One large triptych, wall sculpture or painting draws the eye to the wall, preventing a heavy, leather sofa from dominating the room.

Accessories

• Place large, fluffy pillows on the leather sofa. Cover them in soft fabrics such as chenille, velvet or Shantung silk in the colors you’ve chosen as accents. Drape a loosely woven throw over the back of your leather sofa for added softness and color. Choose an area rug or carpeting that coordinates with your wall color to lighten the room.

Draperies

• Hanging sheer panels together with patterned side panels serves two purposes: Drapes provide needed privacy while sheers permit light to pour into your room during the day. Avoid the heaviness of wood blinds or dark fabrics and instead, find window coverings that balance the bulk of the leather sofa. Louvers or plantation shutters painted to match your wall color also lighten the feeling of your room.