I love dark wood. We have many antique wood pieces and several of those are dark wood. If that's what you are talking about, I will always love it. Painted black furniture, while I like it, has never really been a fit in our home. Ilove it in other's homes, but just don't see it with our *stuff*. Same with the painted white furniture. I love cottage, but all that white would never work for us. We have light colored walls in all our rooms and I love the contrast with the dark and medium toned woods we have.

tina

I went with a lot of very dark wood in this house--now three years old. I find that when I see fine, dark wood, it still consistently gives me that OMG start that I don't get from other finishes. Sometimes I think this is because I've had so many white kitchens and so much white, painted trim that I overdosed on white and am having a reaction formation. LOL. I would like to incorporate some painted Swedish or French finishes occasionally, but haven't found anything that would integrate well, to date.

Just the opposite, actually :~)
Back in 1989 when the whitewashed furniture was just taking off, we commissioned a furniture maker to make us a hand carved dining room table, 6 chairs, sofa table, coffee and end table in it. They were gorgeous. Actually, they're still gorgeous, just yellowed from age and out on my front portal at the moment. After about ten years, they'd started looking very dated and the white really does yellow. Our "new" pieces are all mahogany or dark cherry. Most are from the Thirties and look timelessly gorgeous . . . to us, anyway. I still love white painted furniture, but I think I'm over having it in my own home now.
Lynn

I should have been more specific. I love our dark antique pieces and wouldn't trade them for the world (or paint over them). I'm talking more about the 'Espresso' type finishes from Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware etc. The more mass produced new stuff.

I have a few new dark pieces from Bombay before it closed & I'm not nearly as drawn to them as I once was. Maybe it's the 1' layer of dust that is so obvious on these deep dark finishes I take off of them weekly:)

Well, yes ... In all honesty, I've never been crazy about the mass-produced furniture in the "Espresso" type finishes that you're talking about. To me, it has a very definite look about it that isn't timeless, but trendy. Nothing wrong with that necessarily - it just doesn't really do anything for me, and it seems like it has worn out its welcome a bit, as I still see it everywhere. (Lots of it on Craig's List too ...)

Hi Ttodd.

"For every Action there is an equal and opposite Reaction."
--Newton's Third law of Motion

Therefore:

Spiky-legged Sputnik Modern--->"Mediterranean"

Stripped pine & macrame--->High Tech

Peach & seafoam---->Jewel Tones

Barbara Barry all Beige rooms----MCM Funky

Joint-compound "Tuscan"---->????

-----------------------
No wonder you're tired of Espresso finishes. You're supposed to be tired of them.

I just built a house and had my cabinets done in a tobacco stain. I wanted something to contrast nicely with my natural cherry floors and pale wood just leaves me cold. Was also looking for a more contemporary look and think the dark stain does that in the kitchen.

As I consider furniture for the rest of the house, I am faced with the same problem...cherry floors everywhere, don't like light wood (makes me think of the "blonde" furniture from a decade or two ago) and white feels too cottage-y. Everything in between seems too close-but-not-quite to the floors. What to do??

I am getting ready to buy bookcases and was thinking of a dark wood or even metal to balance the visual weight of the ebony grand piano on the opposite side of the room. IabsolutelyKWYM about the espresso stain being a bit trendy, but I just don't see how I have a choice...

magnaverde, that cover...I'd *so* love to read that issue! "Modernization Guide"? Do you have the actual magazine?

Oh, and I'm tired of espresso *finishes* on light woods, actually never loved them because they could be covering up a multitude of wood sins, but a *natural* wood that's dark, like rosewood or walnut or even natural finish (nonyellowing) teak? Doesn't get old for me.

I have dark, light and painted, but I know what you mean.

The other day I was emailing an HD buddy and told her I didn't want anything with the name merlot in it. Neither that, nor expresso.

Budget wise, I've had to compromise on some pieces but I shy away from those finishes. Made a big mistake with a large bedroom dresser. A furniture store was going out of business in the midwest and I succumbed to buying the dresser there. It was dirt cheap and it shows. My other pieces are older antique reproduction Henredon burled mahogany. Not a great match with expresso. Whatever they used for the veneer is peeling off and you can't even pull the drawers out.

That's why you'll never see a pic of the MB. Well, maybe if I move that sucker someplace else.

I love dark wood and always have. To me it is rich and timeless. It also mixes well with the antique furniture we have. I am now very much into Black Walnut, after making our new mantle in Black walnut.
I have in my future, two projects to make with Black walnut, an Asian cabinet for my foyer, and a new table top for my wrought Iron table base in our breakfast room.

My daughter's house has all cherry furniture and I think it is so gorgeous. She has an Kendall 18th century dining room set, how timeless is that? Since it's been around for centuries, I doubt it will ever be out of style.
Joann

Sorry I misunderstood you. I too prefer the timeless look and older pieces (wood). Upholstered pieces are about all I buy new. I almost always seek out old/antique wood pieces, so I never got on the espresso bandwagon. I much prefer a unique piece over something mass-produced.

