See the "hate brown" thread.

I love browns and stained wood but wouldnt want a room full of just that. Every room needs some black and white which are neutrals to balance the other colors in the room. I also dont like when more than 2 items in the room match. If you get two same end tables, look for something different for the coffee table. Right now I have metal in the gold tones for end tables and a fabric red/black ottoman.

creamy color

I'm strongly inclined to wood tones. But I do believe there should be some variety of finishes too..so I have-in different spots of living and family spaces- a glass coffee table, an upholstered ottoman, a rattan stool, a small gilded occasional table with a mirrored top..Every room needs some relief..

I dream of having something lacquered/painted, but I didn't find that piece yet.

I thought I did (a wonderful secretaire- I saw it by chance in a consignment shop, and immediately bought it for a song)..but my husband was so much against the idea that I had to drop it.

I did read in one of the books on design about the apartment that belonged to well-known designers(maybe Mitchell and Gold? I'm really not sure), and their thing was to paint all their antiques and other furniture in either black or white.

I like wood but I'm not a purists and it doesn't need to be all walnut or all mahogany or all oak in a room, although in the lr except for the Asian piece, everything IS mahogany! But that's the way it fell -- it really wasn't planned.

We do have a black sideboard in the breakfast room but it's not painted, it's ebonized wood from the 1870s -- so black wood furniture has been around a long time! We bought it not because it was black but because we liked it and we liked the price and felt that it would work in that room.

I don't think black or white is necessarily always the next answer. Another color may work. I think what looks best just depends on the room.

I know you mainly asked about tables, but I remember when I was working on our master bedroom we bought wooden dressers (used) and I remember taking a drawer with me to the furniture store to see how well it matched the Stanley headboard I really wanted. The wood colors did match quite well and I think it would have worked, but in the end we went with an iron bed and I'm still happy with that choice. I then added a skirted table to my side of the bed for a nightstand.

Oh, I don't dislike brown or wood tones at all. It is just that I really want a new nightstand and won't be able to match the dresser well. Would not have needed nightstand if I had not gotten a taller bed - do you see where this is going? One thing leads to another and I am turning into a look I refer to as "early American garage sale" . . .

i have a secretary desk with hutch that i use as a night table. it gives me tons of extra storage. it's a different wood from the rest of my bedroom.

In order to avoid the look of too much wood in our bedroom, we got night stands covered in a taupe leather-like fabric. IMO, it's often not the brown that's the problem, it's too much wood. It really helps to vary textures in the room.

Depends on the room. Most of my rooms have mixed wood tones, but there's always a painted piece or two thrown in there as well. I also vary textures.

My wood tones don't match. I try to avoid orange tones but other than that I'm ok. But I do like some metal on my tables - either metal legs or knobs.

When you're in a forest the wood tones aren't all the same so why should they all be the same in your home. It's like saying you can only have one green in your home which also isn't the case in nature. Rules can be a little limiting.

I love wood and in different tones. My living room has two end tables that match. I have a tufted ottoman and a long low tv stand that is different than the end tables but has a shade of color that is in the wood of the end tables. None of my woods necessarily match but do blend.