Yes, the black sofa sticks out. But many people have given you good ideas around how you might be able to work with it and I'd give those thoughts some consideration. There has been a whole lot of drama on this thread, and I understand you wanting to stay out of it for sure. But, we haven't heard much response from you as to what you think about the actual suggestions. You don't have to like them but just give us your reactions one way or another so we can keep helping you brainstorm.

If you are ok with paying the restocking fee on the sofa, then let's think about what to get you instead. If you want to try to avoid it, then what about a new rug with a thin black border that might help tie the sofa in more?

Safavieh Edeline Pillow White/Black 18" X 18" · More Info

Nourison Essentials 10' x 14' Ivory/Black Contemporary Area Rug · More Info

This is a much more casual room, but I think it is a good example of how to integrate a black sofa when other pieces of furniture are not black.

"Anyway I think the black couch overwhelms me the most- be it with or without the color suggestions.".........................

Great! You've just identified the elephant in the room!

Scroll up please ? Back a bit I said......

Most important? DO you want a dark sofa? It will always suck light from a space. It will always feel heavier.

Or..........You want a paler, softer, space. A bit less contrast.....more textured,

I put it in bold for a reason. The idea books that were yours, and a word I could have added. Harsh. Does the room feel that way to you? Certainly, rooms with whites, creams . black CAN be elegant , they can be formal! But a little black goes a very long way.

Is the couch leather? That will read a bit harsher, even a bit colder than say.......velvet?

So! Lets say you went back to E.A. Say you really are just miserable. ( please do use that word !) Have them come get the couch. Trade for a creamy color, any paler color.

Scrolling back again? I did this ( mood below), because I had a sense that that MAY have been what was disappointing. A room that felt just a bit....well? Harsh? Or even not rich enough?

Same thing here...: ) with "notes"

I will ask this as well. Would you be willing to dangle a carrot at E.A ? A bitter tasting return tastes better to them, if there's some dessert dollars coming: )

With that? I would ask only, that you again, scroll up. There are some paler, lighter, gracious , elegant rooms I grabbed. See if any of those, the FEEL in any, feels good to you. It matters not, those rooms are not identical to yours in layout. If you sat in one.....does it feel nice? When you do scroll back to those? Note they feel finished. Art, pillows on the couch....a bit of styling on the coffee table. Because no matter the major elements in a room?

The final touches matter as much as the major selections. Look around your home! What do you have, that you may not be using?

Nobody really wants to think that the process of getting to a room you truly love requires a bit of "work". But it does. Some enjoy that work, others not as much, they just want it over. That isn't a right or wrong. It's just a fact inside of why folks get help.

A handful from up there....no dark couches to be seen.......

A little gleam in the coffee table, etc...

HAHAH curious Jan. I have a black leather love seat--no one NEEDS an entire sofa...and I don't get a heavy unbalanced sense at all. But then I live surrounded by fall colors. Deep pumpkin, rust, burgundy.

"No one needs an entire sofa?"

That is a matter of scale, proportion, the number of users in a space. The style and color, and size is simply one part of a picture.

Deep wall colors, a paneled room, will absorb a dark sofa. If you want the high contrast of dark sofa against light? Yes, you can have that too.

In other words? What you want , "need" will differ from that of another.: )

Start another thread to get help with rugs and accessories. Anytime you get something new, it takes time to adjust.

While I might not pick a black sofa, it is not offensive or hideous. I would enjoy socializing in that room!

Try getting a rug before deciding to return the sofa.

It's about $450.00 to return the sofa. Is it worth it to you to get something in a lighter color?

IMO a lighter color will give you that elevated look that you want.

Google living rooms with black sofa. I found several that were moody and beautiful! If you are hesitant to return, add add add to the room. Rug, pillows etc. those are easier to return. Black has many many colors that are stunning go withs.

I got a navy love seat and almost went nuts trying to adjust, but actually I get many compliments, visitors may just be being polite, but my rug ties everything together as I added decor from both. My style is perhaps different from yours, but it is doable. Your sofa has nice styled lines and is not bulky or clunky.

I would move the art that is above your fireplace over to the console. Get a fireplace screen that takes away that dark black hole. Do you have an entry just before the living area? What does that look like? Could you post a picture, please of that space? And a full view of the dining area.

I'm sorry that you are disappointed and I'm sorry you have been treated poorly on this thread. I think you have a great start and have been given some good suggestions. You just need some great accessories ( the fun part of decorating if you ask me) and maybe a bit of a tweak on furniture placement. It will be a lovely roo in the end!

