# Mixing white furniture with other color?



## sora (Oct 7, 2006)

Hi,
I have a four poster bed and a dresser that are painted in white. I fell in love with this shabby chic style furniture but I'm getting tired of it. And now I want to have some unpainted, natural wood colored furniture.
Would it look ok if I mix shabby chic painted furniture with non-painted antique furniture? Thanks so much!


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

You can match your furniture to each other?


















My bedframe is a medium stain brown, nightstands are a dark walnut, both dressers are unfinished pine.

I obviously don't have a problem with mixing what I like/is useful. I don't think I have a single room in the house where all the furniture matches.


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

I love an eclectic look!









Our living room has:
~ a light wood (Scandinavian birch) entertainment center and matching bookcase across the room from each other...asymmetrically...you cannot tell they match, which was my point...

~ a light wood (American natural) folding bookcase across the room forming a triangle from other two light woods since it would totally clash if they were near each other...

~ a light-medium wood (honey finish bamboo) end table across the room from the folding bookcase, which essentially forms another triangle with the entertainment center and bookcase...

~ a medium wood (natural cherry wood) round table in the front corner where the loveseat and sofa meet...

~ and the same medium wood (natural cherry wood) on the feet of the sofa.

In the same room, we have a cream-colored loveseat, a slightly darker neutral sofa (beige-ish), a slightly darker recliner (beige-light brownish), and a dark brown ottoman. The ottoman is a little too dark for this room and the look I was going for, so I plan to add some small dark wood items to the room (in a triangle), like a palm tree with a dark trunk and pub-style mirror. I also plan to add something small in the natural cherry wood to form a triangle (thinking about a picture frame on the entertainment center).

I am not a decorator by profession, but many professionals I have met say I have an eye for it. I think the key to an eclectic look is to keep the "odd numbers" principal going (1, 3, 5) and to spread similar items out in triangles around the room in order to keep the eye moving.

In your bedroom, for example, move the bed and dresser as far apart as possible and then add another white item into the room to form a triangle. Maybe a picture frame? Maybe you already have trim around your window that could be painted white? Maybe you have white blinds and/or curtains? Position your white items into a triangle and then introduce your new natural wood items into a new triangle that overlaps the white triangle. Go for different heights, too, to keep the eye moving.

In our bedroom, we have three distinct types of furniture and they did not mesh well regardless of all design principals! LOL Boy had large heavy dark 70s hand-me-down furniture. Girl had smaller yellow 70s Ethan Allen kids furniture. Boy and girl met and fell in love and got married and bought new bed, which is a medium natural wood craftsman style frame with a neutral brown leather headboard (not a warm yellow brown nor a dark heavy brown). For our room to "work", I had to keep all the yellow furniture on one wall and spread the heavy furniture out to either side of the bed.

We just ordered a new piece of furniture that is going to hopefully replace three of our current pieces (both BOY and one GIRL). It doesn't "match" the bed, either, because I like the eclectic look!







However, it is also in the craftsman style. It is darker than the bed frame. Once it is here, I will re-evaluate the room and add another piece in another wood. I don't plan to have any light woods in the bedroom, but I plan to have a mix of medium and dark woods.

I've never successfully mixed painted furniture in with natural finish furniture, but I've seen it done. Look through magazines! They don't have to be design magazines, either. Ads often have rooms in the background. Pay attention to the rooms on TV shows. Walk through model homes and open houses.

Best wishes!


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## sora (Oct 7, 2006)

sunnysandiegan, This triangle idea is very interesting. I thought all wood color have to be similar and similar color should be placed next to one another.
It looks like you put in a lot of thought into decorating your place. I wish I had time and talent for it. I would love to see your place to get inspirations!
I have seen a natural wood headboard with natural wood side tables but with white legs and a white dresser. The side tables connected the headboard and the dresser.

Thanks!


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

I am still working on the latest round of improvements and decorating, so I do not have any pictures right now. At least not how it looks now with new paint color on the walls and less toys and less/different furniture...LOL I may be able to scrounge up a "before" and an "in progress".







I don't know how to post pictures here, though, so it'll take me a day or two.


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## vm9799 (Feb 1, 2007)

sunnysandiegan said:


> I love an eclectic look!
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## treespeak (Nov 30, 2007)

sunnysandiegan said:


> I love an eclectic look!
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> 
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> ...


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

Have fun with it, treespeak!









Sora - I haven't forgotten about pictures!







I am headed out of town this weekend (Fri - Sun) and three urgent things have come up at my daughter's school that I am immediately involved in, so it'll take me more time to gather photographs for you. Sorry for the delay. (Since I said I would do this.)


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## texmati (Oct 19, 2004)

Just wanted to second the request for picture of sunnysandiegan's living room. Im decorationg my first house and trying to not mess it up. Getting the wrong furniture is expensive!


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