How to Mix Wood Colors in Interior Decorating

Mixing wood colors in interior decorating is a perfectly acceptable practice for your home. The look of dark wood furniture against light bamboo floors in your living room or dark mahogany floors in a kitchen filled with light birch cabinets is both sophisticated and timeless. Experiment with a mix of wood colors in your home to create a balance of light and dark features that will compliment your interior design.

Things You'll Need

• Furniture
• Cabinets
• Hardwood floors

Instructions

Living Room

1. Surround your wall mounted TV with a dark wood color entertainment center. Paint the wall behind the entertainment center a lighter color to provide contrast.

2. Select a medium to light wood color for the hardwood flooring to showcase the deep richness of the entertainment center. The lighter the color of the wood floor, the more striking your entertainment center will appear.

3. Coordinate any other wood tables or chairs in the room with the entertainment center. The wood does not have to be the same color or style, but selecting a darker stained wood will work well with the light walls and wood floors.

Kitchen

1. Mix the wood colors in your kitchen with light upper cabinets like birch or maple and dark lower cabinets like cherry or dark oak.

2. Select a tile backsplash that combines both the lighter and darker shades of whatever wood that you choose. For example, if you choose to mix cherry and maple, then have shades of burgundy and beige in the backsplash tiles. You could also blend your two wood colors together with the countertops and the flooring.

3. Choose a maple, bamboo or light oak wood floor to connect the light color of your upper cabinets to the lower part of your kitchen. Adding a cherry floor with cherry cabinets will divide the room horizontally with all of the dark on the bottom and the light on top.

Tips & Warnings

• Tie the wood colors in your rooms together with accents like throw pillows and knickknacks.

• Kitchen cabinets are not as easy to redecorate as other furniture in your home. Visit several showrooms to make sure you like the mix of dark and light before changing your interior.

References

• Shades of Hardwood Flooring

Resources

• HGTV