Here’s a short list of wood species that tend to play well together in designs:
- walnut and maple
- white oak and walnut
- cherry and maple
- red oak and white ash
- mahogony and cherry
- mahogany and curly maple
- walnut and maple.
- white oak and walnut.
- cherry and maple.
- red oak and white ash.
- mahogony and cherry.
- mahogany and curly maple.
What is the best wood to pair with other wood?
By the same token, fine-grained woods usually pair best with other fine grains. "My favorite combinations are cherry with maple, and mahogany with maple. Jeff Mertz: "I use woods with a lot of contrast as accents on smaller projects, and woods that co trast subtly on larger pieces.
Can you match different types of wood together?
Sometimes, you can even achieve success matching woods of different species. For example, woods with similar hues or grains, such as maple and birch or oak and ash, often can be paired with little visible difference. Just be sure to use them on different surfaces, say a cabinet face and side. Don't edge-glue them in the same panel.
What undertones go well together on wood?
If you're not sure which wood finishes work well together, opt for pieces that share the same color temperature, which is also known as the undertone. Wood finishes with warm undertones appear yellow, orange or red. Cool undertones have a grayish cast. If the undertone looks beige, the wood has a neutral color temperature.
Is it good to mix up Woods in a room?
Same, same, and same can make a room look flat and bland. It’s good to mix up woods in a room. It can also be good to do it within a single piece of woodwork—whether a piece of furniture, a banister, or cabinetry. In our custom millwork shop, we blend woods into one-of-a-kind pieces all the time.
Can you mix different woods together?
While mixing wood tones is perfectly acceptable—and in fact, we encourage it—it always helps to pick a dominant wood tone as a starting point to help you choose other pieces to bring in the room.
Do woods need to match?
While wood finishes don't need to match, they should complement each other, Goerg says. Look at the color bias of each wood to see if it is warm or cool, then make sure their undertones match, regardless of finish.
How do you mix match woods?
When mixing wood tones, each tone needs to be represented at least twice in the room. When pairing wood tones, you could choose a piece as small as a bowl or a frame. Balance the wood tones around the room. Just like you would in a gallery wall, avoid “clustering” all of the wood tones in one area.
Can you mix walnut and oak?
For example, if we have a light oak piece or finish we want to contrast, we'll likely pair it with a dark wood like walnut or stained maple. Designer note: If the wood tones in your space seem overwhelming, try balancing them out with a neutral-stained wood piece in black, white, or even light grey.
How many woods can you mix in a room?
Speaking of scale, large quantities of one species of wood (i.e., flooring) should be considered alongside the total number of wood species within a room. That said, we think that a max of 3-ish wood tones in one space is generally acceptable, assuming that the individual pieces share a similar shape or style.
Can you mix walnut and cherry furniture?
Both cherry and walnut have beautiful underlying tones and highlights that can be drawn upon. Freshly sawn cherry will have delicate rosy hues that will deepen over time to a rich auburn and walnut, with its rich deep brown and purple tones, will develop brilliant amber highlights over time.
Does maple and mahogany go together?
If one wood has coarse grain, so should the other. By the same token, fine-grained woods usually pair best with other fine grains. "My favorite combinations are cherry with maple, and mahogany with maple.
Do birch and oak go together?
These two species are so closely matched that even for professionals, it can be hard to tell them apart at times. They work nicely together for any use, but do not mix with oak, ash, cherry or mahogany. Stain absorption of maple and birch is much lower and slower than almost any other hardwood.
Can you mix warm and cool tone woods?
The tones in each wood element should work together. Woods with warm undertones such as cherry, mahogany, and hickory blend well and woods with cool undertones like ash, maple, poplar, and pine can live harmoniously in the same space. But mixing warm and cool (cherry and poplar, for example) can create a messy vibe.
Do oak and cherry go together?
Differences in color and grain as well as available styles in these woods make a memorable combination. Whether it's for formal or casual dining or an eat-in kitchen, mix cherry and oak to create contrast and excitement in your decor.
What woods go with white oak?
white oak and walnut. cherry and maple. red oak and white ash. mahogony and cherry.
