How to Combine Bedroom Furniture: Dressers and Nightstands
One of the most common questions I get is “How do I combine different woods or other materials in one room?” A lot of people fall back on one color (dark wood or white) for all of their furniture because they are unsure how to combine successfully. Or they buy everything in a set at the same shop to play it safe. These are the easy routes, but unfortunately both can lead to a staid, boring feeling in a room. Piecing together various colors and textures is what makes a room interesting.
Balance is always key when creating a space. So when we mix different woods and colors in a room, an easy “rule” to remember is that each piece should have a counterpart. Not the same thing (not a set!), rather another piece in the room that is the same in some way. As long as each piece has a friend, so to say, the overall space will be in balance. For example, a friend recently asked me about choosing new nightstands and a dresser in her bedroom. She has a black and chocolate brown fabric-covered bed and a very dark (nearly black) wall of wardrobes. She was thinking about buying nearly black nightstands to match the wardrobes, but I begged her to resist. The bed and the wardrobes are each other’s counterpart; their dark colors and heft provide balance to each other. Adding in more very dark furniture would be too heavy, so she should look for another type of wood. The nightstands and the dresser don’t need to match, but they should complement each other. Here are some examples of nightstand and dresser combinations that work well together.
This is an example of using the same wood so the two pieces clearly go together, yet they are not match-y match-y. These would work great in the room I described above, with the black bed and wardrobes.
These may seem like two very different pieces of furniture, but the gold bonds them together as well as their tall and narrow shape with “drawers” stacked on top of one another. This combination would also look great with a a black bed and wardrobes, or alternatively high gloss white (in which case I would make sure there was another piece with this wood).
This is how you create an eclectic look by taking two pieces that are not too similar, they are definitely not a set, yet they share a similar color (the light wood) and a similar design feeling (mid century modern/Scandinavian). I can imagine this paired with white wardrobes and a nice soft color on the walls.
These two pieces are also not too similar, but they have the black and small round knobs in common. They also share similar legs and a more masculine feeling. The could apply live in a room with other light woods or metals.
Here is a traditional mix of wood and white. The wood of the two pieces is not the same, but they both use rustic wood in a feminine piece with graceful curved lines. There is no need for the wood to match exactly. If you have a lot of painted white furniture in a bedroom, this is a nice way of adding in another color and texture.
If you have a tight space next to your bed, a small table is an option for a nightstand. This combination would look great with a grey bed and other white furniture.
These two beautiful black pieces are quite different and yet they would look stunning together in a bedroom. Their onyx color ties them together definitively and there is a traditional and elegant feeling to both of them. I can imagine these paired up with other white furniture and a vibrant color on the bed or perhaps the rug.
Here again we have a similar wood but two totally different pieces. The modern style and thin legs help keep them in harmony. They could easily share a room with black, grey or even white furniture.
What do you think? Which is your favourite pair?
