Get the Look: Caramel Leather on a Panelled Wall

Caramel leather does something odd in the right room: it behaves like a neutral. Here, a brown Caterpillar chair leans against white wall panelling with two textured cushions slumped against the back, and the whole corner looks settled rather than styled.

The jute rug helps. So does the floor — light planks, wide boards, nothing glossy competing with the leather's own sheen.

Leather, but make it casual

The panelling repeats the quilting. Square moulded frames on the wall echo the stitched panels of the chair, so the two textures rhyme instead of arguing. It is a quiet trick and it does most of the work in this photo.

Cushions break the shine. Leather reflects; boucle and knit absorb. Putting one smooth, one nubby cushion against the backrest gives the eye a matte place to rest.

Jute keeps the floor honest. A shiny rug would fight the leather. A woven one adds grain without colour, which is exactly what a tone-on-tone corner needs. The pair of slippers by the table is the only sign of life, and that restraint is why the corner photographs like a showroom that someone actually lives in.

Get the look

Our leather version lives on the Caterpillar fireside chair in cowhide leather, in brown, black and a few shades between — colours are listed on the product page. Fabric options across every shape sit in the Caterpillar-style collection. For the velvet answer to the same colour question, the burgundy three-piece set shows how differently red behaves when the fabric changes.