Sunroom inspired pic

Congratulations on your new home! It must be so exciting to finally have your own place.

First, I would discourage you from doing all the floors black. This will suck up all the light, and very dark floors are difficult to keep looking good, as they show all the lint and dust. If you need to refinish them, go with a neutral medium brown color, which will go with any decor you choose.

Second, the RH sofa you have is already a fairly modern look, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Third, I would wait until I moved in, measure all the spaces, and then do a furniture layout so I know what pieces work and what don't. Then have a plan for your color palette. Go to your reupholsterer and select fabrics keeping the whole composition in mind. You can't pick a color in isolation, it has to work with all the other pieces--rugs, window treatments, wall color, etc.

Planning is SO important when furnishing a room. Having a master plan helps avoid the problems of over- or under-sized furniture, mismatched colors, and pieces that just don't work in the space. Think of it as a road map on your journey to a well-designed, functional room. You may take some side roads, but in the end a plan helps you achieve your goals.

Good luck!

Thanks for answering, Diana! This is the inside of my neighbor’s house. I love her floors. What do you think of this color? Still too dark? Can you show me an example of a neutral medium brown? I keep seeing red undertones, which I don’t like.

FWIW, the house sits East-west and is flooded in light from the banks of windows on three sides.

Hi Dawn--your neighbor's home is beautiful! The floor color does look a bit dark, but at least it's not black. What type of floor is it--meaning what type of wood? Is it solid hardwood or engineered? All wood takes stain differently, so depending on the wood species, you may or may not get red tones.

Here is a photo of Special Walnut on old oak in my home. It doesn't appear red, but in the sunlight red can appear. What I like about Special Walnut is that is allows the grain of the oak to show, which I find very attractive.

IMG_1026.MOV · More Info

I also used Special Walnut on new white oak in my kitchen, and it looks pretty much the same.

What you can do is custom mix the stain, and add some green to counteract any red.

That’s very pretty!

She said it’s the same builder grade red oak I have, and a custom mix of ebony and Jacobean. I call them black, but they are actually lighter.

IMO reupholstery is never cheap and unless the pieces are expensive antiques not worth it . By the time you change the cushions and choose a fabric and pay the labour you could go get a new sofa in probably better comfort and fabric or even leather, Black floors in my head are really contemporary and I would be looking for leather maybe even white and be prepared for daily swiffereing too. IMO wait until you have really thought this through before doing anything. I have to say I love dark floors but they are alot of work to keep looking awesome. The floors you show are not black but a nice dark brown. IMO RH furniture would never be something I would spen money redoing.

I’m not redoing the RH furniture. It’s the brown couch and blue chairs I want to recover, not reupholster - cushions are in great condition. They were very expensive (I had them custom made in Paris when I lived there) and I love the shapes. The RH couch is slip covered and staying as is. I just don’t want a brown couch anymore. I love the blue colored chairs, but my old cats scratched them. So I want a couch that will work with dark floors and blue-green chairs.