Color wood furniture
How to Mix Wood Tones in Your Home Like a Designer
While people are getting more and more adventurous with mixing periods and styles in their home, one of the puzzling questions we're always asked as editors is how to mix wood tones in a room. Whether it's matching a dining table to an existing hardwood floor or trying to mix various wood furniture pieces together, many people are hesitant to combine different woods in a space. But let us tell you here first, the era of matchy-matchy furniture is over. Say goodbye to the furniture sets of yore, because mixing wood tones can be just as beautiful as mixing metals in a room. The only trick is to follow a few foolproof rules.
The goal in design when mixing anything from colors to styles is to create continuity—a design conversation or story, if you will. By paying attention to details such as undertones, finish, and wood grain, it becomes easier to mix and match confidently. Ready to try mixing wood tones in your own space? These are the tips and tricks you should always follow.
Becca Interiors
While mixing wood tones is perfectly acceptable—and in fact, we encourage it—it always helps to pick a dominant wood tone as a starting point to help you choose other pieces to bring in the room. If you have wood floors, your work here is done — those are your dominant wood tone. Otherwise, pick the largest furniture piece in the room like a desk, dresser, or dining table. When choosing your other wood tones to add to the space, always consult your dominant shade first.
5 Things to Keep in Mind While Mixing and Matching Wood Tones
Pure Collected Living
Another helpful tip for mixing wood tones is to match the undertones between different pieces. Just like you would when choosing new makeup, figuring out undertones first can make all of the difference. Pay attention to whether your dominant wood tone is warm, cool, or neutral, and stay in the same family to create a coherent thread. In this dining room, the warm wood of the chairs pick up some of the warmer streaks in the wood floor and blend seamlessly with the warm grains of the birch dining table.
Warm + warm + warm = foolproof tone mixing.
Design: Emily Henderson Design, Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp
If you're feeling more daring, contrast is your friend. It may seem counterintuitive, but going for high-contrast shades can actually work seamlessly. In this living room, for instance, the light warm wood floors are complemented with a dark, almost inky, walnut chair and plenty of medium wood tones on the piano and ceiling beams. Playing with contrast adds visual interest and gives a design more depth while repeating shades (like the warm wood floors and matching accent chairs) gives the space some continuity.
Bespoke Only
If your wood tones are all over the place, it can be helpful to create continuity with similar wood grains or finishes. For example, most of the finishes in this room are matte or eggshell with a rustic grain finish, so the room looks cohesive. If your wood floor or table are glossy, follow suit and choose side tables or chairs in a glossier finish.
Katie Martinez Design
Breaking up your wood elements with a rug can make a huge difference, especially if your furniture and wood floors have a similar wood tone. In this living room, the legs of the dining chairs may have blended too much if placed directly on the wood floors, but with a striped rug in between, they fit in and don't look out of place.
Katie Hodges Design
Once you find the shades that work, just rinse and repeat. In this living room, the dark walnut of the ceiling beams are picked up by the legs of the couch and coffee table while the lighter wood floor matches the accent chairs. Having recurring wood tones in your room provides continuity and structure to your space, so it looks put-together without trying too hard. Repeating each shade a minimum of two times is a foolproof way to nail this look.
7 Foolproof Tips for Mixing Furniture Styles
5 Secrets to Mixing Wood Tones, From an Interior Design Expert
Style
Interior Design
Tips & Techniques
by Dabney Frake
updated Jun 4, 2022
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
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Variation in color, pattern, texture, and style is essential to decorating—it keeps things interesting. But wooden furniture and finishes can pose a challenge. Is mixing wood tones a problem? Ideally, you want your space to flow nicely with a cohesive, intentional look. But that isn’t always possible for those of us who don’t buy all of our furniture at the same time and from the same place. If you’re the type who’d rather cobble together a room over the years, bringing together a mix of inherited, purchased, and found items with a variety of finishes, chances are you’ll be mixing wood tones at one point or another. How to do it right?
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Susann Goerg, Art-Centric Interior Designer, CEO & Creative Director says, “A good rule of thumb is to choose clearly differentiated wood tones, such as a warm white oak and a charcoal – creating a bit of contrast with intention.
Nothing is worse than when two wood tones are almost identical but not quite the same, and it ends up looking like a matching mistake.”
Here are five secrets to making it all mesh…
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Watch the undertones.
