A subtle combination of textures and surfaces is what gives a room both character and authenticity. The most visually appealing interior schemes mix painted and polished furniture from different eras with balance and flair. Getting this look in your own home is easier than you might think and is a great way to give unloved pieces a new lease of life. If you’re buying pieces for this purpose then make sure that you go with what you love first. It’s so much easier to create an eclectic look around pieces that you adore than to scatter a room with furniture that doesn’t have an emotional pull.

This elegant hallway perfectly demonstrates just how simple this combination can be. These highly decorative 18th Century tulipwood cabinets are in complete contrast to the clean, contemporary lines of the Wensum pedestal table, yet the two sit together in total harmony. This look could easily be replicated with a retro sideboard and painted coffee table, an inlaid hall table and a painted console or a distressed painted cabinet and mid-century desk. The possibilities are endless as long as the final combination is balanced and works within the wider room scheme.

In a dining room avoid matching your table and chairs, instead choose contrasting finishes to add interest. Even a highly decorative table like the inlaid one in this room is balanced perfectly by the less formal, painted chairs. In fact the contrasts here are what tie the scheme together.

This striking dining room makes the most of the dramatic potential of painted surfaces; using matte and gloss finishes to great effect. The unexpected addition of the contemporary painted pedestal table and mid-century polished chairs makes this scheme sing. The vibrancy of this combination of finishes gives the room a strong sense of personality that is perfectly suited to an entertaining space.

This unusual vaulted room is styled with a tapestry of furniture from different periods. The design was created in layers, working from the early 19th Century bookcase to the charming driftwood coffee table in front of the sofa. As the full height of the room had to be considered within the scheme, the lighting also played a crucial role in the balance of the space. Using painted French lanterns gives a softer, lighter feel than similar pendants in brass and off-sets the darker colours and gilt frame of the painting above the bookcase. The framing of the contemporary paintings on the side walls then links back to the white-washed coffee table to create a visual thread that ties all of the pieces together.