A similar thing happened to me - a bottle of hand sanitiser exploded in my black leather bag whilst it was laying on my brand new cream leather car seats!!! Soaked through and transferred the black dye from my bag onto the seat, leaving a massive black stain. I tried to remove it gently with leather cleaner, only to find the more I scrubbed, the more I took the cream colour off and started to damage the actual leather of the seat. In the end I took my car to a furniture upholstery place and they colour matched the leather and sprayed the area that was damaged. It looks great now. If you look REALLY hard, you can still see where I took some of the grain out of the leather (too much scrubbing), but otherwise you wouldn't notice - best of all it didn't cost the Earth. I think a small area like what is on your chairs would come up nicely - it would probably cover the ink stains too. I think it's worthwhile getting the job done professionally. Good luck!

Hey Gioenne ... I bought home a black leather dining chair tonight and took it to the house Looks good . because the dining table is built in it has quite a big block holding it up in the middle and the chairs don't go all the way in unless I get baby chairs so I will have to deal with them standing out a bit from the table :( thanks for your support !! Desi

My Home Stylist - I really appreciate your feedback. The Noguchi coffee is really nice. I think I'm getting closer to finalising the colours. I've done my research and found these. Do you think they match? Coffee table I did my research and found something similar to the noguchi coffee table but in white (thought it'll suit the white ikea table). It's aFreedom's Stockholm table . Dining Chairs I really love the chairs with timber legs but I've decided that since my apartment will be occasionally rented out I'll stick with a more conservative look. Dark Grey frabic will match my sofa. The steel........ It's similar to one of the photos on houzz. Bar Stool: Now that I have chosen a dark grey/steel leg dining chairs and an oak based coffee table, would a standard white barstool with steel leg still work well with everything else or is it starting to clash? I found some possible but more expensive options if it's starting to clash:

Hi Newbie. That's such a good question. They both have their pro's and con's. Laminate can be easier to maintain on a daily basis because it doesn't show scratches as easily (from furniture, pets etc) and it's really easy to wipe clean. BUT- because the top layer isn't actually a wood veneer and it's thinner than engineered boards- once it's worn you can't repair it. With engineered boards you can sand them back and re stain (how many times you can do this depends on the thickness of the board you buy- thicker the board the higher the cost. If you have furniture protectors under dining chairs, and ideally rugs in the room to create a finished look, you will reduce scratching greatly on engineered boards. Engineered boards are nicer to walk on IMO, also warmer in winter. Laminate can sound hollow, even with an underlay. Laminate can also be slippery without a slip resistant layer. Engineered boards are more expensive and much harder to lay. If it's affordable you won't regret engineered boards for long term repairability and/or re sale value. Like everything in interiors it all comes down to budget- and the laminates are getting much better these days. But they will never have the prestige of an engineered board to a future buyer if that's something that could be of concern down the track. I'd recommend going to showrooms where you can see both options and walking on them- especially with bare feet. Hope that helps :) Fiona Jack www.fionajackinteriors.com.au