How to Mix and Match Old With New in Interiors
I often get asked how to mix old and new furniture in interior design, but I’m sad to say that there is no real formula for it! Mixing and matching old and new pieces of furniture can be challenging, but it's not impossible.
Blending Old With New
Homes become unique when you blend more modern pieces with older pieces, whether that piece is sentimental, one that took your fancy at your latest antique shop or a bargain you picked up on Facebook marketplace! To create a harmonious and peaceful ambience in a room, it is important to blend vintage and contemporary elements skilfully! Avoid having a single "feature" item that stands out and instead create a design where the eye travels from one element to another while appreciating the style of each.
For example, we recently had a couple who were newly retired and were downsizing from a large country house to somewhere a little more contemporary, and they thought they would have completed start again with all their furniture and fittings from their older country house, but that wasn't the case. They had beautiful antique furniture and art pieces that could still easily be used in a more contemporary setting.
The trick is to mix these with something more contemporary. For instance, a beautiful old carved piece of furniture can be paired with a contemporary piece of art, and I would lighten it by putting a coloured lamp on the piece. There are no rules to it, but don’t throw everything out. You can definitely create that mix-and-match look by looking at the furniture you already have and editing it very carefully to create a more contemporary scheme.
Re-use, Re-purpose, Recycle, Re-think
A key value of Emma Wood Interiors is to reuse, repurpose or recycle where possible. Often, this is done during the initial stages of every project. We believe that discarded items can give a new life and bring happiness to someone else instead of ending up in a landfill. Often, an old armchair can be given a new lease of life by reupholstering with new fabric that goes perfectly in your home. Sometimes, all some pieces of furniture need is a little bit of love and care to get them back to their former glory.
If you are lost with what to do with your eclectic pieces of furniture or are moving to a new style of home and you don’t know how to style your home with your current pieces, Emma Wood Interiors is the studio to contact!