Mixing wood furniture in your bedroom can be a complex thing. Or at least, it seems that way at first.
Actually, what it comes down to is understanding different wood tones, how to mix wood tones, and knowing how a dominant wood tone can help you be more selective with your furniture styles.
And if you’ve never thought about your bedroom furniture pieces regarding wood tones and all the rest of it before, don’t worry, because that’s why we’re here today!
So, mixing wood tones in your bedroom furniture pieces – how do you do it?
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For those who have never mixed wood tones before…
If you’ve always been the type of person to pick out furniture pieces that are an exact match in wood colour, wood finish, and wood tones – you’re not the only one. But before you get started, you’ll need to do a little groundwork.
Start by looking at inspiration photos online to give your room some personality. And take note of a few different things:
- The different materials used
- What is holding your visual interest? Why?
- What different wood finishes are being used?
- How are the pieces working to create continuity despite being mixed?
You’ll find more inspiration this way, and if you’ve only ever used the same wood tone in your wood furniture in the past, then mixing wood finishes now might feel a little odd.
You’ll get a great idea about how to apply it to your own home decor if you see how others have done it before you.
Now, on to the rules that’ll save your bedroom wood furniture from looking out of place!
Know your dominant wood tone
You don’t need to use the same wood tone in your bedroom throughout, but you do need to know your dominant wood tone.
If you have wood floors, then the jobs are done. You probably aren’t going to redo your wood floors just for the sake of mixing wood tones in your bedroom, so leave your wood floors as they are.
Just know, when you have wood floors, these are the dominant tones you’ll want to pick up on with other pieces you bring in.
If you don’t have wood floors, then focus on your wood furniture. Your wood pieces that are the largest will be the most dominant, and so these wood tones are what you want to focus on. (Kitchen cabinets in your kitchen, coffee table in your living room, display cabinet in your living room)
Whenever you mix wood tones, you need an anchor. All other wood furniture finishes will then latch on to that anchor to create continuity in your bedroom. Dressing tables are a common feature in bedrooms and are often very ornate like these dressing table ideas, great pieces to use as an anchor.
Know your undertones
Wood tones are actually much more nuanced than they first appear. And to mix wood tones successfully, you need to understand undertones too.
Your wood tones are all categorised into warm, cool, and neutral. So, look for wood pieces that are all in the same wood tone, without being exactly the same.
That’s how you mix and match wood tones successfully. If you stay within the same family of wood tones, then your bedroom will be much more cohesive.
And the best thing is, even within a family of wood tones, the range is massive, from dark wood pieces to light wood pieces, but if they’re in the same undertone family, they’ll work!
But you can also contrast…
Matching undertones will always work, but if you contrast cleverly, then you can still mix wood tones from different families.
Take a look at the wood surfaces in your bedroom right now. Include everything from the wood floor to the wood trim on your walls. Now, if you were to create a wood swatch and say what the dominant family is – cool, neutral, or warm – what would it be?
Now you can choose accent pieces, like accent chairs, an accent colour, accent end tables, or an accent dresser, that come from a different family.
These small contrasts will work great. Just make sure you don’t overdo it or the place is no longer a fun mix of wood tones, but a chaotic mess instead.
Grains and wood finishes matter too
It isn’t all about wood tones, and you can actually create a cohesive look with just wood grains and finishes.
If you have painted wood, a warm oak, and cooler wood tones all in the same room – it can still work so long as the wood grains and finishes are working together.
You can mix and match wood tones, so long as there is something that ties them together. It doesn’t have to be wood colours. Interior design allows for a more exciting mix of styles when handled carefully.
When the wood gets too much
When you’re bringing in new nightstands, a dresser, a bed frame, and chairs into your room that already has a wood floor, you’re dealing with a lot of wood. This would be a very rustic bedroom theme.
And you’ll probably want a mental break from that – something to break it all up and create some visual interest elsewhere.
And the best way to do that is to decorate. Here are some tips:
- Use an area rug – a pop of colour from a rug might be all you need to tie everything together
- Accents – decorate with trinkets that provide contrast – metal photo frames, a dark clock, a glass ornament, that sort of thing
- Walls – paint your walls to contrast the wood and cover a large space in something that doesn’t resemble the wood that dominates the room, much like this seafoam green airy bedroom design.
Find what works and keep mixing wood tones
Once you know how to mix wood tones, just keep on using the same mix and match approach.
Mixing wood tones doesn’t need to be a big undertaking where you mix wood tones in your room as a whole.
Start with one piece, and match that. Then take the next piece and match something to that. The point we’re making is that you can just repeat the process over and over from one piece to the next.
Eventually, all the other pieces will match because there will be a common thread in the room based on your process of mixing and matching. It’s as simple as that.
Today’s final message
Mixing wood tones in your bedroom might seem complicated at first, but really it’s just a case of finding one dominant wood tone in your room, and finding one piece to match that, whilst providing contrast. Then rinse and repeat.
Trust the process, and eventually, you’ll have a cohesive bedroom that’s packed full of interesting tones and wood furniture.