Does Living Room Furniture Have to Match?

Believe it or not, a lot of people are convinced living room furniture has to match. Everything must come in a set—from side tables to sofas and chairs.

You might still be wondering if these ideas still hold true. Does the living room furniture have to match?

The short answer is no, you don't need to match your furniture in your living room, and matching it all won't necessarily make it better.

Want the long answer? Then keep reading! By the end of this article, you'll know how to create a cohesive space in your living room.

Should You Match Furniture or Mix and Match?

For creating a cohesive space, either style can look great. Getting matching furniture is often easier as there are lots of matching sets on the market. However, these can look bland if they aren't arranged well.

Mixing different pieces can result in a unique, stunning space, though this option can be tough since there are so many possibilities to choose from.

In our opinion, if you have the time to spend planning and purchasing, then you should invest in different styles of furniture. Those who can't put enough time into planning should go for a matching set.

Matching Furniture of Same Colors and Patterns

In this section, we'll discuss how you can make a living space look cohesive by placing furniture of the same color.

• Stick to a Specific Color Scheme

Keeping a consistent color scheme is one of the best ways to quickly and effortlessly create cohesion, whether you’re using matching furniture sets or different luxury furniture pieces. For example, you can opt for grey furniture with black or white accents. But remember to balance your colors—if you put these in a white or grey room, they'll look bland.
The trick is to put matching furniture against an accent wall. Paint the wall with a deep, vibrant color that'll complement the furniture. This way, you'll have matching furniture, and absolutely no one can fault it for looking bland.

• Match Furniture of Similar Fabric

The first thing we'd recommend is matching pieces of the same fabric. Let's say you're getting sofas. In this case, make sure all of them come with the same type of fabric. If the fabrics involved are the same, you can still pick complementary colors for the pieces to bring some variety.

For example, if you’re getting three accent chairs of similar fabric, you can get a red one and two white ones. This will create beautiful contrast.

• Match Furniture Finish

If you're planning on having wooden furniture, you should stick to a specific wood finish furniture for all of it. But remember not to go overboard with wood furniture. Add furniture of different materials to bring variety to the space. For example, alongside wooden furniture, add other finishes like metal or fabric.

Mix and Match Colors, Patterns, and Materials

Looking for a way to really make your space pop? The solution is to mix various colors, patterns, and materials.

• Match Furniture Color

In the world of design, color theory reigns. The secret to picking the right color for different styles of furniture lies in the color wheel. So, we need to take a close look into that first. On the color wheel, you'll have both warm and cool colors. The sure-shot way of picking the right complementary color for furniture is to pick the exact opposite color on the color wheel.

Let's say you have a teal floor rug. To complement that properly, you should pick a reddish-orange sofa set. These colors are opposites on the color wheel, so both pieces of furniture will look vibrant. So, despite not being matching furniture, visually, the room will be very cohesive.

Another vital thing to consider here would be matching the wall's color The colors picked for the furniture sets must complement the color of the wall. Otherwise, they'll look like mismatched pieces. So, we recommend matching complementary colors to create an amazing effect that people absolutely love.

• Match Furniture Textures

Playing with colors is fun. However, if every piece in the living is colorful and popping it could become way too overwhelming. This is where the concept of mixing furniture textures comes in. Not every piece of furniture is made of fabric. There are a lot of types of furniture made of steel, aluminum, and wood.

Furthermore, you can choose from multiple types of wood. Let's say you placed a teal rug with orange sofas. Now, you need to place a coffee table.

Placing a colorful coffee table might take away the focal point, which is the sofa-rug combination. So, to keep the focal point as is, try placing side tables. Want to bring a bit more variety to the room? Place a brass rack for storing your things.

Wooden furniture of modern design comes with all sorts of colored veneers. If you want to place a TV stand, style it with white veneer instead of natural wood furniture.

• Match Furniture Size

There are three size categories for furniture: small, medium, and large. A living room needs to have all three sizes of furniture. The saturation of one size can make the room look boring. In the case of a living room, the sofa is always going to be one of the largest pieces of furniture, followed by the coffee table or TV stand, and finally any lamps, plants, etc.

Let's work on the previous model with the orange-teal combination. We placed an orange sofa set with a large rug. So, we have enough large furniture pieces. As for the medium ones, we have the table, the brass rack, and the TV stand. What are we missing here?

We missed the small-scale size. To complement the other furniture, we can place a plant on one side of the sofa. Or, on each side, place end tables with lamps. Finally, place a medium-sized table in the middle of the rug. The sofas can be complemented further by placing accent chairs around them.

If there's still a bit of space left, you can place a matching buffet cabinet. This will help create a cohesive living room and serve as excellent storage space.

Some Tips on Making Your Living Room Furniture Look Coherent

In this section, we'll be going over some of the tried and tested methods of organizing the living room.

• Furniture Pieces aren't Meant to Rest Against Walls

This is one of the most common mistakes people make. We often rest the backs of furniture pieces on walls to save space. While that's okay if saving space is your primary concern, it'll reduce the visual appeal of your living room.

Furniture that isn't used for storage shouldn't graze the wall. For example, cabinets and open shelving must be fixed to the wall. It's also okay if your bed grazes the wall. However, the same can't be said for different chairs and tables.

In case of these furniture pieces, try putting them in the middle of the room. If the room isn't large enough, you can always get smaller furniture and adjust accordingly. Get accent chairs instead of divans, for example.

• Calculate the Space Before Picking Your Furniture

It's not only important to purchase luxury furniture that complements the room size, but it should complement other pieces of furniture as well. For example, placing a 10-foot area rug in front of a 5-foot-long furniture set isn't wise. It'll only make it look small.

Let's say you have a huge solid wood dining room table. It's not necessary to get a matching set of bulky chairs to complement it. Instead of getting a matching set, you could try light aluminum chairs—adding a surprising twist to the room’s style.

So, before you purchase furniture for decorating, it's important to consider all of these factors. But if you’re planning on using pieces you already own, you can update the space with a few new pieces.

• Don't Revolve the Entire Living Room Around Your TV

Basing the entire arrangement of the living room on the TV placement is one of the most common decorating mistakes. Doing so will serve to encourage watching more TV and hamper every other activity.

One of the major purposes of a living room is social interaction. A TV as the focal point of a room only hampers that. It's found that placing the TV in an off-centered position allows better interaction.

So, instead of putting the television in the center and the sofas facing it, place the TV in one corner or side of the room. And don't put them in a boxed arrangement either.

• The Secret is Lighting

Lighting is a big factor in creating a beautiful space, yet people often forget about lighting. If you want to change the entire feel of your living room, change the lights.

Lights come in all sorts of styles, and they let you create different ambiance—and on a budget. Good lighting can make even mismatched furniture look good, so don’t forget the lights!

Create Your Perfect Living Room

Mixing and matching living room furniture isn't just for professionals. If you keep these pointers in mind, you'll be able to do a fabulous job blending different pieces of furniture together to create the perfect living space for your home.

What's important to note here is there's no one right way—find pieces you love and create the space you love being in. At Modern Resale, you’ll find a variety of sophisticated designer furniture. Since each piece is thoughtfully designed and timelessly attractive, it’s easy to mix and match.

So, implement these concepts in your own way and create your dream living room. Need help? Visit us online or instore at Modern Resale.