Can you mix traditional and contemporary furniture? Our most recent blog answered that with an emphatic “YES!” Pairing modern and antique furniture is one of the easiest ways to add interest and simple luxury to your home. And it doesn’t get easier than mixing and matching antique and modern tables and chairs in your dining space. It’s all about adding story and intrigue, with a touch of the eclectic, as you throw the rule book out the window.
A separate or open plan dining space deserves special design attention as it is a place where social gatherings occur and where memories are made around food and community. A table and chairs are the centrepieces of any dining space and they need to fill the room with presence and personality.
A nod to the past and a respect for the present make mixing and matching contemporary and antique furniture a bold decor decision that will result in defining showpieces.
An antique table with modern chairs
One of the biggest current decor trends is a statement piece with contrasting pieces. The dining room is a well-defined space to pull this off and apply your design objectives. There is no denying the investment value of an antique or vintage dining table. So, how do you bring your heirloom Victorian mahogany or Mid-Century French Style Regency dining room table into the 21st century? The simplest way is by adding clear acrylic chairs (aka ghost chairs). The result keeps the table as the hero piece by adding a modern minimalist element. What is not to love about this look? It is practical, stylish and allows you to play with table setting elements and a variety of decor accessories.
Of course, ghost chairs may be pushing you a little too far out of your design comfort zone and that is ok – there are other successful ways of mixing an antique or vintage table with modern chairs
The mixed classic/contemporary aesthetic can be a little more subtle with wooden chairs with velvet, floral or striped upholstery designs, or a little more refined with simple mid-century modern wooden chairs. Otherwise, embrace your eclectic side with sculptured plastic chairs, or low-profile wire or metal chairs for a bolder yet relaxed industrial impact.. And if you prefer a comfortable farm-style feel, pair contemporary chairs plus a bench with a rustic vintage wooden table.
Whatever you love will work as antique tables and modern chairs will have you dining in style. It is all about your personal style and taste and creating a talking point.
A modern table with antique chairs
If your decor personality leans towards a more contemporary scheme, mixed-era design is a wonderful way to play with design pieces and slowly introduce antique pieces into your contemporary spaces. Vintage and antique chairs become wonderful supporting actors to a modern focal point table, adding a touch of warmth, interest and depth, and completely transforming your look with a nostalgic timelessness and a sentimental counterbalance.
The joy of mixing and matching a contemporary table with antique chairs offers you so many style options – from iconic Mid-century wishbone or Eames chairs and early American style ladder back chairs to Chinese yoke chairs, gilded Louis XVI chairs and bustle back Victorian chairs and any type of chair in between.
Shopping for modern and antique furniture will give you the opportunity to be like Goldilocks and find just the right ones to smarten up any modern wooden, painted, glass, marble, or cement dining room table.
The Crown Collection
Mixing a variety of antique and modern furniture will add personality and timeless character to your design story. Creating the atmosphere and look you love for your dining room starts at The Crown Collection, South Africa’s finest and largest interior decor store. With over 5000 pieces of stylish decorative antique, French, vintage, and contemporary furniture and accessories, timeless quality and extensive choice are at your fingertips.
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