4 Easy Tips For Mixing Different Decorating Styles With Confidence
"Everything has to match."
"I can't add that to my decor because it doesn't go with my current style."
"Lots of little accessories are the perfect way to fill a space."
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Why Mixing Decor Styles Makes Your Home More You
If you’re not sure what your design style is, be sure to learn more about the most popular interior design styles. Understanding your style and what elements different styles have can help you create a cohesive look in your home.
And if you need more help, check out my online course, Style Your Way Home.
I hear these things from readers all the time…
"I have a lot of stuff I like that doesn't match!"
or
"My husband and I have completely different tastes in decor."
Well let me let you in on a little secret…
Matching is not essential to beautiful home decor; in fact it is down right boring.
So stop stressing about having things match and let's come up with some clever ways to make the things you love work well together to create a beautiful, layered, and interesting home that reflects who you and your family are and tells your story!
If you take away anything from this entire series, I want it to be this…
It is possible to mix and match interior design styles in your home, and actually it's really important to do so because it creates a ton of visual interest and tells your story.
If you love florals and the hubs loves texture, you have to find a way to weave the two different decorating styles together in a way that makes sense and doesn't make one person feel like they're living in someone else's home.
Hard to do, I know.
Especially when your style is far superior to your spouse's - kidding. Okay, maybe not.
Mixing Different Decor Styles In Your Room
I've used these 4 simple tips in my own home that will have you mixing different decorating styles like a pro. You’ll be out of the rut you're in and into the creative decorating flow you've been craving. - Click play to watch or keep scrolling to read.
First let's talk about a few go to "rules" that will help you along. - But keep in mind, any decorating rule can be broken.
If you're anything like me, you want to play it safe to some extent.
In the real world there are things like budgets and livability to consider. - We're not preparing for a magazine photo shoot here.
But since we care a lot about our home and the decor that essentially tells our story, we want it to be unique to us and our families. Am I right?
In other words, we're looking for ways to bring it all together in an interesting way, or take it up a notch to make it feel perfectly us.
4 Tips To Mix Interior Decorating Styles
These easy tips will help bring your space together because they embrace the idea that not everything has to match.
Tip #1 | The 80/20 rule
That's a ratio rule and it's a perfect place to start.
It pretty much means that you need to think of your different decorating styles as a main character and a supporting character.
Remember when we talked about discovering your decor style and then defining your decor style? We ended up with a feeling and then two, very broad, styles in our definition.
Those styles will be your 80 and your 20.
The main style will be represented in 80% of the space, and 20% will be the other style.
I suggest that you start by looking at the big ticket or larger items in the room (the ones that would be hard to replace) and let those be your 80%.
For example, my home decor style definition is comfortable-modern-traditional. So for the larger ticket items in my home I'm going to look for elements of modern.
This makes total sense in my home.
As I've been writing this series, I've been working on refreshing my family room to reflect more of my ever evolving style... let's take a look at it as an example.
Modern style elements in my family room
The modern decor style in my family room is evident on my sofa and occasional chair which have square arms (clean lines), the rug has a lot of geometric pattern, and the coffee table is a mid-century modern remake. The colors are mostly grey and muted blue with just a few pops of color.
Traditional style elements in my family room
The traditional decor comes in with the floor to ceiling curtain panels, a lot of white painted furniture and cabinetry with just a little bit of detail on the doors.
I also have a good amount of accessories (which super modern homes don't have) but most of the accessories have an element of geometric and clean lines.
I've had my home decor described to me by friends as modern, but not cold.
Perfect! That's exactly what I'm going for!
About 80% of the space has modern elements and the other 20% (the part that warms it up and makes it feel comfortable) hints at traditional style.
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Tip #2 | Group like items: different but the same is key
I grew up in the 80's. On any given day my hair scrunchie matched my colored jean shorts, which matched my Keds. My mom, who has amazing taste, had a floral couch and loveseat in our front room and a valance over the windows in the exact same print.
The 80's made us think everything has to match. But it doesn't.
Predictable is out and so is being too matchy-matchy. Things don't need to match, they just need to go, and they can go together in a lot of different ways.
A great way to tie unlike items together is by finding something they have in common and grouping them together.
You can group things by color, size, and texture, and by displaying them together you create a collection -which has more impact and makes more sense than if each item were displayed on its own. This works especially well with small items.
- Items on a dresser can often be a bit random, but keeping them all the same color palette makes it look like everything goes together.
- This coffee table is perfect. Everything is unified by height. Even the smaller items relate because they are placed on top of the stacked books.
- Each shelf on the back wall is styled individually. The top shelf has larger items, on the middle shelf everything is about the same size and clear glass, and on the bottom shelf items are grouped together, too.
If you have a collection, instead of spreading the collection throughout the room, group them together for a bigger impact.
Tip #3 | Understand balance
Balance needs to happen in a few different ways.
First your space needs to have equally distributed visual weight.
For example, in the image below this open concept room is separated by the sofa. The visual weight of the book shelf in the dining area is balanced by the wall art in the living room area.
You also need to have the style balanced throughout your space.
If hubby is into rustic design and you have him put all of his nods to rustic decor in one area of the room, it's not going to blend into the room well.
