Software
Houzz Logo Print
adrieke_osmun

we have lived worldwide-how do you decorate with different furniture

22 days ago

We live in a big rustic home but have pieces from Europe, Japan and America. How do you incorporate all those styles into one cohesive living space?

Comments (21)

  • PRO
    22 days ago
    last modified: 22 days ago

    The most interesting homes are eclectic in style. Mixing objects takes some skill like creating a recipe with a variety of ingredients that ends up tasting good.

    Your room however, doesn't even have the current furnishings placed correctly as a starting point. Additionally, items have been placed or selected with little to no care as it relates to scale. Even with recipes proportions are important.

    I have provided a new plan for the few furnishings I see in this photo.

    Start by placing the existing rug centered on the room.

    Your room can be fixed. If you supply more info more solutions can be lists.



    It's important cull items when they are no longer needed.

    This entertain unit was invented more than 30 years ago. The finish doesn't work in your room. So unless you have a bedroom needing this piece, it's likely time to pass it on to another home. I checked. There are scores of these units sitting on Facebook Marketplace with no takers. Our local resale shops will no longer take them on consignment.



    I think what your are struggling with is more accessories than furniture pieces. If you need a place to display items, you might want to consider glass door cabinets.





  • 22 days ago

    Looks like you have art & smaller pieces as well as furniture. My thought is to treat the items from different areas as collections. Rather than having them scattered all over where ever they might fit, instead arrange groupings of items. I can’t see clearly what the items in the large wall unit for TV & display but they should be curated & organized in small groups of related pieces. They display better & with more impact. For art, do you have a wall that could be used for a gallery type display - if you have enough art from one area - say Japanese or Indian themed art. I see art on each side of fireplace & each side of wall unit. Looks like art on right of FP might be same type as on left of wall unit - can they be hung together for a more impactful arrangement? The barrel bistro set is nice - can all 3 pieces sit on a larger round rug? What are the items sitting on either side of the wall unit? Can they be moved somewhere else so the wall unit stands out more?

  • 22 days ago

    Thank you both!! While I agree the finish on the entertainment unit doesn’t work well…this is a piece that means an awful lot to us and we have several pieces throughout our home so getting rid of it isn’t an option.

    I like the idea of a larger rug under the barrel set along with a gallery wall for some of our art collections.

    It’s a great space but I’m struggling on how to pull it together so thank you for the insight.

  • PRO
    22 days ago

    The entertainment unit is the wrong height for the room. Try moving it into a room that doesn't have 2 story ceilings.

  • 22 days ago

    To each their own. I see no reason in your great room to mess with the drapery panels. There's a very few times raising them to ceiling height is a great optical illusion for the room but hanging them a foot above the window on a two story wall looks just silly. You love your entertainment center. That's what is important. Maybe a better question is what can I do to the rest of the space to make it work to it's optimum? Are you willing to change it's finish color? Do you own other pieces with similar finish so you have more than one hit of it in the room?? In the end being surrounded by things you love and evoke memories and tell your story is sooo much more important that having a magazine ready designer room!!!

  • PRO
    22 days ago

    I agree tha some plan as to pieces that work together in one spaace will help .To me thentertainment cabinet is the star and IMO no art on the same wall and only one thing per shelf inside would allow it to be the star .I will behonest we aslo have travelled a lot and boght things to remeber our trips some of which we have kept and some we just looked at 5 yrs later and went what the heck were we thinking . I am a less is more kind of person so culling is maybe something needed in this home. Or a room for some pieces that go together to get some order from so much that really is one of a kind . The barrel table is interesting but the scale is a bit off and ne room for knees so do you actually use it or just there becuase you have it ? That is what is needed IMO. You do not even have to get rid of the stuff just maybe it does not all have to out at one time. We really do need to see all the spaces so more pics posted here in comments will be a huge help

  • 22 days ago

    Photos of all 4 walls would be helpful. Right now it‘s impossible to ”see” the entire room, doors/windows, traffic paths and where the barrel seating area & entertainment unit are situated in the room.

  • 22 days ago

    I agree with Patricia’s note on the barrel table set - about lack of knee room. A larger glass top will fix that problem. Is there room for a larger top on barrel?

  • 22 days ago

    Your space is so vast it can hold a lot of different styles. Country of original and furniture style is not the problem with this room. Hard to comment on a lot give the limited view from the photos but a few starters:


    - The white curtains don't work. Take them down. Do you need window treatments for light control, privacy, or are they just decorative?


    - The entertainment center sort of blends into the wall and needs more definition. Try placing paper or shelf liner over the mirrored backing to see what that looks like. Play around with the color.


    - Do you eat at the barrel? It looks like a faux set up. If not, remove the chairs and glass top and have it there as decor. If so, remove the glass top and get a larger solid wood top. Paint it a similar color to the barrel.


    - Too many doo-dads and decor pieces clustered too close to the entertainment center and really all over the room. Hang pictures farther away from the sides of the entertainment center.

  • 22 days ago

    Thanks everyone. I guess my question kind of got “lost” in the photos. These are just a few of the pieces we have to show that we have quite a mix of styles and I don’t know how to pull them together.
    I don’t know if there is an answer to this.

    I know the entertainment center isn’t everyone cup of tea but we have several pieces throughout our home from the same Japanese carpenter ( desk, hutch, bar and step-tansu.) I’m not worried about the scale of the room-it’s hard to show in photos the different dimensions of the space. But it genuinely fits perfectly on that wall as the ceilings are sloped and that wall is only about 10ft high and the entertainment center is about 8 ft tall.

