The Beauty of Mixing Old and New

Oct 13

2 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

Living room with navy fireplace wall, cream sectional, root-wood coffee table and leather sling chair

The homes I love most never look like they arrived on one delivery truck. They look collected: a vintage chair beside a modern lamp, a family heirloom on a new oak shelf, a mask found on a trip years ago, finally given the wall it deserves. They feel like the people who live there, and they keep evolving with them.

Mixing old and new is one of my favourite parts of designing a home. Here's how I think about it.

Start with the pieces that matter

In a Miraloma Park home, the starting point was the family's own treasures: menus from meals worth remembering, prints from friends and a record collection played on repeat. We designed the rooms around them. When you begin with what you love, the rest of the room has something to answer to. That's why my first question is never "what style do you like?" but "what have you collected?"

Olive powder room vanity with lilies, striped towel and framed menus on the wall — Miraloma Park Keepsake

Then add what completes the story

A collection needs company. I add art, sculpture and textiles that complement what you already own: a carved stool beside your travel finds, a textile that picks up a colour from a painting, a piece from an Italian market that feels as if it was always there.

Loft living room with a cream sofa, painted stools, tall carved wall panels and a dress form — Emeryville Bohème

Let one era lead

A room feels calm when one voice leads and the others join in. In a modern home with clean lines, a few vintage pieces bring warmth: a carved wood stool, an old rug, a worn leather chair. In an older home, a few crisp modern pieces keep it from feeling like a museum.

Lounge chair and ottoman on a sheepskin, lit by a plug-in sconce beside walnut shelving — Noe Valley Stone & Grain

Repeat materials, not matching sets

Instead of a matching set, repeat a material or a colour across different pieces. Oak in the shelves, the table and a picture frame. Brass in a lamp, a mirror and a cabinet pull. The eye connects them, and the room feels considered without feeling staged.

Professional range with brass details under a white hood, flanked by oak shelves — Richmond Ink & Oak

Mix the textures

Old pieces often bring texture new ones lack: hand-carved wood, faded textiles, aged metal. Pair them with smooth, simple modern forms, and both look better. Linen next to leather, stone next to walnut, rattan next to lacquer.

Spindle bed, longhorn skull and a wood-framed mirror in the primary bedroom — Clear Lake Hearth & Horizon

Give each piece room to breathe

A collected home is not a cluttered one. Give a special piece space around it, a wall of its own or a clear surface, so it can be seen. Edit, then edit again.

Black grasscloth console with lilies and books beneath a gilded mirror — Miraloma Park Keepsake

Buy slowly

The best rooms are built over time: a piece found at a market, a chair inherited, a lamp you waited a year for. That patience is what makes a home feel personal, and what keeps it growing with you.

Hall with a gilded mirror over a dark wood bar cart, glassware and olive branches — Ravenna Ritorno

Looking for the piece that starts your story? The Teak Collection gathers vintage and one-of-a-kind finds from California, Italy and beyond, and if it isn't there yet, I'll hunt it down for you.