I like Gateau's advice. Also: maybe one piece of furniture with both colors of wood, if possible?

will your parents let you paint the dark woods white? easy fix.

I will be looking forward to what others say as well! I love how white and dark pieces look together and have been wondering if "mismatching" is a no-no!

A mixture of old and new can be a good thing! I agree that maybe some quirky old accessories on the bookshelf is a good idea. And then maybe you can lighten-up other aspects of the room with a light and graphic throw blanket, and a light or colorful bedspread.

how about bedding in white or lighter color?

Try some traditional looking white frames in the room. the traditional look will work with the traditional wood, while helping integrate the white on other walls.

some bling here and there would unify the space+don't try to match the pieces and keep them apart somewhat

I think it's okay as long as you don't put them right next to each other. I have a light blond dresser and my bed and night tables are dark. I didn't think I would like it but after you see it together you might think differently. I agree about having white bedding and white accessories on the dark furniture.

Mixing dark and light accessories will help, but you might also want to consider some more formal traditional moulding to add to the Ikea pieces. Right now, you have both a color and style contrast.

A good friend of mine actually makes the situation work beautifully.

She has a large 4x4 ikea Expedit unit and white coffee table in the same room as a gorgeous, dark table that she refinished. It's quite a nice mix of old and new. I think you will find that once you get stuff on the shelves, it will all balance out.

I think that white bedding will also help, and actually putting a chic white canopy on your canopy bed will help balance things out a bit and make the bed look like a nice anchor piece. Perhaps consider leaving the wood dresser at home and using just the closet if that's an option? So you just have one anchor piece.

Check this out, a gorgeous blend of wood/white:
http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=4937&relatedPhotoId=11090&index=3

Pleeeeeeease, don't paint the bed!

Yes... as beansprout said, PLEASE do not paint the antique dark wood bed. It may not be your taste, but it's someone's, and it's a LOT more valuable in original condition.

I really think that once you get everything put away and maybe change out your linens... perhaps even a coat of paint on the walls, you'll have a lot easier time integrating the pieces visually.

I'm thinking "dark wood large antique canopy bed" + "DIY white paint" might lead to regret if it doesn't quite turn out the way you expected.

What about a large painting or photo with both colors to unify it all together?

Remember that it is as much about shape as it is about color when it comes to making a room cohere. I have a 5x5 expedit in my office with a mission oak desk and an industrial metal cabinet. None of the pieces are the same color, but they share a similar squareness. See if you can work on blending shapes as you add accessories.

... maybe wait for the black-brown equivalents to pop up on CL and buy them, then sell your own pieces? I mean, I know you bought them yourself and all and could have a sentimental attachment, but, they are ikea items that are still in range, thus fungible.

Here's a billy in black-brown! Though maybe you don't want those doors....

Or maybe you need the medium brown, I don't know....

Try using color to unify the room. Here's a picture of a bedroom that has a canopy bed and a modern/romantic quality.

http://tinyurl.com/4es5hmz

I could see working your IKEA furnishing into a room like this one.

I had a similar problem trying to integrate disparate styles and wood colors in a single, small bedroom (at my parents' home as a young adult....yeah, definitely no painting furniture they bought or inherited!)

What worked for me:
1.)Modifying the cheapest furniture in some way: stain, polyurethane, primer and paint, add fabric or molding so second the suggestion of adding molding to Ikea bookcases, and then primer and paint them...maybe a flat or glossy black? I turned a clunky country knotty pine dresser with hunter green stained drawers into something almost contemporary and pretty just by staining the drawers in a dark, contrasting mahogany stain...although I was modifying the cheapest stuff into the style I liked, not vice versa as in Jackie's situation
2.)Add other furniture and accessories(as everyone else says) in a color or colors in simple, classic styles that play well with both; I added a hand me down chair and mirror in a nice, soft, neutral green that I painted, added artwork, throw pillows and blankets, vintage clock and suitcases from the Salvation Army
3.)Edit, pare down, take away whatever you can: In my case it was another dresser that went into the closet, couple of shelves, a very countryish honey pine shelf curtain rod thing over the window, plus the blue and cream toile bedspread (room is blue, ceiling cream, rug blue and cream, window treatment blue and cream...it was just too much.) Can you switch out the desk chair or nightstands? No canopy or different fabric? Different window treatment or bed linens? Lamps? Drape fabric over the headboard or desk?
4.)As someone said above, add more of the white for balance, but in a slightly more traditional style that still has mostly clean lines...obviously it doesn't have to be either dark Victorian fancy curlicues and carving OR modern simple utilitarian.

