Leather furniture can be the worse thing that’s happened to a room or the best. There really is no in between. A Room Recipe for success includes modern pieces made or designed in Italy that are clean easy, not to mention REAL! A fake leather sofa can look like a plastic flotation device if you’re not careful. And sometimes a room of overstuffed pieces can look like Tony Sopranos’ family totally clad in leather – all wrong and too New Jersey (not that I don’t love Jersey… we’re going to look at a house in Wayne today in hopes of leaving NYC with our little one soon).

IKEA, CB2 and Chiasso have great, affordable fake renditions.

If you want a traditional look, take props from Ralph Lauren. A brown, distressed look is always cool and interesting. But you don’t want your room to look like a law firm or a brothel.

So often one great leather piece mixed in with other materials balances the room out nicely.