Joann your wood pieces are gorgeous and I think many generations after you will enjoy them. Your daughter's dining room set sounds beautiful!

tina

After years and years of golden oak, I was ready for an espresso or cappuccino break. :-)

Jodi-

Another dark-wood fan here but not so much in my current place. In my old place, with all the trim and casements painted white, the dark wood furniture stood out. My new house has lots of original dark wood moldings and trim, and darker-wood furniture feels too heavy and same-y in the house.

I'm with Jodi. While I'd never get rid of my dining room set

and I put Golden (actually Merillat Cider) cabinets in my kitchen

I love dd's antique bedroom set (sorry for the mess - she's only 5!)

I just hope the tables that I'm in the middle of refinishing (yes, I stained the coffee table the same "chocolate cherry" color, just haven't put finish on yet) isn't too "trendy". I've just gotten into the modern/dark furniture now! (My family room is all oak to go with my kitchen).

I like good furniture and can appreciate it in all stains. My budget doesn't allow me to throw out and start over very often. Not that it matters, I only buy furniture with lines that are timeless and styles that I love.
Much of the espresso furniture is clunky and the stain seems sprayed on. I'm hesitant to say all mass produced furniture is repugnant but that's not so. But much of it is mass produced looking.
Occasionally I see a piece of furniture at Hobby Lobby that I like but would I ever buy it? Nope.
But I have a cool, cheap, mosaic table from Pier One that I love. When it's dated I will pack it away in the basement.

My style moves me more to a combination of wood tones. Not matchy matchy at all. It makes a home more interesting. I don't have one piece of espresso anything and really don't plan to.

Magnaverde, I am laughing at your hit parade of golden oldie styles. I remember them in their hey days, particularly "Mediterranean" coffee & end tables and TV consoles. "Joint-compound 'Tuscan'," now there's a phrase for you.

Not tired of dark woods yet, but prefer them with a mix of wood colors.

Gotta laugh about the "joint-compound Tuscan" - wonder when we're going to start seeing posts about how to get the heavy texture off the walls?

"Gotta laugh about the "joint-compound Tuscan" - wonder when we're going to start seeing posts about how to get the heavy texture off the walls?"

Haven't we already seen those posts? : )

The trick is to choose furnishings that you love, but that can also withstand the passage of trends.

Not an easy trick, to be sure.

If you truly love a piece, you won't mind if it goes out of "style".

Of course, none of this matters if you've got enough money to start fresh every five years or so.

Well I never really like the espresso or jacobean or brownish wood finishes, however I do have an entertainment center with book cases in a brown darker finish. I just couldn't find anything that fit my budget and what I wanted it was all $5K plus so I'm learning to like it and figured I could always rub some reddish stain over it since it is solid wood if it really gets to me too much.

I like both light and dark woods, but prefer them having a reddish tone. I also have very little that actually match.

I am still using my Mom's furniture from the 50's. Simply gorgeous. Cherry and mahogany living room and dining room. I have updated my end tables and coffee table and sofa table, but still with the cherry flavor and it looks beautiful with my oriental carpets. My furniture is timeless, and I just change the accessories from time to time. When I get company, and sometime strangers, I am always complimented/ But believe it or not, I just remolded our kitchen and I went with a country french cream cabinet and hardwood floor design. I really like it, but sometimes I wonder if I would have liked the cherry cabinets. Because I had the darker wood before everyone said go light and I did. It is very cheerful and so far I like the look of the hardwood in the kitchen.

I still love dark furniture. I think it looks clean and modern. Also love how the rich tone goes with my wall colors. For me it is (and always has been) about contrast.

I am really really over dark finishes a la pottery barn. I want my space light and bright. And I am seeing a lot of italian modern design everywhere.

I never did sign on to dark wood...not a natural-wood fan either, I just love a light to medium finish. In maple. :)

Susan

I've never been a fan of 'particuliar stores' that sell the dark *wood* furniture, but have always prefered older/antique dark furniture. I prefer dark wood floors also. Not to say I haven't seen beautiful lighter wood furniture.

IMO, the older stuff seems better made, except if it's high end stuff~Drexel~which is out of my price range. I've been lucky enough to find great pieces as well as great buys at furniture consignment stores.

No, I am not tired of the look of espresso furniture. I have all honey oak furniture and honey pine baseboard and trim and kitchen cupboards. I found when my walls were painted in a light green, I almost painted my oak black. I came very close, almost obsessed. I chickened out because of the amount of work involved in the job of staining. Instead I opted for repainting my walls dark and letting the oak stand out again. I know there are many people who do not appreciate the look of honey coloured wood such as pine or oak but I do have a renewed appreciation of such woods. I purchased some inexpensive parson chairs with dark legs to get over my obsession of wanting black furniture but all that did was reinforce my desire to have espresso floors in the bedroom.

I still love the look of my dark wood furniture, I just hate dusting it!

Nope, not tired of it. I like it! I like it alot!