    Any advice on how to mix styles of furniture would be my question-not the actual layout or design of the space.

  • 22 days ago

    Layout and design of space have EVERYTHING to do with successfully mixing style of furniture.

  • 21 days ago
    last modified: 21 days ago

    ^ agree - the different styles will work better when the layout and other details are considered

  • 21 days ago
    last modified: 21 days ago

    The OP wrote "...we have several pieces throughout our home from the same Japanese carpenter ( desk, hutch, bar and step-tansu.)"


    Please show photos of the pieces made by the Japanese carpenter. Do they all have the same wood, finish and overall style?

  • 21 days ago

    One key for integrating a wide variety of pieces is to focus on building a functional room. Pick one or two "must use here" pieces per room, and then shop your collection for the other items that the room needs. Get your basics in place--the amount of desired seating, necessary end and coffee tables, etc. Then play around, swapping one piece out for another, to see what fits best. Once you are happy with that, you can add in the extras that make sense.

    Where possible, try to group some like things in the same room. Is your step tansu small enough to work as an end table for the sofa? Or maybe the desk or bar would work in a corner of the great room?

    It would also help to make all of your non-sentimental pieces as neutral as possible. Your brown sofa is a very specific American look that doesn't blend with anything else pictured (except maybe the barrel dining set). More neutral, streamlined upholstered pieces would help showcase your collection.

  • 21 days ago

    Any advice on how to mix styles of furniture would be my question-not the actual layout or design of the space.


    The layout and design of a space IS how you mix styles of furniture. Where are these different styles placed in relationship to one another, what else in the room is grabbing your attention or directing it to where it does or does not want to go, how else are accessories working with or against your different styles, is there enough negative space for your eye to rest and perceive a balance in the space? This is all part of it.


    I'm curious what kinds of advice you were anticipating. Maybe there is something you were suspecting we would comment on that we have over looked and you'd like comments on.

  • PRO
    21 days ago
    last modified: 21 days ago

    I suggest you move things away from your built-in it looks sqeeze-in between the 2 pictures which are really too close and the chest with stuff on it...


    I also suggest a larger rug under the dining table, the chairs should sit on rug when pulled-out.



    As to the living room, I also suggest you install 2 curtain panels on the window, lower your art above the mantel (a large vertical would look better), declutter the fireplace (too many little items).



    As to how to mix styles, we'd need to see what exactly you want to mix with what, and eclectic style can be interesting...

  • PRO
    21 days ago

    I don't believe there is a way for us to tell you some magic formula on how to mix the pieces. I has to be done based on the spaces you have to work with and the size of everything and being able to see all the pieces.

    I love a very eclectic space. Had a family friend growing up that had beautiful things from around the world. Whenever new pieces came in, she would shuffle around to make it work. One thing I do remember was that if you removed all of her amazing pieces and stunning artwork, her house was boring - simple floors, plain rugs, all painted just slightly off white and great lighting. Maybe start with pulling all the little stuff out for now to get the furniture set properly.

    I do love that carved entertainment unit but the lighting seems harsh and takes away from it. I love the barrel piece too, but if you plan on sitting there, definitely get a larger top. I would love to see if you can do a gallery wall instead of spreading them out because of the wood walls ( the art is getting lost in them ).

    Take your time with this. There is no right answer or magic formula. Don't forgo the function of the space either. You want to sit and enjoy it.

    Good luck!

  • 21 days ago

    I'd focus on color and shape to make disparate pieces work together.

  • 21 days ago

    I have collected pieces from around the world, but I'm pretty good at mixing and matching things.


    You might need more help from an interior designer in your area, who can come to your house and really analyze the space and furniture.


    If that was my house, I probably would have painted some of the walls by now!

    If you won't paint the walls, then I would look at getting the TV cabinet (and maybe other pieces) painted in a lacquered finish.

    This company sells vintage pieces and re-finishes some of them for a new updated look.

    https://circawho.com/product/vintage-chippendale-pagoda-breakfront/




  • 21 days ago

    You have to be willing to paint wood and mix in bold upholstery, but bottom line is that the style of your house just isn't an easy one to work with ...


    Curated & Cozy Designer Living Room · More Info


    Blended Blue · More Info


    Crown Jewels · More Info


    2013 Parade Home Moose Ridge Cabin Log Home · More Info


    A Cottage in the Pines · More Info


  • 21 days ago

    One thing you can do to make different pieces feel more cohesive is to find what’s in common, and repeat the pattern throughout the room. For example, your Japanese cabinet has the speaker doors in the bottom with black behind the carved detail that really makes it pop. You could repeat this in the carved door above the TV, and also cover over the mirrored backs is the cabinets in black paper to help make your collected objects stand out more. That will also help tie the black/red/tan color of the objects in with your black/red/tan rug. Add some throw pillows or blankets in this color scheme to your sofa and chairs to bring it out even more. Consider adding these colors to the barrel and chair area, as those chairs already have the tan/black. You can make your favorite pieces shine by removing the seasonal decor on the barrel, and all the distracting Home Goods store type of things off the mantel and around the fireplace. I would also consider removing some of the glass shelves from the Japanese unit so there’s more room to showcase the most special pieces in there.