Mix and match

Don't be afraid to mix styles and ages of furniture as they can often compliment each other. This photograph shows how Danish mid century rosewood dining chairs work well with this round Victorian dining table. Our tastes change over the years and rather than starting from scratch, updating one part of a piece of furniture can work well and save you money. Why buy a new dining suite if you can update your chairs?

The same applies to fabrics for upholstered furniture. Be bold and different. Just because a chair is an antique and traditional, you don't have to have a traditional fabric. This Victorian Arts & Crafts chair was restored and reupholstered for a local artist using a fabric he designed, and had printed onto velvet. Its very bold but I can guarantee you will never see another chair like this. It truly is is one off. Whether its your taste or not, the fabric is a top cover and can be changed. 

Life is too short to to be pleasing anyone but yourself. Buy what you like, and buy it when you see it as the chances are if you have to think about for a while, someone else will have seen it in the meantime and bought it.