How to mix traditional pieces with contemporary furniture

Before you even begin designing the space there are some choices to be made.

Colour scheme

When you start planning your design you need to decide on a colour scheme first of all. The furniture itself does not need to be the colour you choose, but you need to add accent decor pieces in that colour to really make the room stand out.

The style of the room

During the planning stages you need to decide the major style of the furniture you use in the room. will it be contemporary furniture or the traditional pieces. Once you have chosen the style of the room you can move on to the actual design of the space.

How to mix the furniture

1) Start by completely clearing the room.  Avoid just moving furniture pieces around, a blank canvas will give you the opportunity to evaluate the current wall and floor colours and give you a clean space to work with.

2) Choose the essential traditional and contemporary furniture pieces you must have in the room. For your bedroom it could be the mahogany sleigh bed and the PVC night stands or for the living room your Victorian Armoire and your steel and leather couches. When you have chosen the essential pieces you can move them into the room.

3) Step back and evaluate the room thus far. Does the walls and flooring match the pieces you have added to the room. The colour of the laminate flooring in your room might clash with the bed, or the age inspired wallpaper might cause the PVC stands to look out of place. You will need to remove the pieces that does not fit with the walls and flooring and replace them with more suitable furniture. Alternatively you could always change the walls or flooring.

4) You can now start adding additional furniture to the room, alternate the contemporary furniture with the more traditional pieces to create an even balance. Remove pieces that does not work or try to balance the scheme by adding additional accent pieces. Once done take a step back, enjoy a cup of tea and rest your eyes before you revisit your design to recheck the balance and layout.

5) You can now complete your design by adding the window dressings, artwork and lighting features to complete the room.  If you feel some aspects does not match or balance with the others move them around or replace them with other contemporary furniture or traditional choices.