How to Arrange Mismatched Furniture

Learn to Approximate Symmetry

• 1

  Place furniture symmetrically, even if it doesn't match. Let's say you don't have matching night tables to go on either side of your bed. No problem -- you can use two pieces that don't match instead. You can imply symmetry by pairing a round table on one side with a nightstand, desk or even a chair on the other. Approximately equal works just fine.

  If you have two lamps that are of different heights on either side of a bed or sofa, put the shorter one on a pile of books so the heights become equal. Use lampshades of the same shape, even if they're not the same size, tol help them go together. You might even pair, say, a green lamp with a white shade on one side with a white lamp with a green shade on the other side. As long as there is some similarity between two pieces placed symmetrically, your eye pulls them together.

• 2

  Use color to camouflage. Painting mismatched dining chairs all the same color and giving them the same color seat cushions makes a group of random chairs appear to be a set. Painting a piece of furniture the same color as the wall behind makes it melt into the background. For a real disguise, put a group of furniture pieces together and superimpose a graphic over all of them, continuing it onto the wall behind them. For example, you could paint a wide stripe that runs across the whole wall and all the furniture, or even something as complicated as a map of the world. Your eye registers the overall design, rather than each separate piece of furniture.

• 3

  Pay attention to size. Say you have two easy chairs or two bookcases that are different sizes, and you wish they were the same size. You can beef up the smaller piece by putting it next to a small table, topping it with accessories, or hanging something on the wall next to it. You can minimize the larger piece by covering it in a dull color. The two pieces can thus be brought into harmony.

• 4

  Pay attention to shape. Straight-lined furniture goes together, and curves of the same kind also go together. Place furniture pieces of similar shape near each other. If one piece is strikingly different, for example an ornate Victorian piece when all your other furniture is contemporary, you might want to highlight that piece by putting it in a prominent position or coloring it differently from the rest. There are many ways to satisfy your eye even with furniture that doesn't match.