What wood goes with mahogany?
Caroline Atkins in "Country Living Shortcuts to Decorating Country Style" suggests combining dark wood furniture, such as mahogany, with lighter, golden woods such as pine or oak. The contrasting wood colors balance each other out. Use pale ash or beech with mahogany to accent the mahogany furniture.
Which wood grain is more pronounced?
In woods such as flatsawn oak, the grain is more pronounced. Fine or close grained woods better lend themselves to effective mixing than woods with more pronounced grain. This is especially true in frames where the pronounced coarse grain of rails and stiles conflicts at joints.
How do colors differ from each other?
Colors differ from each other in two ways, tone (red vs. green) and value or intensity (light to dark). A single piece of wood contains a collection of related colors within the wood grain. When matching woods, look for similarities in tone to provide a natural relationship as shown in the two boxes above.
What is complementary wood?
When creating contrast or highlights, “complementary” takes on a different meaning. Light colors are usually paired successfully with darks. You can pair woods with prominent grains, as long as the patterns are different, so that they don’t compete or cause oddly intersecting lines.
Do trees grow faster in open fields?
Trees from open fields grow faster than woodland trees, and branch out lower, yielding more knots and wilder grain patterns. Remember, too, that as trees pull in water through the soil they also draw in minerals that will color the wood. The mixtures of those minerals may vary widely in different types of soil.
Can you match straight grain boards?
With straight-grained boards, you may be able to match grain to create a seamless-looking panel. Matching wild grain proves tougher, but can be done. When joining two boards, as shown in the photos below, turn them over, flip them end for end, and try mating different edges until you find the best combination.
Can you order lumber from one tree?
If you buy directly from a small sawmill, you may be able to request lumber from one tree or from trees harvested together . At volume retailers, though, you’ll likely have to compare color and grain to match boards that were cut from different trees.
Can you match woods of different species?
Sometimes, you can even achieve success matching woods of different species. For example, woods with similar hues or grains, such as maple and birch or oak and ash, often can be paired with little visible difference. Just be sure to use them on different surfaces, say a cabinet face and side.
Giulian Tena Honed Member
I've seen some companies offer a mix and match option for different woods and I was wondering what woods go good together. Has anyone tried something like bamboo ken and maple tama? I wanna know which two woods would make a really good Dama
Jake Wiens Member
Mixing woods is fun because you get to play with weights and wood density. I've been playing a Hickory Ken with a RAW ASH tama. I was playing on the beach and dropped it in the water and now its on another level of honed.
KeeganS DS Legend
I just put together a birch ken (KUSA kaizen) and a keyaki ozora tama. Really digging how they play with each other.
lategreat808 DS Legend
I laced up a BLK Zebrano tama with an Ozora keyaki ken and it jammed like crazy.
Primechicken n00b
In case y'all didn't already know, standard beech Ozora's are strung on cherry tamas. So that's one wood combo that works pretty well.
Jenny Cho Slayer
I tend to think that with wood, the best combos involve a harder wood ken and a softer wood tama. Means the tama gets broken in faster and beautifully, and the ken stays sharp and in shape.
Cavs Member
Can't go wrong with a maple ken and ash tama. Crisp clacks. I've been jamming a zebrano ken with a maple tama lately. Also pretty crispy but the bevel is chipping
What is contrast in a living room?
In this living room, for instance, the light warm wood floors are complemented with a dark, almost inky, walnut chair and plenty of medium wood tones on the piano and ceiling beams. Playing with contrast adds visual interest and gives a design more depth while repeating shades (like the warm wood floors and matching accent chairs) gives the space some continuity.
Can you break up wood with a rug?
Breaking up your wood elements with a rug can make a huge difference, especially if your furniture and wood floors have a similar wood tone. In this living room, the legs of the dining chairs may have blended too much if placed directly on the wood floors, but with a striped rug in between, they fit in and don't look out of place.
Can you mix wood tones?
While mixing wood tones is perfectly acceptable—and in fact, we encourage it—it always helps to pick a dominant wood tone as a starting point to help you choose other pieces to bring in the room. If you have wood floors, your work here is done — those are your dominant wood tone.