Creating a cohesive living room is certainly appealing, but that doesn’t always mean that all of your furniture has to match. Combining different furniture will make your living space look more eclectic, comfortable, and welcoming. If you’re wondering how to mix and match furniture for the living room, there are many ways you can combine different pieces to create a beautiful space. Read on to discover some helpful tips and tricks to make mixing and matching your living room furniture a breeze.
Keep Your Base Colors Neutral
As you think about how to mix and match furniture for the living room, start with your wall and floor colors. These hues should be neutral since it will make things much easier when it’s time to bring in the actual furniture and décor. Bold or dramatic wall color choices can throw things off and make it tougher to mix and match the actual furniture in this space. Stick to soft, neutral shades like a beautiful gray color, a versatile ivory shade, or an earthy shade of blue or green. As for your floors, avoid installing patterned tile and stick to a nice hardwood or luxury plank vinyl in a neutral color instead.
Choose Your Anchor Piece First
Major pieces of living room furniture, like sofas or San Francisco sectionals, should be your first order of business. Choose a sofa or sectional in a style, color, and material that you love. Once you’ve chosen this furniture, it will be a lot easier to incorporate smaller accent pieces that come in a different design. Since the main seating furniture is the focal point, choosing this first is ideal to help you find the color and overall design style you like best. It’s also much easier to know how to mix and match furniture for the living room when your main piece is already in place. Once you pick this out, you can go back and add in smaller furnishings like coffee tables, end tables, accent chairs, and ottomans in a variety of styles.
Keep the Style Coherent
There’s no harm and adding a metal and glass coffee table to a room with a velvet sofa. However, it’s a good idea to choose furniture that’s all in at least a similar style. For example, a sleek and modern bookcase should go alongside a sofa with a tight back and tapered legs rather than something with rolled arms and floral-patterned upholstery. Of course, everything doesn’t have to be from the same brand or in the same design, but each piece of furniture should at least be in a similar overall theme or motif. You can mix some of the old and new, however. Bring in a few beautiful vintage pieces to go with your more modern furniture to give the living room a bold, eclectic aesthetic.
Play with Patterns
Once you’ve chosen your wall and floor colors and your main furniture, you can add in some additional elements through décor. Mixing and matching patterns on things like area rugs, art, and throw blankets is a great way to add in some visual interest and lots of extra colors. The best thing about using décor in this space to express yourself is that you can always add or remove these items when your tastes change. A gallery wall filled with unique works of art and framed pieces can instantly give the living room a cool and unique touch. Don’t be afraid to get a little wild with your décor if you want to mix and match things. Pair a ceramic sculptural table lamp with a woven basket beside an accent table to incorporate a few different textures into the living space.
Understand the Scale of Your Furniture
While you can easily mix and match the furniture in your living room, everything must have the proper scale to ensure good visual balance. The term scale refers to the proportion of each piece of furniture in relation to the space as a whole. Mix smaller and daintier objects like petite accent tables with large, weightier items like a bulky pedestal table or an overstuffed armchair. The interplay of furniture in various sizes will add a whimsical component to your living room. The goal is to mix and match items that create a nice balance with each other rather than choosing large, bulky pieces that will appear to “swallow up” smaller ones.
Use Repetition
Part of good interior design is creating a fun and eclectic yet cohesive look. You can do this by using repetition through linear designs or shapes. A round coffee table looks elegant in a living room that features a cabinet with curved sides or a round ottoman, for example. If you prefer a sleek and more linear look, pair rectangular pieces with an area rug featured in a striped pattern so that the lines are carried throughout the space. Repeating patterns is a great way to give your living room a sophisticated and coherent look that won’t make it too busy or cause the eye to dart around the room.
Try a Theme
Another easy way to mix and match your living room furniture is by choosing a central “theme.” This can be anything from a tropical-inspired living room with lots of plants to a minimalist and modern living room. The goal is to devise a theme that you enjoy and one that will help your living room maintain its functionality. The interior design experts at our furniture store serving San Jose, CA recommend that, if you adore a vintage-inspired living space, bring in a few antique pieces like a brass table lamp or a beautifully upholstered chair imported from Europe. For those who like their living rooms to look a bit more modern, add some abstract artwork to the walls that will go nicely with your sleek sofa resting on tapered legs. Use these tips to help you create a beautiful living space that mixes and matches a variety of furnishings.
Ready to update your living room? We invite you to visit our furniture store serving Menlo Park, Los Gatos, Mill Valley, San Anselmo, Oakland, and the surrounding areas.
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