It's commonplace to see wooden dining tables surrounded with plastic modern chairs or brightly colored mismatched chairs or even intermixed fabric patterns, but you rarely see mismatched wooden chairs with a wooden table. Even adventurous decorators tend to be wood purists, and an oak table with pine chairs can look off, if not combined correctly.
The key to mixing woods is contrast. The contrast can be subtle or distinct, but it should be discernible. If you have a light wood for your table, like maple, think about using dark walnut chairs. If you have a pine vintage table with ornate carvings think about combining it with sleek modern chairs of a similar color.
There are no rules when you are breaking rules, but remember that you want your mixing to be eclectic and cool not a hodgepodge mess. To avoid a junky look, don't mix woods and then mismatch chair patterns. This can be extremely tricky. Only take on this challenge if you are a master designer.
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that dresser isn't overcrowded?
looks cluttered to me ~ and the tip to leave "utility space" for clothing or cups???
sure wish i had the luxury of using any surface in my apartment for anything but "utility space"
The vignette shown is too busy for a dresser that is used every day; it might be nice if the dresser is primarily storage, i.e. linens. I think a dresser in daily usage should have more unused space so that one could put things down on it, i.e. jewelry, cups, etc. They can be corralled on a tray.
oh...I like it lots!
That picture sure looks like an example of an overcrowded and cluttered dresser and not a vignette displaying a collection. Also, one of the tips should be: "optimize your vignette by using a piece of furniture that is a work of art." I'd love to have that dresser, just not all the stuff piled on top of it.
I was just about to comment - "am I the only one that doesn't love vignettes??" - and I see I am indeed not.
Why not just stack of books on left and lamp on right?
Agree that that dresser display is not for (many ppl's) real life.
It looks very cluttered to me as well. And when are we going to stop using the term "curate"? Our homes are not museums! But if one is going to "curate" the contents of the dresser, how about going for a complementary color theme, or using similar shapes. Not to be all debbie downer, but it just looks like a cluttered mess of MCM useless stuff right now. Ok I was debbie downer and I'm sorry. I just think the picture is the antithesis of the advice being offered in the article.
I mix light and dark woods in my home. My trick to keep it from looking like a garage sale is to have 2-3 'hits' of each wood tone in the room.
I've even stained the tops of light wood side tables to have a dark top. This way, the juxtaposition looks intentional.
What dresser is everyone talking about?
I myself like the idea of mixing woods. I like the contrast in color and texture.
Hilarious! AT, there's a glitch somewhere... all those posters are referring to a cluttered dresser, and there isn't a dresser in sight here.
Those comments are from a post about dresser-top vignettes from last week. Really weird.
Thanks KristinaK. I was wondering what I was missing... This look is easier for most people that the 8 different chairs look. That truly takes a master designer. Actually, rooms with all the same wood look matchy-matchy and gets boring very quickly.
Oh, good, I'm NOT crazy -- others have noticed the "dresser" posts are out of place! Relief! ;^)
We just redesigned our Public Library's main floor. The old Windsor chairs are mid-toned oak. The new upholstered chairs have light birch frames. The little second-hand side tables are kind of mahogany with copper leaf trim. The main desks have (20-year-old) real Honduras mahogany and formica fronts. The various storage pieces (for CD's, magazines, etc.) tend to be faux woodgrain in dark walnut or mahogany colors. Some other cabinets are golden oak. It all works just fine because it's a large space, the other colors used complement the various wood tones, and the overall feel is sort of informal.
I think you have to be VERY formal or traditional to think wood tones should match. What an unnecessary limitation!
SherryBinNH, librarians rock!