How To Mix Furniture Like A Pro | A Simple 6 Step Guide

Want to give your room a makeover but don’t know how to mix furniture styles? You are not alone!

Mixing furniture in any space is a great way to give it character and add interest! Long gone are the days of buying complete matching sets of furniture at a department store. But many quickly find out that mixing furniture can be very intimidating.

No worries! Because I have put together a super simple 6 step guide on how to mix furniture! After this, you will mix and match furniture like a pro!

1. Start With A Favorite Piece of Furniture

When designing any room, I always suggest starting with one or two pieces that you absolutely love and work around it. This could be something you already have and want to reuse or refurbish. Or it can be a whole new piece!

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For example, if you are designing a whole new bedroom and there’s a headboard you just have to have, then plan your whole space around that headboard.

Figure out what dresser might look good with it. Then which nightstands might go well with both the headboard and the dresser (I will discuss how to determine this later on).

But starting with one, maybe two pieces and building up from there is essential!

2. Stick To Similar Styles

Mixing furniture styles can be fun but if done wrong it can completely ruin the entire feel of the room!

So I HIGHLY suggest sticking to similar styles!

Don’t try to mix Boho and Vintage! No matter how much you might like both of these styles, they just don’t mesh well together!

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Stick to similar styles that complement each other such as:

• Farmhouse and Rustic
• Farmhouse and Coastal (Check out my Coastal Farmhouse bedroom here).
• Modern Farmhouse and Industrial (Check out my boys’ Modern Farmhouse/ Industrial bedroom here).
• Boho and Rustic
• Boho and Modern
• Boho and Farmhouse
• Vintage and Traditional
• Vintage and Farmhouse
• Vintage and Industrial

The point is to stick to styles that go well together, and have similarities in them as well. This way you can look at a particular piece of furniture and think it might go with either one of the styles you are implementing in the room.

3. Don’t Go Crazy With Different Wood Tones

Mixing up wood tones is probably the most intimidating part of mix-matched room design.

It’s hard to know which wood tones go well together, and which wood tones clash. Or which grains go well together. Even what finishes go well together! Glossy, distressed… It’s a whole thing that frankly, can make anyone feel like they need a Ph.D. in interior design!

But I’m here to tell you it DOES NOT have to be so difficult if you keep it simple!

Instead of breaking your head about which wood tones and undertones go well together…. just get similar tones! You are still mixing it up as long as you don’t have all your furniture from the same collection at your nearest furniture depot!

What to do instead: Get a couple of pieces in the same “wood family” and mix those up easily with PAINTED pieces! Painted furniture pieces can easily match with any wood tone!

White, black, or charcoal gray are great furniture color options!

Or you can add a pop of color with teal, navy, or mustard yellow!

Bonus Tip: If you like two-toned furniture this is a great way to easily mix and match as well! For example, you can get a white nightstand with a stained wood top and get a dresser that matches that stain on the nightstand!

This simple tip will make your furniture color mixing sooo easy you will wonder why you took so long to go for it!

4. Mix Up Your Furniture Materials

There is so much more to furniture types than wood! Think outside the box and try looking for metal, glass, or even wicker furniture!

You will find that these different materials can go well with almost any style. So it’s a great way to mix things up without making things complicated!

5. Incorporate Upholstered Furniture

Another super-easy way to mix things up is by using upholstered furniture!

Again, no worries about wood colors and tones because upholstery is one of those things that will go with anything in the room! As long as you keep it within the style of the room!

So get an upholstered headboard! Or upholstered dining chairs! I swear mixing furniture has never been this easy!

You can even mix the fabrics up! For example, a dark leather couch will look great with a formal cream-colored tufted upholstered chair! Then just add a large light wood coffee table and white table ends and you are good to go!

Now you just have to accessorize it all! Which leads me to the next and final step!

6. Create A Cohesive Look

Okay, so let’s recap a little.

• Start a main piece of furniture you already have or have to have.
• Decide what design styles go well together.
• Find wood pieces that are similar in tones.
• Get a couple of pieces with different materials.
• Incorprate some upholstered furniture.

Now it’s time to make it all look like it was meant to go together, using your decorative accents to create a cohesive look.

How do we do this? Simple! I will show you 3 easy ways to do this!

1. Repeat the same colors throughout

Implement the same colors throughout the room and incorporate the same pop of color with your decorative accessories.

The picture above is a perfect example of using color throughout the room to pull it all in perfectly.

The mint green throw pillows and vase on the mantle are a nice little compliment to the large work of art hung over the sofa. Even the greens from the plants help bring it all together nicely.

2. Implement the same materials throughout

Using a specific material such as wood, metals, etc. will keep things consistent.

For example, use the same metal color knobs and pulls on all your bedroom furniture. Then find other ways to incorporate that metal color such as in your light fixtures, mirrors, picture frames, and curtains rods.

Using the same material throughout will easily create a cohesive look in any space!

3. Create symmetry with similar shapes

Using similar shapes in a room can help create a sense of symmetry.

This sitting area comes together nicely not only with similar colors but shapes as well. Such as the round mirror, coffee table, and floor lamp shades.

Pro Tip: Don’t place accessories on the piece it’s matching with. For example: If you have a light wood-toned nightstand you can match it with light wood-toned candle holders. But don’t place them on the nightstand! Place them on your white dresser! You can place white table lamps on the wooden nightstands to go with the white dresser and so forth.

*That’s why it’s so important to start with one big piece and slowly work around it! So don’t go buying all your accessories before you figured out which furniture pieces you will have!

Pin This For Later! How To Mix Furniture Like A Pro!

If you are still in doubt about mixing up your furniture then I highly suggest making your own mood board! In fact, make one regardless! And it doesn’t have to be professional!

The point is to get an idea of what the space will look like before committing to certain pieces! If you want to learn how to easily create a mood board for your upcoming room makeover just click here! I show you 3 super easy ways you can make a mood board at home in just a few minutes.

I hope you found all of these tips helpful. These are the exact steps I use when figuring out how to mix furniture in my room designs and it has worked wonders for me! Now go out there and create your own Simply Lovely Living space!