If budget allows, IMO I would look at drapes to the ceiling and a bit heavier, “smother” is s strong word, but I’ll use it. Maybe “surround” is better? Surround your new sofa so it doesn’t overwhelm in the space. Bring some darks like your console behind and around with subtleties of other colors. I think elegant is not to have popping colors but blending. There are dark greens, mauves, perhaps golds that can be nice. Looks like the art in the dining area is silver? To me that goes monochrome? Is that the way you’re thinking? May need to warm that area up a bit as well? A touch of any one color can go a long way! Just have to get started :).

Another thought :), we don’t know the dimensions particularly at that left wall where console is. Perhaps flip the room? Having the fireplace art above sofa. Or might try the two off white chairs at window. Console is nice but can it be in another area? Dining room? Just thinking out loud here, may have too many chairs?

I also wonder if shifting furniture placement could help. Would sofa work turned 90 degrees to face the fireplace? Then maybe console behind couch. And swivels seem too close to fireplace. Maybe they could be pulled out a tad to face new couch placement. Might not be room for extra chair but I actually like that chair - maybe it could be used in another room - bedroom maybe. Entry to room would be on path where console used to be. A large piece of art on that wall would be cool.

If the above furniture arrangement doesn’t work, try moving your current arrangement away from the fireplace. I do think the picture above the fireplace accentuates the low ceiling. Maybe a smaller piece would be better?

I like the new chair too! Am really curious of the entry into the living room and length of the left console wall? Hopefully we can get the OP back in here to help us. There is absolutely a beautiful space in the making here :).

The art above fireplace is too tall i think. This could be nice on mantel?

Lisa sofa at entrance with console behind could work if not too much there at the walk in? Both pretty deep? I would like to see the new chair to left of fireplace pulled in a bit and might the two cream (?) chairs at entrance? Sofa either at console wall or window? But perhaps fuller drapes to ceiling? The new sofa is asking for more window dressings, seems like to me?

I think I've asked somewhere above but if you can post a floor plan with dimensions showing entrance(s) to the room we'd be able to perhaps suggest another furniture layout at least for the armchairs.

Mab Ab would love to hear from you..have you made any changes? Alice I have that black and gold leaf in my dining room..it really is beautiful…it is wide (depth) so I dont think it would fit on a mantle.

mab, or take more pictures if that's easier? People are trying to get a feel for what's behind the chair to maybe tweak things a bit.

If you plan to keep a new sofa 10 years, and it costs $450 to return the black one and exchange it for one you love, that's 12 cents a day to have one you love. Does that put it in perspective?

Oh you do have the gold and black leaf Julie! I came across it in my searches and really thought was beautiful! Glad you caught the width on that piece! Yes, then would be too wide for mantle decor.

As I recall Julie you have the black sofa in your beautiful living space? Sharing here could spark our OP :)

Great ideas from Alice and kindly given !

The gold leaf might look good on the console. Julie's home is gorgeous-if she says the leaf is beautiful, trust that it is.

Jumping in here… Which is always risky! Because I haven’t been following the whole conversation. However looking at your photograph and some of the earlier comments, you have some lovely furniture here and you could definitely make it work. I think accessories would help a lot and changing up the rug so that it grounds the sofa… I think the sofa and the rug together aren’t doing each other any favors. I like the black sofa because it ties in with some of the other black accents including the dining chairs and the occasional chair. This could be a rich and lovely looking room.

I’m not sure what your style is in rugs but lots of rug places offer the option of placing the rug in the room. How do you feel about pattern? I think a rug could really make this room with the furniture that you’ve got. Notice the combination here of the light chairs and the dark sofa….notice the light colour accent pillows on the darker sofa. take a look at some of the accessories in these rooms and noticed how they soften up the overall impression of the room. Good luck! Buyers remorse is often a thing that happens after you make a big purchase so give yourself some time to get used to what you have bought and try to have some fun playing with options.😘

Getting new furniture is always scary and anytime something new is introduced to a space it takes time to adjust to the change. I have freaked when I’ve brought in new big pieces to my home but then I slowly get used to the change and end up happy. All the furniture in your room is new so no wonder you are reeling. The room really is nice and, as everyone is saying, just needs some texture and color and personality through art, maybe a new rug and a few meaningful objects. And maybe a tweak in furniture layout.

And yes I would try rearranging the furniture as some people on here have suggested. I think there’s lots more options. Hopefully you haven’t given up on us!

