I'd pick the cherry. It's what you want and it makes sense, to use them in the dining room. You have the black, with your hutch...and you can always add touches of black with your drapery hardware (if any) and other accessories. If you're using any fabric, you can also bring in your gold and black, with maybe some green. Sounds pretty :)

Look for a very tightly woven fabric. I’ve had lots of cats and they’ve all left tightly woven fabric alone. We condition the cats by placing fresh orange peel under the furniture edges and they avoid it. Pretty soon the peel isn’t necessary. Essential oil works too. Nothing will avoid claw damage when they decide to go on a tear around the house. Once they start scratching a particular piece, it’s hard to break them of the habit.

Yes I had black with natural wood chairs in mind or black velvet because I’m putting pecan wood flooring. Excuse the mess you see on the side cleaning out my closet

We chose the same chairs and fabric for our dining room and kitchen table, but the chairs at the kitchen table have the wood pull on the top. This makes them look a little different and you can pull them out without having to touch the fabric. What I like about having them almost the same is, if I need to add a chair to one table or the other to accommodate more people, the chairs look very similar.