Please, help me be more like a girl

In less than three hours, the Futon of Despair will no longer be filling up a third of my "living room." Praise be! Naturally, I'll be replacing it with something sleeker, and though I do have qualms about buying leather, I'm not ruling it out in this case. Young Simon sheds so very much, and I'd really like not to spend several precious minutes each day removing hair from the couch.

From what I can tell, the majority of leather sofas and love seats come in black, beige, red and white/cream. Many of you know I'm slightly, um, predictable when it comes to choosing colors for things -- clothing, furniture, cars -- so black is the most obvious choice for me here. However, this is one tiny-ass apartment, and I've heard that lighter colors create the illusion of space. I'd be most obliged if you'd look at the following photos and help guide me in this most critical of missions. Bear in mind also that I fully intend to paint the walls at some point and have not yet chosen a color (if you're in a particularly generous mood, please feel free to weigh in on that, as well).


Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas.