Has anyone got different woods in their lounge?

[PetiteMum]

so I am trying to be adventurous and mix diff woods in terms of furniture. Is there a way to do this tastefully? Or will it end up looking like a furniture shop? I am after a sort of chic ethnic look, I love carved furniture....... Any tips, pointers to websites much appreciated!

None of my furniture matches, all different shades of dark wood. I really don't like it when everything has to look the same. Just be brave and go for it.

Have a look at Lombok. I have that sort of look in my house but the backdrop is very plain. White walls pale grey carpet(sisal) natural linen blinds and then you can mix woods and it looks fine.

We do too, & it can be done well with a bit of care, we have Indonesian rosewood furniture - dining table & chairs, side board, coffee table, that does of course match & has a very ethnic feel too it, but the nature of rosewood is that you can find it with streaks (for want of a better term) of lighter wood running through it, also darker & other colours, this means you can pick up these grain highlights with other types of wood in similar tones & colours - we

because of this we have a darker parque wood floor, & oak & glass panel doors, with some oak shelving on the walls & an oak chest in the window area - works well & doesn't look like a jumble sale of furniture shop

so in short - YES, you can do it :)

I have got Kwila carved coffee table (2nd row, middle one), a bookcase and cabinet with similarly carved doors together with this unit with my tv, dvd etc on and a side table similar to this.

The last two item are a darker wood than the others but I think they all look good together.

Ooh that all sounds fab! So are white walls a must for this look would you say? We already have cream leather recliner sofas so would need to incorporate those somehow. I'm a complete novice!

I don't have white walls. I hate white walls, looks too clinical. My walls are sandstone and deep burgundy.

Same here, no white walls, we have a retro looking 50s palish green with ours & works fine.

With cream sofas though, you might want to think about tying the look together & picking up the wood shades in your sofa cushions - for example we have some in leopard print, which has a lot of shades to match the different woods - they will be other prints you can use too & picking up darker shades of your chosen wall colour in cushions & other soft furnishings helps tie it all together too - for example we have also have teal,

What is your flooring??, as thats important in choosing a colour/highlight too

Well we were thinking of getting oak flooring, so guess a rug would help with the colours? I am so crap at this

good, that would make it much easier for you :) & yes, rugs help tie in the colours too - we have a leopard print cow hide, which looks great - but you colours pick out other colours in your rug, & not just the wood

mixing woods & colours in picture frames & art is another way of tying the woods & colours in together too :)

PS - have you thought of making a "Story board" ?? - its a designers way of getting a feel for what works & what doesn't -

its just a large card board, & collect together pictures of your furniture, clippings from magazines of rugs, cushions etc & paint colours - it would be a big help in visualising how YOUR chosen colours will work together, often its just a case of getting the right shade of a colour & you can use anything you like

Lots of colours complement each other, just think of a garden, loads of different shades of the same colours and contrasting colours too but it all works.

Rockinhippy, that's a great idea thanks! I might just do that....

Pure purple, I know what you mean, guess I need to be brave and go for it. Bit hard when you've been living with magnolia for a decade, but am ready to break free!

I love Lombok, they had a 40% off ALL furniture yesterday only. Twats, because I couldn't afford to buy anything.

We have reddish rosewood but would quite happily put darker wood with it.

We have this - it's called inheriting odd bits of furniture!