Make peace between your pieces
Stop the décor Cold War
Bridge the generational gap between décor eras and bring cohesion back into your home.
You can MAKE it match
Storytime:
I was privileged enough to move into a half furnished flat. Half furnished because the family member who lived there before I did, moved into a similarly half-furnished space and had to leave some of HER stuff behind. This happened several times before I finally moved into the place I love now, and with each move I inherited more stuff. Being a frugal kind of person, (or just a broke student) I never let anything go, nor did I ever say no to any piece of furniture I was offered. Before we moved in together, my husband had the same luck, and when we finally moved into our home we had enough furniture between us to fill a rambling three bedroom place with two living spaces. The only furniture we have ever bought is better bed for our room (second-, third- and fourth-hand beds only work when you are 20, not when you are nearing 40) and a brown leather sofa that was big enough for us and the dogs (before they grew up).
As privileged as this made us, we were still stuck with the issue of making furniture and décor from four different families spanning over about 90 years of home design trends work together in one house.,
Colour is your best friend
One of the easiest ways to make things go together is to get a cohesive colour palette going. Whether it’s dark, jewel tones, earth colours or monochromes, the moment you have separated your pieces into colour groupings you will be able to see them more clearly, and use them more wisely. Also never underestimate the power of re-upholstery, or the magic of chunky throws and bold scatter cushions…
Wood is wood.
Real, unpainted wood can be a common denominator. By embracing this natural element, you can create cohesion from even the weirdest bunch of items. If your woods differ you can jippo the rules by restaining it. Mellowing out a high gloss lacquer or a sun-bleached beech by sanding and oiling can bring your furniture together without altering it drastically.
You make the rules
Certain era’s go together. Seventies colourways of browns and orange vinyl or Formica can work brilliantly with the elliptical metal edgings of Atomic Age furnishings. If you look closely at modern angular furniture (even things like boxed floating shelves or ottomans) you can see how they emulate and compliment the geometric precision of Art Deco pieces from the start of the previous century. But the most important thing to remember about mixing eras and making your furniture work is that it is YOUR furniture. You make the rules, and you get to decide how and where and IF you use it in your space.
Too much is too much, but way too much is just enough.
The secret to a mixed and matched house is to get the balance right. Nataniël, our very own national treasure and famed minimalist even understands this. (Although he applied this Maxim to decorating cakes and setting tables.) AS much as you might feel tempted to give up, just keep going. If the 60’s brown and gold sofa, the modern boho carpet, the mid-century coffee table and faux French ornate mirror don’t go together, add a lawn flamingo and a fluffy 2000’s scatter cushion and make the ensemble an obvious statement of maximalism or talking piece. We dare you!
