Leather—It’s Not Just for Sofas

Leather home furnishings help you up the style quotient in every room of your home.

by Romy Schafer

Fashion-conscious women know that one of the easiest ways to add class or sass to an outfit is with a touch of leather—a pair of patent leather pumps or a crocodile clutch. The same holds true when decorating your home. Home furnishings manufacturers and retailers are offering more than just staid, brown leather sofas nowadays, thanks to new leather-processing technologies. So if you’re interested in bringing a little elegance or pizzazz to your dining room, bedroom or elsewhere, consider the following options.

Dazzling for Dining

Don’t let the thought of sticky, little fingers and mealtime mishaps stop you from incorporating leather into your formal dining room, kitchen or family room via dining chairs or bar stools. Leathers used in such applications are, or can be, coated to resist stains and wipe clean. Not convinced? Consider how much fast food is consumed daily in vehicles with resilient leather interiors.

Bedroom Beauties

Wooden bedroom suites comprised of a bed and matching dressers and nightstands can give a master bedroom a hard, rigid look. A tufted, embossed or topstitched leather headboard breaks up this sea of hard surfaces and helps turn a master bedroom into a refined retreat. Also look for bedroom furnishings that combine wood and leather looks, such as wooden headboards with inset leather and nightstands with leather finished top surfaces.

The Write Stuff

A large desk with an embossed, leather top and a matching chair used to be staples of the executive corner office. Nowadays, this office is often located in the home and occupied by a woman. Drop-front secretaries, writing desks and computer armoires with leather accents and writing surfaces—or totally covered in this natural material—are functional and attractive, without being imposing.

A Touch of Leather

Not sure leather will work with your décor? Consider purchasing a small item first, such as a leather bench, storage ottoman or desk accessory. Such products are an affordable way to introduce leather into a room, says Jerry Foreman, vice president of product development for CBK, a Union City, Tenn.-based home accent and home accessories supplier.

Jena Hall, executive vice president of merchandising and design for Phoenix-based Aspenhome, also recommends adding a leather accent chair to a room for a touch of luxury and color.

Sensuous Surfaces

If money’s no object, leather wall and floor tiles let you surround yourself in leather. Rick Mullen, president of Keleen Leathers Inc. in Westchester, Ill., says his company has installed leather tiles in dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms, as well as in a wine cellar and on a fireplace. “Leather is amazingly durable,” he says. “I’ve seen leather floors that have been down for 20 years, and they look beautiful. You just wax them like you do your shoes. It’s amazing how well they hold up.”