Whenever you mix different styles of furniture in the same room, you create a look that has richness and depth. One way to do it is by choosing a colour palette to bring all the pieces together. Mixing old with new furniture can generate a uniquely eclectic look. The key is to find the right way to do it so the space doesn’t look chaotic. There are many different reasons we want to keep our old furniture, but regardless of why, keeping those sacred pieces can be very rewarding, as long as you’re up for the challenge. Here are some hypothetical situations that someone might encounter, and our recommended alternate solution to the problem. Revitalize Let’s say you have a traditional bedroom set and you came to the conclusion that it’s time for a change. You absolutely love your bed and would love to keep it. One of the ways to do so is leave the bed as is, take the night stands and paint them or refinish them in a completely different colour or finish, change the hardware and voila, you’ve got yourself a new set. Another solution is to get rid of them and get two mirrored night stands which will add sophistication to the room and refresh it dramatically.

Integrate In your family room, you have an extremely comfortable and modern leather sectional that you would love to keep because everybody in your family adores it, but you recently inherited a set of traditional style tables from your grandmother that you want to keep for sentimental reasons. How do you bring all these pieces together? Go ahead and set them up with you sectional with a modern pair of lamps, a beautiful shag area rug and you’ve done it again.

A + B = C You currently have a classic dining set but have been looking at décor magazines and just discovered your love for the industrial look. You would like to incorporate this style to your set but how? Look for a rustic credenza that you really love, add a couple of classic table lamps and you did it once more.

While colours, accessories, drapes and other ambient elements are all very good sources to mesh old and modern styles, they can also help create a whole new style all together. As well, you can combine different styles of furniture in the same room to get a completely new design concept, but this is not for everybody. This look will only work if you are able to live with it every day, if you are a risk taker or if you want to create a statement in the room.

Always, get advice from a specialist if you are not sure how to proceed.