Wooden furniture has been a constant feature of home interiors since the dawn of history, and for good reason. Not only is wood a plentiful and hard-wearing material, easy to transform into home furnishings, but it is also undeniably attractive. One of the most popular uses of wood in interior design is in the kitchen or dining room, where oak dining chairs are often paired with a hardwood table.
Of course, just buying any old table and chairs doesn’t guarantee that they’ll go together, let alone match the rest of your room.
We’ve put together this guide to help you wrap your head around wood colours and tones, as well as providing 5 clever interior design tips to help you pick the perfect dining chairs to go with your oak table (or vice versa). Let’s get started!
Understanding Wood Undertones: Warm Versus Cool
Skilled carpenters can make wooden furniture from lots of different species of tree, including popular strains like oak, maple, beech, and cherry, as well as more exotic types like mahogany, walnut and white ash. Depending on the type of wood—and how it’s treated—the finished piece of furniture can add either warmth or coolness to your interior aesthetic. There are two reasons for this:
- The natural colour of the wood may carry warmer hues like golds, reds and oranges or ambers, or cooler hues like whites, silvers, greys and light blues.
- The grain of the wood will affect how light interacts with the material, either reflecting light evenly for a cooling effect (close-grained woods), or unevenly and at differing depths for enhanced shadow and warmth (open-grained woods like oak).
Understanding the different colours and grains of popular woods will help you to choose the best tones to compliment your existing interior design. Modern, minimalist interiors, for example, might pair best with cooler woods, whilst the traditional ‘cottage-core’ aesthetic almost always benefits from warm tones.
Oak is a naturally warm-toned wood, often found in colours ranging from sandy yellow or beige through amber to a cosy red. As such, pairing oak dining chairs to an oak table will add an elevated warmth to your dining room.
The style choices you make when choosing these items will make all the difference to the final look and feel of your home’s most important hosting space.
Things to Consider when Pairing Oak Dining Tables and Chairs
We’ve got lots of experience in interior design, especially when it comes to wooden furniture, which is why we know that when it comes to choosing oak chairs for your dining table, there are a few key considerations to make first.
1) Colour Matching Oak Chairs for Dining Tables
First things first, we always recommend starting with the colour of your woods and any upholstery (for example, cushion colours on cushioned chairs).
Matching Oak Colours
Most types and shades of oak furniture should naturally complement each other, but you should still give some thought to which colours will work best together. Pairing light oak dining chairs to a dark oak table, for example, will create a warm, stimulating but stark visual contrast. In contrast, the closer the two tones are, the more uniform and calm your dining room interior will appear. You can play around with different contrasts to create different atmospheres for the space.
Matching Oak to Different Upholstery Colours
Of course, if your preferred dining chairs come upholstered, you’ll need to consider how brighter, bolder fabric colours might pair with that pure oak table. I’ve created a handy chart below to show which types of colour and hue tend to work best with different oak undertones.
|
Oak undertone |
Complimentary colours |
|
Light oak |
Warm whites and creams, pale greys, soft blues, muted greens, soft yellows, ochre |
|
Midtone oak |
Light greys, sage, olive, midtone reds and oranges, neutral whites and cream |
|
Dark oak |
Deep blues and greens, teal, burgundy, plum, mustard, and warm whites |
Pro tip: Remember where your oak furniture came from in the first place—the forest—and use colours naturally found in wooded landscapes ton compliment it, like creams, greens, browns and blues.
2) Marrying Different Styles of Tables and Chairs
Once you’ve worked out a colour and tonal combination that works for your oak dining table and chairs, it’s time to decide on style. Chances are you’ve either already found the perfect table or chair, and now need to find the companion pieces to go with it. With so many different types of both available, you’ve got the opportunity to either marry or offset styles.
Personally, we would recommend keeping the style of your oak chairs and dining table in fairly close alignment. Elaborate armchairs might look out of place at a simple rectangular dining table, for example, whilst a luxurious carved wooden tabletop might seem dressed down if the chairs are of too simple a design.
