How To Mix Multiple Wood Tones In Your Home

01 – Pick The Main Wood Tone

When you create a color palette for a room, you start by choosing the dominant color – the color that is most prevalent in the room. The same goes for wood tones. If you’re mixing multiple wood tones/colors, you should have one wood tone that is used most throughout the entire home. This creates a visual hierarchy and makes each room easier to digest.

Usually, hardwood floors are the dominant wood tone since they’re used throughout the majority of the house. However, if you don’t have wood floors, cabinetry or furniture may be the dominant wood tone.

02 – Decipher The Undertone

Once you have determined the dominant wood tone, you’ll need to decipher its undertone. All wood has either a warm, neutral, or cool tone.

• WARM WOOD TONES lean red, orange, or yellow.
• COOL WOOD TONES lean gray or blue.
• NEUTRAL WOOD TONES don’t lean strongly in either direction. They don’t have a prominent red, orange, yellow, or gray undertone. While this isn’t common, it does exist.

Whatever the undertone, all additional wood colors or species that you incorporate in your home should have the same undertone. Don’t mix warm undertones with cool undertones.

03 – Choose Light, Medium & Dark Stain Colors

The easiest method for mixing wood tones is to choose light, medium, and dark stain colors. When in doubt, go for contrast.

Two wood colors, or two wood species, that don’t have enough contrast between them can easily clash. Ensure there’s enough diversity in lightness/darkness to avoid a color conflict.

04 – Choose 2-3 Wood Tones. No More, No Less

While you may think that one wood tone for your entire home is easiest to achieve, I’d argue that’s nearly impossible. Unless your furniture and cabinetry are custom-made to match your wood floors, it’s unlikely that every wood tone will be identical. Even so, a single tone/color for all wood tends to look flat. Multiple wood tones look best, so always choose at least 2 wood tones for your home.

There is such a thing as too many wood tones, however. In order to keep your house from looking too scattered, choose no more than 3 wood tones for your entire house. Any more than that, and it can start to look unorganized.

05 – Use Rugs As A Buffer

When there isn’t a visual buffer between two wood tones, it’s common to lose the impact of both pieces. If you find that a side table, chair, or kitchen cabinets look like they’re merging with the floor, a rug can remedy that. A rug is an excellent way to break up the monotony; it also provides a buffer for any possible wood color clashes.

06 – Use Each Wood Tone More Than Once

Repetition builds rhythm, rhythm builds predictability, and predictability feels calm. At least 2 of the 3 wood tones you use should be repeated throughout the room, and beyond.

07 – Match The Color Of Your Floor & Ceiling Beams

While this isn’t absolutely necessary, an easy way to ensure balance is to match the color of your ceiling beams with the color of your wood floors. A light wood floor and dark ceiling beams can look unbalanced or top-heavy if not properly balanced with furniture. Sandwich your room with the same wood tone, and incorporate a mix of other wood colors in between.

Do you have more clarity on how to mix wood tones in your home? There will always be an element of trial and error, but these 7 suggestions should set you up on the right path!