I received a question from one of our readers Alyson who will be getting married soon and is worried about how merging mismatched inherited furniture will work out. Here is what she wrote:

Hello!

My fiance and I are getting married in December, but my fiance is leaving for seminary in June so we’re trying to get everything planned and organized asap. I will be moving out there a little later in the summer, moving the bulk of our stuff into our apartment (he will be doing the heavy lifting of course) as I will be living there prior to our wedding. We are trying not to buy alot of furniture as we will have to move in two more years when he does his vicarage year, and then back to seminary for one additional year. ANYWAYS. My family has been pretty awesome about donating furniture to us.

We have been given a modern bed with a black leather headboard. A red leather couch. A chair with matching ottoman. A wooden coffee table (medium brown?).

My first issue is that things are a bit mish mosh. I appreciate the furniture and I actually love the red couch–but the chair and ottoman have been in the family for quite some time and is a plaid pattern of black/dark blue/red/green stripes (probably from the 80s?). I looked into having it reupholstered but the cost would be just about the same as buying a whole knew one. Any suggestions on finding a chair cover or something to make it less awkward? I am a little terrified of using a staple gun or attempting to make one myself! We registered for brown throw pillows for the couch because between the family room and kitchen (which is an open concept) we wanted to stick with the main colors of red, cream, and brown. I am also considering adding black in there (like a black media cabinet maybe ikea, something cheap) but am concerned that it will make the room feel too dark or even more awkward with the brown coffee table. we also need a side table for a lamp and a kitchen table but I am hoping my grandfather will make us those. We will need some storage for books so I am hoping to get a media piece that has storage otherwise we will also need bookshelves. Very overwhelming!

My second issue is in the bedroom. Like I said we have the leather bed, we will need to get a dresser, again something cheap but I am a little worried about everything looking too modern or masculine. We picked linens that are a good mix of the two of us, pretty green and purple shades with a blue comforter for winter and a coral coverlet for summer (one I owned before). I also don’t want it to get too dark in there either.

We aren’t sure which floor we are going to be on yet since its so far in advance, but if we end up with the “garden apartment” which is the first floor, there is a little less sunlight than the other floors, which is why the whole dark thing is a concern. My taste is a mix of craftsman and Victorian? I love vintage pieces but my fiance usually thinks they look too feminine. My fiance likes craftsman and modern pieces.

I guess my first issue is finding things that appeal to the both of us that aren’t too pricey, or too dark? My second issue is that ottoman and chair, the style is my taste but the pattern is not. If this email made any sense what-so-ever, I appreciate any help!

Thanks,
Alyson

PS: Here is a picture of the chair and Ottoman (excuse the mess, it’s become sort of a piling ground for random things)

Congrats on the soon to be nuptials Alyson! This is a very crazy time, so I don’t blame you for getting all of your ducks in a row as quickly as you can. This is actually a very common dilemma among my clients. Newlyweds have no idea how to merge their hand-me-down furniture they were “gifted”. And as we all know most of us don’t start a marriage rolling in the benjamins so we’re just trying to make do with what we have. Totally get it!

First off let’s start out with that chair. I agree on the shape it has wonderful lines (maybe if you lose that skirt) and slip covers have come a long long way from sashes and bows. Target actually has a great line of relatively modern slipcovers that cling to any chair shape to make it look like it has been that fabric all along.

However, the downside to a slipcover that looks like the real deal is that it costs a pretty penny. Personally, I could never spend $90 on a slipcover when I know that I could easily go out and find a chair that is already in a fabric I love for less than that. I know you love the shape of that chair, but for under $30 you could find something with similar lines in a fabric that better suites your color scheme. For example, I found this chair at a church garage sale for $30, and all it needed was a little Woolite and a vacuum. That might be your best bet to just see what’s out there because you’ll also have to cover the ottoman. But that would be a lot easier to DIY than the chair if you’re up for it.

When it comes to adding pieces to your collection, since the majority of your existing staple pieces are dark (blacks, browns, dark reds, etc.), I would suggest incorporating some lighter colors in the accessories to brighten things up. I would like to see lighter pillows with a fun pattern, white vases/dishes, to really pop against all of your dark furniture. And to make things less masculine, stick with more geometric patterns rather than organic. Organics and florals can tend to be rather feminine, so unless you can find a more modern style that you can both compromise on, I’d stick with simple gender-neutral geometrics like these:

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I love the idea of adding in some charcoal/white prints or maybe even some citrines to help balance out the red. When you add the new pieces you mentioned (media console, bookcases, etc.) you can either choose a lighter wood to help balance out the darker pieces you already have like a clear white maple or a medium walnut. However, if that feels out of your comfort zone since you both prefer darker furniture you can always brighten things up by lining the bookcases with a lighter fabric/paint to make them feel less heavy. Or continue to decorate these items with light/white accessories like some of these spaces:

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For the bedroom, because you have such a dark headboard I would suggest going with stark white linens. They will last you forever and you can easily decorate around them each season with different throw pillows and accessories as your style evolves over the years. They will look so fresh and clean against your bedroom furniture and really help brighten up the space.

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Another way to keep your rooms from getting too dark is to use a light paint color on the walls. Try to stick within the same color family to keep everything cohesive choosing light greys, or even an off white to help cool down all of your warm colored furniture pieces.

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For the additional pieces you’re looking for you should try thrifting or craigslisting them. You will usually find higher quality furniture for less than what you would find at Ikea. If your grandfather is willing to make you some of these items that would be so wonderful. You would then have something so meaningful that you could pass down to your children one day, that was made with love. I think handmade pieces are always the way to go :)

Since you love Victorian and he loves modern, it can be pretty difficult compromising on two totally opposite styles. I always love to balance vintage and modern pieces in spaces and the easiest way to make a vintage piece look more modern is to paint it. I think that will help the two of you find a happy medium when it comes to selecting furniture in the future. You can have your Victorian pieces but he won’t think they’re so feminine when they’re a nice glossy black or white (or color!)

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Dark furniture doesn’t have to mean you’ll be living in a cave. As long as you keep everything balanced and mix up your woods you can have a pretty gender neutral and bright space. I know that you registered for a lot of tans, reds, and browns, but that will really just keep everything looking dark and rather masculine. So I would suggest choosing lighter options to avoid this. Especially if you don’t have a lot of natural light coming into the room. I hope that my suggestions help you out, and I’d love to see how your new place turns out so please send me pictures once you get settled in.

If you’re finding yourself in a design pickle shoot us an email and we’d be happy to solve your design dilemmas!