Is it too late? Did the furniture retailer sucker you into the whole matching set of furniture with that great sale ad? or Maybe you thought that was the only way. Don’t feel bad I have been suckered into the bargain myself but if you haven’t already made the purchase, don’t do it! Buying the whole matching set makes a room flat and boring, like a furniture showroom. Are you flat and boring? I didn’t think so!
A few matching pieces are fine, a pair of end tables, a set of lamps, or matching chairs, but what you really want is to create a room with excitement. You want the eye to move from piece to piece and most of all you want to show off your own personal style. The furniture show room says nothing about that. So instead of “buying the room” Buy what you love. If you already “bought the room” break up the set. You can always move different pieces into different room.
You thought you were getting a real bargain by “buying the room,” but the truth is mixing furniture is the real money-saver. If you buy the whole room at the same time the whole room will go out of style at the same time, while mixing peices from different periods actually makes a rooms more timeless. Plus when you do find that one amazing bargain piece that you absolutely love and must have, you don’t have to worry that is doesn’t match the “set.” So instead of buying pieces that match stick to buying pieces that “fit” together. Don’t spend so much time thinking about what it is “supposed” to look like and go with your gut. Your home is about YOU.
Here are some great pointers for a mix and match home:
- Top priority should be proportion, scale. While variation throughout a room is important extreme differences can be unsuccessful. Rooms need big things, little things, tall things, and short things to make the eye move around but you need to consider how these things relate to each other and the room. If you have small rooms and 8′ foot ceilings don’t buy over sized furniture, and if you do have over sized furniture it probably isn’t going to mix well with petite antiques.
Photo via Design Sponge
- Don’t concern yourself with matching all the wood. This can look TOO perfect. Mixing woods makes a room look more thoughtful, like it was collected over time.
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Photo via Lonny Mix up the Dining Set. Dining spaces are more interesting when the chairs and table are not a matching set If you have a matching set what about painting the table or the chairs?
Photo via BHG
- Use repetition. The best ways to bring together a mix of furniture and styles is to bring in a common color scheme or design element you can repeat throughout the space.
- Mix pieces with different finishes, such as light and dark wood stains, gold and silver metallic, metal, and leather.
- Mix old and new. Mixing the old with the new make a room more timeless. Experiment with mixing styles too.
Photo via House
Remember, trends come and go but if you are buying pieces you love they will never go out of style.
