The Art Of Mixing Contemporary & Traditional Furniture

Posted by

Bunny Williams, renowned interior designer, author and founder of Bunny Williams Home, spoke on the topic of mixing antiques with modern design—a tactic she has decidedly perfected. Sharing her six tried-and-true tactics to keep in mind when furnishing a space with antiques.

1. BE CONSISSTENT WITH QUALITY

Whether you have something from the 18th century, 19th century, the 1960s or today, the quality of craftsmanship and workmanship must be in harmony with everything else in the room. Today, good modern furniture that is being made by a craftsman is quite expensive. A great option is mixing in some less expensive but well-made vintage pieces. In the end, the quality must all be complementary to each other.

2. CONTRIBUTION OF CONTEMPORARY LIGHTING

There are extraordinary modern lighting designers making beautiful light fixtures. One of the most wonderful things is to start with contemporary lighting for the space. It could be a home or office. Contemporary light with traditional furniture blends beautifully & it is very soothing to eyes.

3. SAVE BIG TIME WITH TRADITIONAL FURNITURE

There has been this attitude of ‘I don’t want old things.’ But if you really do your homework and hunt for pieces, you will be amazed at the quality and prices. Most of our clients want a mix of traditional and contemporary since most of them have come from families who have had traditional furniture.

4. MIXING DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS

There is no rule to mixing, but let us say I have an antique desk. I might put modern chairs and a modern light with it. It is a little bit of yin and yang–a complement. It is not that exactly one-half of the room must be modern or vice versa, it is about trying to find the quality that mixes well. Mixing furniture from different time periods does not date a room; if you put a lot of different periods in and mix it up, nobody is going to walk in and say, ‘Oh this is the ‘60s or this is the whatever.’ A mix has a timeless quality.

5. FIND INSPIRATION

I love social media. There are some things you cannot find in a magazine that you can see scrolling through your feed. I love to contact different businesses and designers & manufacturers through social media. The more people that get out there the better.

6. REPURPOSE FURNITURE BY PAINTING

Lots of furniture has a great shape, but was not made of the best wood or did not have the best finish. Paint it! It is fantastic. I would not paint a chair if it had a beautiful finish or patina, but most furniture with good proportions is great to paint. Let us say you go to a second-hand auction house and find a set of dining room chairs for a couple of hundred dollars. The finish is not great, but they look wonderful. You can paint them white, or you can paint them red, or whatever color you would like. It is a great way to have wonderful furniture repurpose at a reasonable price, and it is fun project to do.