3) Using the “sisters, Not Twins” Rule of Interior Design
“sisters, Not Twins” Is One of Our Favourite Pieces of Interior Design Advice, and Comes in Particular Handy when Choosing Dining Chairs to Go with An Oak Table. the Idea Is Simple: Try to Find Pieces Which Look Related, without Looking Identical. Look for Chairs Which Share Similarities in Style, Texture and Tone with Your Table, without Replicating Them Exactly—this Creates an Extra Layer of Complexity to Your Dining Room Design without The Contrast Feeling Jarring.
4) Don’t Forget to Consider Size and Clearance
Naturally, It Is Also Important to Think About What Size of Dining Chair You’ll Need to Compliment Your Table, Including how Much Clearance There Is Between Table and Seat. It’s Important that You and Your Guests Feel Comfortable at The Table Whilst Also Being Able to Reach Their Plates, Glasses and Centre-Dishes with Ease.
5) Consider the Natural and Artificial Light Your Dining Room Receives
Last but Not Least, Let’s Talk Light. the Light Your Dining Room Receives Will Play a Major Role in The Overall Warmth and Colour of Your Oak Table and Chairs.
For a Dining Room, Warm Evening Light Is Obviously the Ideal Visitor, Though Not Every Dining Room Is Guaranteed Windows Facing West. a South-Facing Dining Room Should Get Sunlight Throughout the Day, Whilst a North-Facing Room Might Have to Rely Much More Heavily on Artificial Light.
Whatever Your Dining Room’s Setup, It’s Worth Testing Different Shades of Oak in Different Positions Throughout the Day, so That You Can See how The Changing Natural and Artificial Look Affect Them. This Way You’ll Have a Better Idea of What Types of Oak Furniture Look Best, and Where Best to Place Them.
Lots to Think About Before You Pick the Perfect Pairing
It’s a Lot of Thinking Creatively as You Choose the Perfect Pairing of Oak Dining Table and Chairs, but Don’t Worry: These Are Just Suggestions for How to Colour Match Oak Furniture in An Easy and Effective Way. What You Do with Your Own Interior Design Is, of Course, Always up To You, and It’s Your Own Unique Taste Which Will Inform the Final Decision.
Our Top Tip Would Be to Take Your Time, Trial Different Oaks in Different Parts of Your Dining Room, and To Remember the “twins Not Sisters” Rule of Thumb. Thanks for Reading!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here Are Answers to Some Questions I’m Most Commonly Asked About Matching Oak Chairs to Dining Tables.
Faq 1) What Colour Is Oak Furniture?
Oak Furniture Can Be Lots of Different Colours, but They All Tend to Be of Warmer Tones. We Find Some of The Most Popular Oak Furniture Has a Gentle Golden Colour, but You Can Also Find Oak Dining Chairs and Tables with Deeper, Richer Hues as Well.
Faq 2) What Oak Dining Chairs Go Best with Oak Tables?
There Is No Single Rule to Pairing Oak Dining Chairs and Tables. Take Your Time and Consider how Different Styles of Chair, as Well as Different Oak Tones and Textures, Change the Look and Feel of Your Dining Room Table Before You Buy.
Faq 3) Does Oak Go with Bright Colours?
Yes, Oak Furniture Like Dining Tables and Chairs Can Go Really Well with Bright Colours. the Trick Is to Keep the Colours as Natural as Possible (think Blues, Greens, Oranges, Creams and Browns) to Compliment the Wood’s Natural Tones.
Faq 4) Can You Create Contrast with Oak Dining Chairs and Table?
Yes, You Can Definitely Create a Feeling of Contrast in Your Interior Design Using Oak Chairs and Tables. a Dark Oak Paired with A Light Oak, for Example, or A Wide-Grained Oak with A Closer-Grained Oak, Will Add a Charming Contrast to Your Dining Room Design.
Faq 5) Which Colours Go Best with Oak Dining Chairs and Oak Tables?
We really love to pair dark oak furnishings with deep, rich, muted colours like sage, burnt orange, admiral blue. When it comes to light oak furnishings, we prefer midtone and neutral colours like cream, yellow, light greens and blues, as well as powdery greys.
