I want to turn the largest room in my apartment into a bedroom (one zone) and possibly small living/sitting room (another zone). My bedroom furniture is light colored, but I just picked up a wicker chair, ottoman and small padded bench in a darker shade. What do you think of the idea of different tones? I don't like matched sets (think matching nightstands, end tables, etc.) but I'm lost on the color concept. I'm going for a "beach cottage" look.
I don't think there are any hard rules on this, but I'm with you – sticking exclusively to one tone can end up looking a bit boring and too matchy. A little bit of variety adds interest and makes the space feel more personal (not like you just bought everything you saw on on the catalog page). You could get a two-tone furniture piece to the mix, but I think the key is incorporating a color scheme, so that the colors unify the room, not the wood tones. If you're going for "beach cottage," you want light and bright (think crisp blues and whites, seersucker and linen). If your new furniture is significantly darker, I think the bigger question is not if it matches with your bedroom furniture, but if you'll be able to achieve your beach look with the dark hues? Take some inspiration from these photos. Perhaps you could paint a few pieces white.
This suitcase side table was painted white to achieve that crisp, beachy feel.
Weathered, two-tone wood.
See these posts for more information on matching wood tones:
Also, check out this post for tips on creating a beach cottage look.
If you have thoughts, share them below!
(Images: A Beach Cottage)
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this is lovely. Re: mixing wood furniture with different tones, I read that it's ok, but if you should have at least 2 pieces in the different tone to keep it from looking like a flea market. Hope this helps!
sorry, I obviously can't spell today
When using two or more paint colors in a room, the advice is 70/20/10 or 60/30/10. In other words, let one color dominate, one color accent, and one color just hint. If you split the colors 33/33/33, it looks busy and tires the eye. The same applies to wood tones. If you have 70 percent light wood, 20 percent dark, and 10 percent "other" (such as a metal finish) your room will look balanced. Also contrast textures (such as high gloss wood and natural finish wood). If the wood has different tones, but all the same finish, it will also look "off."