Liasch and I posted at the same time with similar words!

On the art above the fireplace, I would get your big decisions made first and then think about your small accessories. The rug being the big one. There’s another thread on here where Jill made some great suggestions as to sources for rugs. Anybody on here able to contact Jill?

Jilly… not Jill…here’s what she has to say on the thread “what colour rug will bring this together“. It’s another thread on Houzz, where somebody is trying to make a decision about picking a rug to pull the room together. if you search for that thread on Houzz, you’ll get her direct links posted in comments, to rug sources.

Alice…I don’t have a black sofa..but my colors are basically the same as MabAb..neutrals, taupe, gray,white and black..with touches of warm leather and brass.

Looks so well put together, thank you 💗 who had the black sofa? 😆

Alice🤷🏼‍♀️😆

I think the OP is likely sifting thru LOTS of advice (4k comments) - hopefully they are getting some good ideas and we will get to hear how things turned out ❤️

this came up in my Facebook feed from the Home Design & Decor Group

La La… that’s weird. Are you saying that this is a repost of an old thread?

Wow…..

Thats a great way to become yet more confused!

Also possible someone posted it without the OP even aware……

There was some Pro here once I don't remember her name that was showing a nightstand with the bedroom and she made a old thread new thread so she could get everybody to come through house to buy the nightstand for a longest time it was in my cart I did not want it I opened up the thread and it ended up in my cart just reading about it and I made a comment and ask her a question and then it disappeared I never seen the threat again so this could be an Old Post or she's trying to get some help again cuz she doesn't like what she has

If you go to the Facebook site “home design and decor” and join, you can type a phrase from the original post… and it will come up and you can read the comments.

Maybe the original poster can explain what she’s hoping to get out of a discussion on this site?

Sorry I posted the same photograph twice, of the original post on the “home design and decor” Facebook. Here’s another suggestion from the comments just to give you a sample.

OK I think the original poster here needs to clarify what it is they are hoping to get from us because I don’t think it’s just suggestions. Maybe help from one designer?

Well I love that A1 designed the room arrangement exactly as I suggested so I’m able to see how it would look! I didnt know there was a fb page for these posts.

I deleted the post with the duplicate photos. The style Houzz is more cooperative. The Facebook thread is less discussion and more a collection of suggestions… all 4000 of them… But you can only do cooperative designing if the original poster participates.

The Facebook page doesn’t have anything to do with Houzz… “Home Design and Decor”. Anyone can join but they tell you in the rules that it may be up to a year before you can comment! It doesn’t seem like a very useful site IMO. Maybe that’s why she came over here.

Scanning back through these posts, it seems like Mab Ab is not engaging much here. I like La La’s suggestion…

@Mab Ab…try some things that have been suggested on the Facebook post ( and here ). THEN post some photographs and update us. Until then, we are mostly talking to ourselves here. Entertaining…but a waste of time essentially.😝

I appreciate those who encouraged and gave their insight! I am new to Houzz and this was my first post.

Interesting - Not new to Houzz since the idea book is from 2022 and this is not the first posting.

It’s a holiday weekend for many so perhaps cut her some slack for being mia.

There is no reason for you to return to this post or site, @Mab Ab. It is for the most part “not user friendly”. But I just wanted to give you a couple of ideas, in case you decide to keep the furniture - which is totally a personal choice on your part, of course.

First of all, I would just like to say that the comments about your expectations being too high and misguided, because Ethan Allen furniture is no longer what it used to be, are ridiculous. For the most part - very little furniture is what it used to be - we are not living in the good old days. However, the furniture that you purchased is certainly of good enough quality and is certainly nice enough - and this was expressed to you in the very first comment at the top of this thread (the comment from @Minardi).

Secondly, there's nothing wrong with having a black sofa. They can be tres chic.

And a black and white scheme can be very elegant. It really all depends on the look you are trying to achieve.

I would suggest that you consider just starting with a beautiful throw blanket on the sofa. Start with that, and take it from there.

I think your furniture is quite nice. I would style the black sofa with white pillows. Touches of gold would elevate your space.

Freedom place...perfect inspiration photo...! I agree, with someone above, coffee table style could be improved, but it's still workable as is...a nice tray, plants, candles, to warm it up. Many here suggested moving the big chair to corner, by fireplace...good idea! Face the two cream chairs towards couch, to make a grouping and center rug....Not enough info about the space to really suggest much more than what has already been made here. And yes, accessories...nice throw, light pillows on couch, would pull the room together.