Instead if you have those rustic items placed throughout the room (or in at least 2 places), the space will feel balanced and the decor will come across as intentional.
Think of it this way.
Everything in your room needs a buddy.
Look at this fabulous living room (below) designed by the amazing Emily Henderson and her team. - What I like about this space is that someone actually lives here.
Notice how your eye bounces around the room so easily. Nothing matches per se, but it all goes together so well and feels cozy and like it has evolved.
Everything has a buddy.
- The wood tone on the side table is repeated on the coffee table tray and ties into the dining room chairs.
- The color of the side chair goes with the pillow and the lamp shade.
- The frames don't match, but they each have a buddy that shares their color.
- The darker blue is on the throw, the dining chairs, and in the painting.
- The shape and size of the sofa and the side chair are the same.
Tip #4 | Let the odd ball be the focal point
If you have one element that is staying but doesn't have anything in common with anything else in the space, make it a focal point and instead of competing, it will stand alone.
A perfect example would be a light fixture that is a different color or finish than anything else in the room, or maybe it is really big and much bigger in scale than the other elements you have going on in the room. That's ok. Hang it up and let it be the showstopper!
How To Mix Different Decorating Styles For A Look That Feels Like You
You've gone through the steps of deciding what will stay and what will go in the room your working in to ensure it functions well and works for you and your family, but now it's time to decorate it in a way that feels put together and totally you.
1 | Start with neutrals
Think of the large pieces in your space as the canvas that is going to showcase the story you are about to tell.
Painting your walls a nice neutral and keeping the large pieces of furniture a neutral color (even if they have an element of style to them) will allow the other styles in your room to be showcased. Think of it as lessening the competition.
These large pieces will also most likely dictate your main style. For example if your largest furniture piece has elements of modern decor (like square arms) you will want to carry that style throughout by adding other modern elements.
2 | Place your furniture first
Start with the largest pieces and like we discussed earlier, keep in mind the rules of visual weight and scale.
For example if you're decorating your bedroom and don't have matching nightstands, use different pieces on each side, but be sure they're of similar size.
The same rule applies to non matching end tables. In the example below they not only kept the scale the same, but also matched the shape.
In fact this room repeats the idea of visual balance with the lamps and the coffee table decor.
- The lamps are different, but they're about the same height and have similar shaped shades.
- The coffee table has the rounded flower arrangement which is balanced out by the gold decorative object.
Keep in mind as you play with balance, that traditional decor calls for a lot of symmetry, while modern decor often is asymmetrical.
3 | Add in your accessories and details
The hardest thing when it comes to mixing styles is probably when it comes to the accessories. Remember the rule, different but the same and group things together accordingly.
Mix the styles evenly throughout the room
The best way to draw too much attention to one style is to group too many things of that style together. It throws everything off balance.
Instead split up your items and distribute them evenly throughout the space.
Repetition is key
To make sense of an item that may stand out like a sore thumb, repeat an element of that item in at least one other place in the room. (The buddy system we talked about earlier.)
For example, if you have a painting that has way more color than anything else in the space, try adding just a few minor touches of one of the main colors in other areas of the room to tie it all together and make it blend into the room. (Like the Emily Henderson living room above.)
Before we go, let's look at a few rooms that do all of this mixing really well…
Examples Of Rooms That Mix Decor Styles Well
Mixing traditional and rustic decor
This room has both traditional style and rustic style which may seem like opposites, but it looks really pulled together.
- Even though there are different things on either side of the fireplace they are about the same size, the art balances out the TV, and the lamps are the same.
- The sofas don't match, but they are similar in color and size.
- The raw wood is repeated on the coffee table and above the fireplace.
Mixing modern and traditional style for a contemporary look
In this more formal living room there are elements of modern and traditional. When modern and traditional styles are combined, it can be referred to as contemporary style.
- Traditional decor is usually very symmetrical, which this room is. Same cabinets on either side of the fireplace, matching sofas that face each other, and even the same branches in a vase flanking the fireplace.
- The clean lines of the sofas and the coffee table are a modern element.
- The shots of high contrast black and white are modern, but pulling in the muted neutrals of greige make it more traditional.
- The chandelier is a definite focal point and marries the 2 styles perfectly.
A traditional modern kitchen
I absolutely love this modern traditional kitchen!
- The traditional elements like the crown molding on the cabinets, and the tufting on the sofa and bench seat are so beautiful and play perfectly with the modern elements like the clear stools, table, and "poppy" colors.
Ready to start mixing home decor styles?
Hopefully you have a better understanding of your decorating style and what to start looking for when searching for inspiration so that you can start mixing decor styles in a more intentional way.
Final tip: When you’re looking for ways to combine different decor styles, try mixing fabric patterns in the room. This post shows you how to get a terrific look with different patterns that play well together.
Ready to create a home that feels like you without the overwhelm?
Inside my course, Style Your Way Home, I'll teach you my step-by-step approach to discovering your unique design style and how to incorporate all the styles you love into your own home design plan. Plus, you'll learn my simple 4 step process to to apply your decor plan to any room in your home so you can make quick and confident decisions and create a home that feels like YOU.
