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6 Hints to Mix and Match Wood Finishes in Your Home

Wood is one of the best materials you can use in your home. Apart from that, it’s affordable and readily available, wood is also beautiful. It adds character to any home. Matching different wood finishes at home, however, isn’t as easy as it sounds. If you’re not careful, you can easily end up with serious decorating mistakes.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to avoid them. Below are some helpful tips you can use in mixing and matching different wood finishes in your home.

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Be careful of undertones

Wood finishes don’t really need to match but you should make it a point to make them complement each other. One thing you can do is to check the color bias of every piece. Check if it’s cool or warm and make the undertones match. This is regardless of the finish the pieces have.

Keep it simple–start with white as a beginner at mixing woods.

Maintain a common element

Even if your stains don’t match, the pieces of wood you have at home should make sense together. You can achieve that by having one or more elements in common. It could be the wood’s color temperature, shape, period, formality or style.

flooring solutions
Hardwood floors and shiplap walls from reclaimed wood. Yum!

Have a unifying piece

If it’s your first time to mix wood finishes, one of the safest things you can do is to add a piece that has all the wood tones in your room. This will tie the different finishes together.

If you’re not sure where to find that unifying piece, you can consider zebrawood, burled finishes or inlaid furniture. You can also add high-contrast pieces to your room.

Start slow

As a beginner, it’s best to start slow when mixing wood finishes. Do go into the extremes yet by using really pale or high-contrast pieces.

Instead, test it out by playing with light and medium or medium and dark mixes. When you’re more comfortable with using different wood stains and finishes, you can always put it in more contrast.

Add white sections

If you’re in doubt about the wood finishes you chose, you can mix them with some white pieces in your home. Wood simply looks good against white. It can calm down an otherwise nutty-looking space.

wood finishes and woodcraft
The white walls keep the wood floors from looking heavy. And, notice the ladder? They make fantastic Scandanavian-inspired decor pieces on a budget!

Use textiles to soften the look

When mixing different wood finishes, try your best not to pile them on top of each other. Although it might not look that bad, it’s still best if you make the transition softer.

Use an area rug on your hardwood floor if you’ll be having a different finish on your dining table. You can also do the same if your cabinets look significantly different from your floor.

cozy bedroom
See how the bed linens soften the appearance of the wood headboard?

Final Thoughts

Although it can add character to your home, it doesn’t mean that you can just pile different wood finishes in your space. Remember to take things slowly and really get to know the finishes you’re working on. Mix and match and don’t be afraid to do a series of trial-and-error to find the right combination for your home. Play around and use the tips above to create the space you want.

 

Deborah
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