HOMESTYLE
No More ‘Matchy Matchy’
Traditional furniture sets are too stuffy and imposing for today’s casual lifestyle. Here’s how to create a unified room with a variety of shapes, styles and tones.

Buying furniture by the set is convenient and easy. You don’t have to worry about whether the armoire goes with the bed’s headboard, because someone else did the thinking for you.

But maybe it’s time to free your imagination, say designers. It’s hard to express your individuality if your room looks just like 10 others in a store display.

"Chances are if you bought a living room set from one showroom, everyone else did as well. It’s disappointing to look at a room and it’s all from one store," says Kristan Cunningham, host and lead designer on HGTV’s Design on a Dime.

If you think Cunningham is harsh, Alexa Hampton is an even sharper critic of furniture sets:

"They talk down to the consumer, are unimaginative and boring and stagnant," says Hampton, a New York interior designer.

That’s enough to encourage anyone to break the set. And now it’s easier than ever. Better furniture designers, such as Hickory Chairs, are encouraging purchases by the piece, not the room. The ever-growing number of interior design resources, such as television shows and magazines, provide abundant inspiration.

By avoiding sets, you not only unleash your inner decorator, you also furnish your home according to your preferences without straining your budget.

Take Hampton’s example. You might think the daughter of the late designer Mark Hampton decorated her home in a New York minute.

Not so.

"I’m married and in my early 30’s. My husband and I might have a custom sofa and an antique or two, but we can’t afford everything," she says.

"We buy one or two pieces at a time that have to mix with an eclectic group of furnishings. My interiors are richer for the mix," says Hampton, who designs furniture for Hickory Chair.

The company in Hickory, N.C. is following the trend away from sets.

"We used to make sets of furniture," says Laura Holland, a spokesperson for the company founded in 1911.

Their customers’ tastes have evolved. Consumers are asking for individual pieces that complement each other.

"This works better for our customers. Room sizes vary so much, customers can choose the pieces that fit their space," says Holland.

Designers also enjoy the freedom of creating pieces they’re most interested in without being forced into a formula, Holland says.

Still, if you’ve been clinging to the security of a five-piece living room set, it can be a little daunting to start from scratch. Design rules, which used to set the tone for home décor, are being discounted.

You’re encouraged instead to define your own taste.

"If you don’t know what you like, having someone tell you isn’t going to help," says Hampton, who prefers a combination of good-looking modern and period furniture in her own home.

You can develop your own style, no matter how designed challenged you feel, if you work slowly and deliberately select each piece, say Hampton and Cunningham.

To start, take notes of furnishings you like, whether part of a movie set or magazine page. Collect photos of inviting rooms and study them to see what it is that appeals to you.

"There’s no such thing as an original idea. We’re all inspired by books, magazines and movies," Cunningham says.

She suggests keeping tear sheets and studying them.

"Decide what you’re being drawn to. Is it the furniture or the white, fresh-looking walls? Use the tear sheets as a guide.

"See how the furniture is put together on those pages. For example, look at the sofa. Maybe you’re drawn to the idea that the end tables are the same height as the ends of the sofa. Or maybe you see a round table and a square one and decide the round is what you like."

By examining each purchase this way, you are putting your own stamp on your selections, she says.

Price shouldn’t be your primary concern. Spend money on one good piece, such as a sleigh bed or a sofa. Then buy vintage furniture, say end tables or a trunk to fill in the space, says Cunningham.

"You can spend $2,000 on a sofa and $40 on an end table. You can do all new or all vintage. The idea is not to buy all your pieces in one showroom," she says.

Another tip is to start with an inspiration piece. It can be as offbeat as a "glammy" lamp that you build a room around.

Even if you don’t have the piece that serves as your design muse, you can start by selecting one big piece, such as a sofa or bed.

Perhaps you fell in love with a sofa in a butter and terra cotta fabric. Your next step might be to buy drapes in a complementary color.

It’s better to love every purchase than know you’re living with something you can’t embrace. By the time your home is furnished you’ll have a space that reflects your taste.