Most people do not have the luxury of doing up their entire home at one go. Therefore, mixing and matching on the go is the only practical solution there is.

Furnishing a new home or renovating an existing one is a large expense and there are only a select few who manage this in one go. For the rest of us, it is built along the way in instalments. This however, poses its own problems. You really need to give mixing and matching some serious thought, especially when it comes to wood flooring. For example, what kind of furniture would go well with walnut flooring? Here are some tips to make it easier.

Match the undertones

When matching wood furniture and a wooden floor, the first thing to keep in mind is that they do not need to be a 100% match. In fact, a 100% match can turn out to be quite a disaster. For example, a walnut coloured flooring does not require walnut coloured furniture. A good place to start would be to match the undertones. If you look at the various shades of wood, you will find that some of them have a warm tone while others a cooler tone. If your flooring gives off a warm tone, then keep your furniture the same too. It can be lighter or darker, but the same tone.

Keep the grain

If your flooring, walnut or any other colour has a grain or a texture to it, try and maintain this texture with your furniture as well. It not only adds character to the room but brings it together nicely. Of course, you don’t want to over do it and make the room appear too busy. Therefore, add an item at a time, instead of everything at one go. Unless of course you are very sure of how the outcome will appear.

Break the flow

The thing about have wooden flooring and wooden furniture is that they tend to flow into one another when it comes to the overall look of the room. It doesn’t matter that your flooring maybe walnut and your furniture teak, wood on wood can be a bit disturbing to the eye. The secret is to create a divider. The easier way to do this would be with a contrasting rug between the furniture and the floor.

Keep it simple

When it comes to walnut / teak or any other kind of wooden flooring and furniture, magic happens when you keep it simple. This means, choose to mix and match only 2 to 3 finishes. More than that is asking for trouble. Another fantastic way of bringing ‘wooden’ room together is white. When in doubt use furniture / panelling that is painted / finished white. White calms down and hold a room together beautifully.