When it comes time to design the interior of a home, it’s hard to surpass the beauty and versatility of wood.
From the way it infuses a room with a natural warmth and depth to its durability and sustainability, going with wood is one of the easier design choices you’ll make as a homeowner.
Yet that one easy choice sets you up with a much more complicated one: how can I use more than one style of wood in my home’s design?
Mixing wood tones and different types of wood can make us feel as uneasy as we did getting our mismatched outfits together for the first day of school (or maybe that’s just me!).
Soon, though, we learned a few styling tricks – certain colors go well with other colors, mixing patterns with solids can be interesting – and we got more confident.
In the same way that you can style yourself, it’s possible to dress your home in the right mix of wood tones.
From wood moulding profiles to interior and exterior doors, there are plenty of interesting ways to design and accent your home with wood. Today, we’re sharing eight of them to help inspire your next home project!
8 Tips To Mix Wood Tones In Your Home
When working with multiple types of wood, it’s important to create a balance that allows each piece to complement one another rather than clash.
While we don’t believe there are any hard-and-fast rules, we do have a handful of tips you can consider to guide your design process.
Pick a dominant wood tone
Start by selecting one wood tone to be the dominant one in the space. This will help anchor the design and create a cohesive look.
The dominant wood tone can be used for larger furniture pieces or architectural features like floors, walls, or cabinetry.
A few of the more common dominant woods include:
- Walnut – A rich, warm tone with a strong, dark grain. It’s often used in furniture and cabinetry to create a luxurious and sophisticated feel.
- Oak – A natural, neutral tone with a prominent grain pattern. It can be used to create a traditional or rustic feel, and is often seen in flooring, furniture, and cabinetry.
- Cherry – A reddish-brown color with a smooth grain pattern. It creates a warm and inviting atmosphere and is often used in high-end furniture and cabinetry.
- Maple – A light, creamy tone with a subtle grain pattern. It creates a clean and modern feel and is often used in contemporary furniture and cabinetry.
Match undertones
When selecting additional wood tones to incorporate into the space, make sure their undertones match the dominant wood tone.
Warm-toned woods include maple, cherry, oak, pine, mahogany, and walnut. Cool-toned woods may have different wood stains like shell, charcoal, sand, driftwood, or weathered oak.
For example, if the dominant wood tone has warm, red undertones, look for additional wood tones with warm, red undertones to create a harmonious look. This will help prevent clashing and create a unified color scheme.
Play with contrast
While it’s important to match undertones, you can also play with contrast to add interest and depth to the space.
With a light, natural color for a dominant wood tone, you can add darker, richer wood tones for contrast. This will create a layered and dynamic look.
Use a variety of textures
Mixing different wood tones can create a lot of visual interest, but adding texture can take it to the next level.
Incorporate different textures like rough, knotty wood or smooth, polished wood to create a tactile experience in the space.
Balance the proportions
When mixing different wood tones, it’s important to balance the proportions of each tone in the space.
Aim for a mix of large and small pieces in each tone to create balance and harmony.
Choose similar finishes
Aim for items that share a matte or raw finish, or a glossy finish, even if they aren’t made from the same wood. Satin finishes are often easiest to match.
Choose complementary grains
When working with multiple types of wood, it’s also important to consider the grain pattern and texture.
If you have a highly figured, heavily grained wood like oak, you might balance it with a smoother, more subtle wood like maple. This helps create a visual balance that isn’t overwhelming or chaotic.
Create balance
Balance the mix of wood tones by using them in equal proportion throughout the room, or using one wood tone as an accent.
If you start with cherry wood moulding profiles, you might choose maple wood interior doors and walnut wood exterior doors. The cherry wood would be the dominant wood tone, while the maple and walnut woods would add contrast and interest, resulting in an aesthetically pleasing balance.
Find The Right Wood Tones For Your Home At Johnson Lumber
Ultimately, the key to creating a balance of wood tones is to experiment with different combinations and see what works best for your space.
By selecting complementary wood tones and playing with contrast, you can achieve a cohesive and visually appealing look in your home’s decor.
While we love imagining different wood combinations as much as the next person, we know that it helps to see the wood yourself.
You can stop by and visit our lumber yards in person at Millersville (8200 Veterans Hwy.
Millersville, MD 21108) and Edgewater (3120 Solomons Island Rd., Edgewater, MD 21037) to check them out for yourselves.
We’re open from Monday–Friday: 6:30-4:30, Saturday: 8:00-1:00, and closed on Sunday.
You’re also welcome to reach out to the expert team at Johnson Lumber and ask us your questions here, too!
