apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Not digging the mismatched tables. It reminds me of Christmas dinner when you have to get out all the extra extension tables for a large family meal and invariably you end up being the person who gets stuck sitting where the two tales join up and your plate is constantly balancing on both tables or the legs are in your way.

Where are the white chairs from in the first picture? I really like those. I also like the red chairs too. I have an old round wood table that I want to keep and use but the chairs are just terrible. Those white chairs would be perfect to dress up an old round table.

any idea where the chandelier is from too?

I'm with grrliz. Mismatched tables, not so much.

grrliz - my thoughts exactly. This is the "kid table" at Christmas. I can smell the spiked eggnog and hear my Aunt Debbie's pickled laughter...

I don't really love mismatched chairs unless they are similar to each other, not distinctly from different periods or material. Mismatched tables is not a look, it's a transitional period until you save up for the table you really wanted, or a temporary solution for lots of dinner guests after one of them spilled wine on your tablecloth and it's still in the wash.

I mean, seriously? This is not a find, this is flickr gone stupid. Why do people take pictures of their stupid stuff and post it to flickr?

Did I say "solution"? I meant "shame".

Dang, snark! I liked the room with the blue chairs. I won't be copying it, but it looks like a lovely place to spend some time. I like the paired side-tables too, in the bedroom. I like inventive decorating, and am not in love with overly-coordinate rooms. "Matchy-matchy" as my sister calls them.

i don't really get how the other pictures have anything to do with the first? The tables pushed together that aren't alike...not a fan. I like the other two tables and chairs. However that comforter/bedspread on the last pic...it looks like someone went into the room and threw up all over the bed. I hate it.

grrliz winz.

I've been looking at this person's flickr set. It appears she is making a lot of improvements on her home by herself, with mixed results. The table on the right with the red chairs is her original table, to which she later added the table on the left and the white chairs. She is from Argentina. When she went to NYC, she took pictures at Anthropologie. There are no other pictures posted in her account from her trip to NY.

"She is from Argentina."

I mean that in the sense, she lives in Argentina, not that there's something wrong with being from Argentina. Her resources may be limited. It is an obviously happy house.

Wow, I thought I was snarky...

Totally agree with the last picture--I HATE matching bedside tables and matching lamps with a deep dark passion. Almost as much as I hate furniture sets and matching armchairs. It looks dreadful and tacky. You found one you liked and that was all the energy you could muster? I'm not liking this bedroom that much, but I apprecite the tables.

I don't think matching is due to a lack of effort so much as buying things new. Most of the mismatching occurs because people either like or need to buy from the thrift and things like chairs or nightstands don't always come in as many as you need, and it has that quirky "Monica's Kitchen" look from Friends, and shabby/thrift "chic" in general. It may also be attributed to each person having different needs on their side of the bed.

I didn't even notice the mismatched nightstands in that last picture, I just thought it was featured because how obviously mismatched all the patterns are. I don't like it, and failed to mention it because I was struck by the instance of the mismatched dining room tables setting the whole roundup off! It's ridiculous. People are afraid of mixing and matching because it's obviously easy to take an idea too far, and I take most of this post as a cautionary tale rather than instructive.

That robin's egg blue in the third photo is beautiful. What shade/make is it?

the 2 not matching tables is terrible, sorry to say but nice try, use the same table cloth for both and we are in business.

The mismatched tables look like a sad mistake, but the robin's egg blue chairs are just lovely. I also like the hanging over the table in that pic- it's fun and a bit inspiring, even though I wouldn't want to duplicate it in my house.

No, no, no, and no.
To all. I don't know where the mismatch look came from, but to me, it looks tacky and cheap.

However, I can't decide if that ornament-branch is interesting or heinous.

KTG, Why would buying things new lead to matching? You can buy 2 different but complimentary new things just as easily--well, with a little more effort.

Don't get me wrong--the two tables looks silly. But things like matching bedside tables or matching lamps or matching arm chairs is just dreadful and deadly and the worst kind of design. The chairs can go either way--mismatching for mismatching's sake is just trying too hard. but when there's a rhyme and reason to it, it looks great.

Have always loved those mismatched blue chairs... they've shown up on AT several times, and were originally in Living Etc.

I like the mismatched tables. They remind me of homes in the south of France, where people combine all kinds of stuff they've inherited.

But I think Americans tend to like everything new and matching.

I don't mind the mismatched dining tables in theory. I just think it would look better if they were more similar in style or finish or something.

The chairs look fine to me.

The bedroom.. well, I just don't like those particular nightstands.

Personally, I tend to like harmonious mismatched stuff as opposed to when everything is matchy-matchy.

djs - If you can buy new, you'll be able to acquire matching pieces more easily. You might not choose to, but none of the above choices look to me like anyone went to a retail store and only bought one of anything they could have 2 or 6 of, with the exception of the first picture with the dining tables, which is obviously two tables with 4 or 6 matching chairs each. Those can be new or used. Used furniture sometimes comes in sets or multiples.

I guess my thinking here is that some people will buy a chair for the living room and set it against a different piece (or not be able to afford to buy them in pairs). The Barcelona Chair should be paired, for example. I do not think everything has to match, but I also don't think it's a crime to have two of something, like end tables, nightstands, or chairs, or that it lacks imagination to pick up a second of something that looks nice in the room. I think mismatching on purpose can be a copy of thrifting, that charming "found" look, which when dissected has often been done out of need rather than intentionally. People used to feel bad or poor if they couldn't afford a whole suite of matching furniture or get depressed because some of the furniture in a room didn't match the rest of the wood.

I don't love matchy-matchy, but I think a strong bent against having even two of something imitates the ingenuity of necessity in a self-conscious ironic way, and well, there's nothing wrong with multiples of a thing, if it's a good thing.

i concur with the poster who says it reminds them of christmas day where you're frantically trying to create more dining space.

also, to get two tables the same height or cut the legs off one to achieve this seems like more effort than getting a big table??

i don't like the mismatched tables here. it really does look temporary, like they were just pulled together for something.

i have no problem with matched end tables/night stands/lamps. i think if they are really beautiful pieces, then they can really hold a room together and be striking.

"I HATE matching bedside tables and matching lamps with a deep dark passion."

Really?

Pairs of identical gorgeous items - whether lamps, side tables, armchairs, chests of drawers or sofas - speaks "luxury" to me in a way that mismatched or almost-the-same (ie: Sofa/Loveseat/Chair combos or Bedroom Sets) never-ever will.

OMG - the dining idea in the first photo is awful. If the person has room for a longer table, they need to get ahold of a longer table and get rid of the smaller ones. It looks so like a college apartment or something you would see in a homeless shelter.

I hate bench seating at a dining table - I would feel awful about inviting someone over to have dinner and have to sit on a hard bench (which have no back! to them) for over an hour. The mismatched chairs do look like a good idea - fits a country look better, like if you had a dozen of them around a large farmhouse table.

I love mis-matched furniture that works well (LOVE the white/rustic set and the blue chairs set) but I'm just not feeling the first pic- were it mine, I'd see about getting leaves for the table on the right, I love it's shape.

I also love the symmetry of matching pieces... it's only boring of the rest of the room is ;)

With the first picture, the biggest upset is the two tables that clash badly. And I feel sorry for whoever winds up with the seat where two legs meet up because they with neither be comfy or be able to eat with their plate balanced between two tables.

My advice to that person's home - sell the small tables and buy one bigger.