Yes, it's ok to mix wood tones in your home decor. In fact, it's encouraged!
Speaking of scale, large quantities of one species of wood (i.e., flooring) should be considered alongside the total number of wood species within a room. That said, we think that a max of 3-ish wood tones in one space is generally acceptable, assuming that the individual pieces share a similar shape or style.
The key to mixing woods is keeping the undertones consistent. Woods with warm undertones will look yellow or red - think Cherry, Mahogany, and Hickory. These woods will work well together, even if they vary in darkness and grain. Cool-toned woods will look a little bit grey, like Ash, Maple, Poplar, or Pine.
Mixing light and dark wood, combining different pieces, and playing with furniture can make a room uniquely your own. It gives your house that bespoke feeling that feels like home.
While mixing wood tones is perfectly acceptable—and in fact, we encourage it—it always helps to pick a dominant wood tone as a starting point to help you choose other pieces to bring in the room. If you have wood floors, your work here is done — those are your dominant wood tone.
Yes, it's ok to mix wood tones in your home decor. In fact, it's encouraged!
When mixing wood tones, each tone needs to be represented at least twice in the room. When pairing wood tones, you could choose a piece as small as a bowl or a frame. Balance the wood tones around the room. Just like you would in a gallery wall, avoid “clustering” all of the wood tones in one area.
Lighter shades reflect more light and brighten the room. Meanwhile, darker shades absorb light and make the rest of the room feel darker. Consider this when choosing the type of wood color you want. A room with little natural light will benefit from paler wood shades that can brighten the space.
But mixing warm and cool (cherry and poplar, for example) can create a messy vibe. If you're a fan of warm tones but want to add more texture and depth, look for woods with a neutral tone, such as walnut or birch.
Goerg says, “My personal rule is two maximum three wood tones within a given space; otherwise, it creates a disarranged feeling, and nothing else gets a chance to shine.” Above, the dining room from Marsi & Robert's Bright and Tidy Southern Ranch has light floors and dark wood chairs.
You can of course mix warm and cool tones but it's much harder to pull off a cohesive look when you do this. If you want to experiment a bit, try mixing neutral tones in moderation with either warm or cool as this can work well too.
Having some matching furniture is not a bad thing. But you probably don't want your loveseat, couch, coffee table, and side table to all match. Some of them can match to keep a cohesive look, but if everything is the exact same…you're going to end up with a cookie-cutter look that lacks personality.
While the short answer is to can use as many colors as you wish, there are a few things to consider that might help you decide. Light is a key factor and should be at the forefront of your decision, and the best way to address this is by considering the aspect of the room.
While some prefer a unique color scheme for each space, creating a cohesive palette that stretches across rooms can help give your home a more intentional look. Linking rooms with color can also encourage better flow between spaces that are separated by closing doors.
Color: when we think about a spacious room, blonde wood often comes to mind. Floor color plays a major role in making your small space seem larger. We often recommend light colors to give the room an airy feel. For example, blonde, light brown, or whitewashed hardwood can make the room seem more open.
Contrast is one of the core rules of any style or décor, making it one of the most important tips for matching wood floors with furniture. Darker wood floors can make lighter wood furniture pop and look extremely satisfying. Alternatively, lighter wood floors provide the perfect balance for darker furniture pieces.
Choose Light Colored Flooring
A light hardwood like pine or oak will add plenty of appeal to a darker room and expand the space to feel more open. Many homeowners feel that lighter hard surface flooring coordinates with a more contemporary design, but it can also work with a traditional look.
Shades of Light
Light wood finishes are trending all over the place and look exceptional when teamed up with darker colors like black and navy. We love the stylish golden wood finish on this table by Tiffany Duckenfield who paired it the stark black chairs giving it a sleek modern sophisticated look.
With the softness of grey and the richness of brown, you have all the right components for an inviting and cozy space. This color combination provides plenty of room for style despite your aesthetic and could be the answer to the new look you've been searching for.
Undertones of wood come in three categories: warm, neutral, and cool tones. There are also subsets of these tones, which can be divided into light and dark woods. It might seem complicated but we want to try to simplify it a bit. Warm tones consist of red and orange undertones.
“Typically, I try to use no more than two or three different wood finishes in a space,” she says. “If your furniture is sitting directly on your hardwood floors, try to keep them in the same color family.”