Mixing and Matching Wood in Your Home

Cortney Lindquist

Home decor once meant everything had to match. Bedroom sheets had to match the pillowcases, carpet had to be the same tone as the drapes and living room furniture had to be a set. Over time mixing and matching has gained popularity and people have discovered the exciting possibilities offered by mixing and matching different styles within a room.

So if you can create a dynamic room by combining vintage cabinets with contemporary furniture can you include hardwood floors when mixing and matching?

Most definitely, yes!

Choose a color scheme

You can start by taking the color of the furniture in the room and blend them. Let’s say your dining tables are made of red oak, your cabinets in teak, and your window panels are made of rich walnut wood. You might also have a piece that combines with paint. Take these color shades and combine them to make your wood flooring. Alternating these colors in your wood plank layout will allow the blends to work together. It will create an exquisite color palette that ensures the overall theme of the space.

Create depth with contrasting wood tones

Start with your dominant wood tone (likely your hardwood floor) and introduce some contrast. Contrast a light wood floor with dark wood furniture and vice versa. Just remember if your dominate wood tone is warm, stick with warm woods in your contrasting pieces. If your biggest furniture piece is cool in tone you can match it with a floor that has gray. Use this great cheat sheet from Room & Board as a guide:

roomandboardwoodtones

 

Contrasting with grains and finishes

Grain refers to the stripes, swirls or flame-like shapes you see in the wood and grain pattern size is simply the scale of those elements. Finish tends to mean how shiny the appearance of the wood with high-gloss being the most shiny followed by semi-gloss, satin, and matte.

Most designers suggest you can mix and match one of these elements but not both. So you can mix grains but should use a matching finish or you can match grains and mix the finishes.

Keep an eye on the big picture

It’s easy to get carried away on a mix and match decorating journey and so a little restraint can go a long way. Start with an idea in mind so you can make decisions from all the options while shopping. Research decor trends online and magazines for inspiration to satisfy your style.

Would you like to talk with us about hardwood floors? We're here to help. Contact us at 920-984-3383, 800-354-9902 or info@ralphshardwood.com. Showroom appointments are available.

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