Making mismatch furniture work

Because almost all our furniture was purchased at garage sales, flea markets, or was inherited, we house a motley crew of mismatched pieces.  My philosophy in this department is all about creating balance.  Mixing textiles, finishes and styles can actually create a beautiful harmony (hello Anthropologie). However, if your entire house is all about breaking the rules it might start to look like the flea market you bought your treasures from.  To avoid this I use paint or fabric to create cohesiveness between clashing pieces.

 We purchased five chairs for our dining room from a garage sale.  Because they were mismatched and just off our living room (which is already eclectic) I wanted to soften their impact and make them look like a set.  I painted them out creamy white, distressed them with sandpaper to let their original blue color show through and covered the seats with a muted toile.  To be honest, I launched into this project without reading any tutorials and I am sure it would have gone smoother if I had read this beforehand.

In Pearl's room we really were scraping the bottom of the barrel for furniture.  Once I choose a color palette for the furniture I painted all the pieces I had: a night stand, dresser, and changing table using only those colors.  I picked up bookcase at an antique mall for $10 and painted it yellow on the outside and green on the inside.  I used a glue gun and trimmed out the front with ribbon to tie in the red accents in the room.

Remember the eye is easily tricked by color so take advantage of what you have and bring it together with some paint!