Tips for Choosing Wood Furniture to Match Your Home's Design

After you decided to have your own custom home built, you carefully went through different floor plans, selected your materials, and decided how you wanted your home laid out. Once it was completed, your next project was to furnish it. Choosing the furniture you intend to use in your home plays a major role in that. Wood furniture has a timeless, classic feel to it, but choosing it isn’t always the most straightforward of tasks. As it turns out, there’s a lot that goes into choosing wood furniture for your home.

The first place you should start is choosing your preferred interior design style. There are a wide variety of different interior design styles, and different furniture items will fit some styles better than others. The perfect minimalist furniture, for example, is likely not going to be well suited for a house decorated in the french country interior design style. It could, however, fit into a contemporary-styled home well enough. Each style has its own unique traits that you can use to guide you in your furniture selection. Consider them carefully as you make your choices so as to create a cohesive style throughout the house.

Once you’ve picked out your style, you need to decide what type of wood you want your furniture to be made from. Furniture is more commonly made from softwoods, though hardwoods can be used as well. Hardwood furniture tends to be more expensive, so it is most commonly used for high-end furniture. Different woods will naturally have different colors, so it’s important to consider whether you want a lighter or darker wood for your furniture. Keep in mind that the color of some woods will change somewhat as time passes. For example, furniture made from cherry wood will darken to a reddish tone over time.

Most people find they have a preference of some sort for their upholstery materials. Some prefer leather, or other similar materials, while others prefer various fabrics. Still others may prefer no upholstery at all, opting to stick with just the wooden surfaces of the furniture. The style you’ve chosen for your home will have something of an impact in this. It’s also important to consider the purpose of the furniture and how heavily it will be used. Sturdier, easy to care for materials are best for high use areas. For larger rooms, consider using materials that come in neutral colors, unless you want that piece of furniture to become the focal point of the room.

While you may have given a lot of thought to the initial color of the wood you want your furniture to be, and rightly so, it may be of some comfort to note that what you start with doesn’t have to be what you end with. If you want to change the look of your furniture, you do have the option of painting or staining it. Of course, what works best may depend on the piece of furniture and your own stylistic preference. One of the characteristics of shabby chic furniture is that it is often painted, for example, so if that’s your design style, painted may be the way to go. If you want to showcase the beauty of the wood and want an easier way to finish the furniture though, staining your furniture is the best option.

If you want your wood furniture to last and stay in good condition, it needs to be properly maintained. Regular cleaning and dusting is a must. Dust and dirt can easily scratch finishes and the wood itself, leaving permanent damage, albeit slight. A mild detergent along with water and a soft cloth should be enough to remove tough messes. Make sure you rinse it with a damp cloth and dry it afterward. Polish it, being careful to not use too much product. A thorough buffing should be enough to spread a small amount of polish over a larger surface area to protect your wood. Avoid using wax products though, since they can leave a sticky buildup. Re-oil and wax as needed. Clean off stains as soon as possible. The longer you leave them, the tougher they will be to remove.

Unless you purchase a set of furniture or are incredibly lucky, it can be virtually impossible to have perfectly matching wood tones in each piece of furniture. As such, it’s a good idea to have a handle on how to mix wood tones. Mixing wood tones can be tricky. When done well though, it can add a depth to a room that you would be missing if everything were perfectly matching. When mixing tones within a room, make sure that each tone is represented at least twice and that different tones are present throughout the room. Different wood tones can be represented by accent pieces such as wooden bowls or even picture frames.

Balancing a room with multiple tones takes time and practice. If you have multiple tones within a room, it’s best to have them spread out and mixed up with one another. Avoid grouping the same tones together. Doing so can create an unbalanced look and feel in the room. As you arrange the room, take a step back periodically and observe the room from a distance. If you feel your eye continuously drawn to or away from a certain area of the room but don’t intend it to be the focal point, you may need to make some adjustments.

Selecting the right wood furniture to match your home’s design is an important part of creating a comfortable, cohesive atmosphere within the home. Start by choosing your design style. You’ll need to select the wood you want to use, keeping in mind the tone, whether it’s painted or stained, the upholstery material you wish to use, and its maintenance needs. Carefully selected pieces will help you create a balanced look for each room. By keeping all of these factors in mind, you’ll be in a better position to choose the right wood furniture for your home.

Having the home you want doesn’t just mean having good furniture—it means having the right design for you and your family. Contact us today so we can start building your dream home!