While wood finishes don’t need to match, they should complement each other, Goerg says. Look at the color bias of each wood to see if it is warm or cool, then make sure their undertones match, regardless of finish. For example, the coffee table is darker than the floors in Kay’s Curated Somerville Nest, but their similar warm natures make them a good fit regardless.
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Go with the grain.
If your many different woods all have a prominent grain, try keeping the patterns similar and retain the “mood” of the room. “While a larger or open grain is more expressive and can create a unique look full of character — often desired for more ‘rustic’ rooms,” says Goerg.
“With that in mind, I wouldn’t recommend mixing an open grain with another open one — it would feel like two bold personalities competing for attention within the same space.”
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Use a buffer.
Placing a wood table directly on top of a different wood floor draws attention to their dissimilarity. “The easiest and least effort-required solution is to use a rug as a visual barrier and transition piece so that the disputing wood tones aren’t visually perceived right next to each other,” says Goerg. Here, the weathered gray table in Mulu’s Creative + Vintage Collective Den is separated from the warmer wood of the floor by a traditional style carpet.
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Don’t go too nuts
Keep your choices to just a few types of finishes to start, and repeat each finish a couple of times throughout the room. Goerg says, “My personal rule is two maximum three wood tones within a given space; otherwise, it creates a disarranged feeling, and nothing else gets a chance to shine.
” Above, the dining room from Marsi & Robert’s Bright and Tidy Southern Ranch has light floors and dark wood chairs. Each color and/or tone can also be seen at least once elsewhere in the room.
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When in doubt, white it out.
White and wood is one of those magical combinations, like basil and tomatoes. They just work. When you have a variety of wood tones that would otherwise look nutty, intersperse some white sections (with paint, furnishings, etc..) to break it up and calm down the potential crazy. Here, the kitchen Laurel & Margot’s Celebration of Craft features a lot of white on the walls and island.
These aren’t hard and fast rules to decorate by, but rather different ways to think about wood as it applies to your home. If you’ve found other strategies that work for you, please share them in the comments!
Articles about the production and processing of wood
The myth of the unreliability of wood
We often hear questions from you before buying: is it possible to use a wooden worktop in the kitchen / bathroom; will the wooden window sill warp; will there be cracks? Read the answers to these and other questions in our article.
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Processing options
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Varnish me! Types of varnishes for wood
Varnishing is one of the most common methods of wood processing.
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About quality in woodworking
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Toning: when color possibilities are endless
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Handmade carving will turn ordinary wooden furniture into a work of art!
Tinting: how does wood become colored?
The natural colors of real wood are undeniably beautiful. But what if you want to add color to every day of your home life? Any ideas and design fantasy can be realized using such a type of wood furniture processing as toning. In fact, staining wood is a long and laborious process. Why? Read below. nine0003
Wax for wood: dreams do not melt
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Oil variety: wood impregnation
Wood impregnation with oil is relevant for many furniture manufacturers.
This safe processing method gives maximum results. But in order to effectively protect wood from damage, you need to know which type of oil to choose. And there are many of them today. How do they differ and in what cases are they used?
Self-protection: wood impregnation with oil
Oiled wood is undeniably ecological and beautiful. But, unlike the array processed by other methods, it requires additional attention and care. For example, once a year, such surfaces must be sanitized - that is, regularly impregnated. Therefore, it is important to know how to cover a tree with oil with your own hands. nine0003
Natural power for wood staining
To deepen the color of a wooden surface, it is not necessary to use toxic and poisonous substances. Wood tinting is also possible with the help of natural dyes. Such natural stains are successfully used to turn wooden furniture into real works of art.
Wood with brushed chic
Volumetric, textured, aged wood always looks attractive.
For the owner of the house, such an interior is a special pride that distinguishes a person and speaks of his good taste. How to achieve the unique effect of antiquity? Achieve it using the technique of brushing. nine0003
Oiling - everything that wood dreams of
Wood furniture today is most often varnished during processing. This is such a common method that people sometimes do not even think about other options. But there is an alternative! It was known to our ancestors many centuries ago. And this is the coating of wood with oil.
Shines like new: do-it-yourself varnishing
How hard it is to part with your favorite interior items! Grandma's chest of drawers, in its appearance, already seems to have completely fallen into disrepair? But does it do its job well? To make wooden furniture shine like new, you just need to varnish it. nine0003
Patination: the old life of a new wood
Wood furniture is perhaps the most noble variant of interior furnishing.
