Tips for Mixing Wood Tones

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that we all have those antique furniture pieces that we aren’t quite sure how to fit in with the rest of our home. Well, we’re here to teach you how to beautifully mix and match wood tones.

▶ Always get samples. As with all materials, wood can look drastically different depending on how it is illuminated. Be sure to bring multiple samples home in order to compare their appearances in the room they will go in. Throughout the day, observe how natural and artificial lighting affect the tone of the wood.

▶ Make note of undertones. All woods have different temperatures of undertones, so it’s important to be mindful of this when mixing and matching! It’s preferable to stick to a family of undertones for a space. Warm tones consist of reds, oranges and yellows, while cool tones usually have more of a grey, blue or green appearance.

▶ Pick a dominant tone. If you have wood floors, they would be the dominant tone. If not, it could be the largest piece of furniture in the room.

▶ Add similar tones as accent pieces. Like we mentioned before, sticking to the same color family (cool, neutral or warm) will keep things from looking jumbled and thrown together. Smaller accents such as vases, bookends and photo frames will do just the trick.

▶ Have a unifying piece. When choosing a main piece for a space, opting for a coffee or dining table allows you to get creative with chair and rug combinations. If this happens to be an antique piece, keep in mind that it most likely has warm undertones.

▶ Bring in contrasting materials. If your flooring and furniture pieces are similar in wood tones, it’s a good idea to break them up with a rug. If you place them together without a visual barrier, your furniture could blend in too much with the floors. Additionally, bringing non-wooden materials into the space such as an acrylic coffee table, metal sideboard or fabric sofa, will create balance.

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