Without looking at your childhood furniture, I'm just making a guess here, but it could be more of a clash-of-style problem you've got going on than a clash-of-color, if your old furniture is carved, ornate, etc. If that's the case, the key for you might be to (1) paint the old furniture (but probably not white, because then there would still be this sense that the pieces are supposed to match, but they still don't - but still something soft and muted, an ivory or a very light gray or a pale aqua or something) (2) layer in some other finishes, like wicker, metal, etc. (small tables/nightstands, mirror frames, a trunk perhaps), so that it's not one cohesive set of furniture competing directly against another cohesive set of furniture, and (3) do something splashy with your bedding, window treatments and/or accessories that will command the attention while the furniture takes a step back.

Alternatively, you could use contact paper on the sides of your IKEA pieces and line the backs of them with fabric or wallpaper to make them appear a little more traditional.

Option 3: paint the dresser and the desk glossy white, but leave the bed dark and let it be the star of the show.

@itsjessme
1) That seems like too much effort for a piece that she is basically going to make look like an existing and easily-acquired piece (rather uniquely funky or whatever).

I wish she'd submitted a picture of the rest of her room, considering any of us can look up what the expedit/billy look like. >.>

Do not paint antiques or wood furniture to match a white Ikea bookcase.

They mix fine, I have mid-century, Ikea and antiques in various woods all over my house.

Think of the bookcase as a basic like a white tee shirt and you then you may layer it with a vintage Chanel jacket and modern jeans then wear a pair of vintage Gucci leather boots or something like that..its about layering.

The bookcase is a basic and it serves a function, with the billy you can paint the inside back piece a color you like maybe a tiffany blue which looks great with dark woods or red.

Have all white crisp bedding, duvet, shams with some accents in a color to match the the paint color inside the bookcase or accessories on the bookcase. The add a white ceramic vase and maybe a tray or box on the wood pieces. Paint the walls white.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone!! I'd totally hit a wall when it came to coming up with any, even remotely good ideas for my room so all of this is getting me to think in different terms, which is great! I'm essentially a 'novice' when it comes to interior design (can you tell?), but as I said, I'm thrilled about this advice!

Just as an update: I recently purchased a white comforter cover and a throw in a light blue print that have really helped bring some balance to the room (just as many of you said it would!) I previously thought about painting some of my darker furniture, but you all have me officially convinced that it's probably not the best idea. I find all the 'before-and-after' stories on AT so inspiring, but realistically, the end result of me painting my own furniture would be nothing short of alarming.

I'm loving all these ideas about how to play with accessories to help blend everything together. I really hadn't been thinking in terms of smaller accent pieces at all or how accessorizing could help harmonize the light and dark, so I'm excited to put a lot of those suggestions to work!

PS: I'm going to try and post a link to some photos of my room (as soon as I can get my computer to cooperate with attachments!!) so you can see what I'm working with and hopefully post even more glorious ideas! Thanks again!!

Paint the backing of the bookshelves a color and incorporate the color in accessories/lamps on your dresser and the bedding. It'll give all the different pieces a common element.

I heard a good rule a while ago that has worked for me: You can mix woods, but always try to have two of each. That way it looks deliberate.

Good luck in grad school! It was one of the best times in my life and much easier than undergrad.

Thanks for the update. I really appreciate the efforts you have made for this post. If you are looking for a simple way to add some classiness to your home, think about adding wood furniture to your decorations. Furnituregeeks.co.uk provides you all types of furniture.