I'm tired of the dark furniture. I was very excited about the look a couple of years ago but now it now looks very heavy to me. I'm getting my new stuff in light color wood like maple.

Ask me in a couple of years. I'm just getting around to putting "Silver Sage" paint on my walls with brown accents. :-)

I'm not over my dark wood and expresso phase. I still like it. Big fan of contrast. (My "I love light maple" phase just ended a few years ago. I think my cycles last about four to five years.)

I was really nervous to open this thread since we just completed our office in a dark wood. Though I do agree there is a big difference in the mystery wood with espresso finish and the luster of beautiful wood in darker finishes. I have many different types of wood and most all have their own charm. I love the luster of antique mahogany and walnut, the charm of dark cherry, and dark alder is TDF. My office is in maple with a mahogany stain which I was very surprised I could stain it that dark without too much blotchiness. I have a painted creamy maple built-in buffet which always makes me smile--perhaps because it is the only painted piece I have in my house. My floors are rife and quartersawn natural oak which I also love and my kitchen a natural cherry. I've wondered several times if I should done it white or dark wood instead--as it is close in color to the floors. DD's bedroom set is a natural maple which gives her room a more airy, less heavy look. The woods I do not like are oak--esp. like the washed oak bedroom set I had for many years--and that fake looking, high gloss cherry finish. As for the dark, almost black espresso that has been popular for the past few years, it just never did anything for me. I like a stain where when the sun shines on it just so, the richness of the stained wood just glows and black just absorbs the light. IMHO.

I was always into light maple until about 7 or 8 years ago, when cherry and other warm dark wood caught my eye. I don't like black so much, but medium colors will never go out and always mix with dark or light pieces.

I always think that hickory and maple look cheap (I know they're not, I just don't like blonde wood). While I don't have a whole lot of PB type stuff around, I do have a few pieces. I just purchased a trundle and bed for DS from PB because the style fit in his safari room and I couldn't find an antique with trundle. I purchased it in espresso and it blends in the room nicel with the mahogany armoire (antique). We have some gorgeous bedroom furniure (newer but solid sood) that is mahogany and I love it. But I also like a little bit of everything (except maple and hickory LOL). I have quite a bit of victorian oak, as well as 1940's mahogany and 1830's rosewood and mahogany. But it's al dark....I just don't do "light". It lacks a certain elegance to me (even my trim is all done in nearly black, so you can tell I don't do light pretty quickly in the house LOL).

I am always either far behind or far ahead of the "colors of the year"!

I have some black accents in the house (the black wood legs on my 2 club chairs, a black sofa table that is probably gonna be relegated soon to the finished basement, the black surround on the fireplace that was there when I bought the house, black-wood and black-metal picture frames), but the rest of the house is lighter: brushed aluminum and stainless colored furniture, including the TV table, which I had re-powder coated from black (!), the dining room table and chairs, the ceiling fans. And some maple (a TV armoire, a console table in the MBR).

I looked into getting some end tables refinished from a denim blue (don't ask!) to maple, but the furniture refinisher just shook his head and said they'd always have a blue cast. Bummer.

I just wish retailers would not forget the nice maple finishes when they sell the espresso stuff! (Some of the light alternatives, to me, look ugly. West Elm has a natural finish it calls "blonde," but I think it's way off.

But contrast IS nice to see. Check out the dark Parsons-type DR table paired with the very light chairs on the West Elm website

I just figure "real" blonde will come back soon, affordably. But by then I'll probably be searching high and low for the espresso!

Love the one you're with, I guess!

i will love dark (mahogany, cherry) wood until I die. Danish modern, teak or golden oak are not my thing.

I purchased a new desk and hutch for my office 2 years ago and it is blond. ($$$)so it doesnt look fake. I love it. I had a cherry set for 20 years and gave it to a new associate who needed a desk. While I appreciate it in his office, I'm glad its no longer in mine. The light furniture gave me the opportunity to go with darker more dramatic walls. Everyone comments on it because it is so different.

I agree w/ the mixing of wood in a range of colors. To me it just gives a rm. such depth. My kids 2 new (old) twin maple beds are still propped up in the DR against the dark quarter sawn oak trim and I'm always struck by how gorgeous the 2 tones look next to eachother.

I've never really been into the blond wood look.

My black LR lamps blend right into the 2 espresso (Cognac I think Bombay called it) side tables so I am looking forward to bringing up 2 oval shaped maple tables from the basement once we rearrange. Or (gasp!) seeing as they are not fine antiques I may paint them cream to play against my mid-green walls and all of the other dark wood and leather chairs in the rm. I have an old white tool trunk that we are using as a coffee table right now.

I've noticed more and more designers using updated white tables or accessories lately. Mostly I've noticed more pictures w/ white mats framed in white gallery styl frames instead of the black. Although the black is by far still the most popular.

I'm tired of dark wood because I have had it for 25 years. For a while it was out of style and I looked at some lighter wood pieces but never bought anything. A couple of years ago I realized that my darker wood pieces are back in style!

But I am a bit tired of the dark wood and I hate that it shows dust so much.