But what if you gravitate towards vintage items with all your heart? It is not necessary to participate in auctions, trying to win that same century-old kitchen set.
Wood varnish or oil? We make a choice
Before those who are going to equip their home using natural wood, the question often arises: which processing method to choose? The most popular, of course, is the varnishing of the array. nine0003
Wood staining - a bright solution
Woodworking is an art in its own right. Especially when it comes to such a method as toning an array. With the help of tinting, you can create unique interior items - bright, fantasy and at the same time environmentally friendly.
Chronicles of ancient patination
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Antique effect pine - brushed by yourself
Have you been looking at a pine pedestal standing in a room for a long time and want to add a drop of wood warmth to it? To implement your idea, artificial aging of wood with brushes is perfect.
MDF veneer - joining technique and the basics of the veneering process
The veneer technique allows preserving the aesthetic characteristics of wood, while eliminating a number of its significant shortcomings. nine0003
Brighter and brighter: staining the wood yourself
Antique wooden furniture is always a decoration of the interior. But what if you want to update the situation a little? Yes, and the natural color of the wood seems to be completely boring ...
Designer wooden furniture in a unique collection
Wooden furniture
Traditionally, wood is used in the creation of many interior items, it is very diverse and differs in style and form. What they just do not make of it: tables, chairs, mirror frames, dishes, cabinets, shelves, sofas, armchairs, chests of drawers and much more. It can be processed in different ways, cut out curly shapes, painted with different solutions, varnishes and paints, in general, do whatever your heart desires.
In the modern world, very fashionable wooden aged, artificially, furniture. nine0003
Expensive and high-quality wood is valued among wealthy buyers. It is purchased for luxury apartments, cottages and mansions. She serves her masters for a very long time and looks classically stylish. Ordinary inhabitants buy inexpensive pieces of furniture, but elegantly made. And women appreciate boxes made of noble woods and store their jewelry in them for decades.
| 1 | Flags chest of drawers in wood, Vittorio Grifoni. | nine0117
| Various countries in antique form |
| 2 | Moissonnier designed the original Regency table in bronze and wood. |
| Stylish curls with crooked legs |
| 3 | nine0113 Red Wood Radial Console by Khaya
| Round header in noble color |
| 4 | Schönbuch invented the Club mirror surface. |
| Mirror with a convenient stand for things |
| 5 | Dresser cherry Bandeja Decorata with nut filling from Roberto Lazzeroni, Ceccotti. |
| Various round faces |
| 6 | A dozen nuts in a Vagues table by Ligne Roset. |
| Unusual joining of identical rails |
| 7 | Accordion collection presented its lamp designed by Elisa Strozyk |
| Solar corrugation for home |
| 8 | Tulips in serial Magnolia, door by Agoprofil. |
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| Royal notes in the doorway |
| 9 | Mis en Demeure featured a mirror image of Salamanque |
| Muted gold in floral palette |
| 10 | Maple gilding in Bernazzoli nightstand foil. |
| Small barrel in the women's bedroom |
| 11 | An interesting collection of Bon Bon and the creator of the ash table Alexander Lorenz presented his creation from corten steel. |
| Intricate curves in the mushroom idea |
| 12 | Wooden dresser Salda |
| Grandmother's motifs in a classic theme |
| 13 | Gervasoni and the wonderful chair Gray |
| A small throne for a common man |
| 14 | Silver plating in the desk by Chelini |
| Jeweled worktop |
| 15 | Gala oak wardrobe, Emmemobili |
| Light rectangle for clothes |
| 16 | Materica collection mirror, walnut creation by Matteo Nunziati |
| Ordinary wooden entrance through the looking glass |
| 17 | Skitsch and two designers Fernando and Humberto Campana came up with the charming lamp Wood |
| Rail harmony in one luminaire |
| 18 | Zen collection introduced steel bamboo coffee tables, Casamania |
| Silver branch for cube objects |
| 19 | Oak Java Cabinet by Casa Pagoda |
| Six compartments for large wardrobe |
| 20 | Fratelli Radice Pau Ferro Table Silver Beech |
| Greek olive in a silver chariot |
| 21 | Bronze cherry sideboard Vendome, BelCor |
| Vintage piece of furniture in beige frame |
| 22 | Belvedere wood textile in table lamp by Eichholtz |
| Quirky classic lamp |
