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Alvin Wayne is known for creating fresh, one-of-a-kind rooms. So when we spotted no less than seven furnishings and accents from Crate&Barrel in a home he recently customized for a couple in New Jersey, it stopped us in our tracks.
Shopping from big-box retailers is a must for anyone on a budget, including designers like Wayne who regularly spring for high-end bespoke pieces but still need to fill a whole house with furniture. The trick is making sure the room doesn’t look like a catalogue. “I think the biggest mistake people make is purchasing everything from one retailer because it looks good together in a showroom,” Wayne explains. “In this home, Crate&Barrel pieces sit alongside custom designs, sculptural furniture, bold colors, and playful patterns. It’s that combination that gives the home its personality.”
For anyone who has tried to strike this balance and still ended up with a room that looks, well, boring, Wayne is sharing all his secrets for a spunky, unexpected mix.
Mix Contrasting Shapes & Materials
The living room in this house (see above) is stuffed with cozy, plush furnishings: a burgundy sofa, navy rug, and other upholstery designed for cuddling up and lounging. The space was begging for something a bit harder and more sculptural to balance out all the squish. “I brought in the Obelisk brass floor lamp from Crate&Barrel to introduce another material and a different silhouette. I love mixing metals, stone, wood, and soft textiles because those contrasts give a room depth and character,” Wayne says.
What’s so smart about this pick is that the brass of the floor lamp is rich and warm in color, complementing all the jewel tones in the room rather than standing out as too different. In the bedroom, the same tenet is applied to a metal table lamp that’s paired with a bouclé chair.
Sprinkle in Some Handmade Pieces
Don’t be afraid to use a big-box furnishing as the statement piece in a room, and pair it with handmade items whenever you can. Having both strikes that dreamy balance between accessible and special.
In the primary bedroom, Wayne paired the Curios upholstered bed by Jeremiah Brent with a handmade rug: his own Stepping Stones design for Malcusa (see below). “The bed has this beautiful, soft, sculptural shape, while the rug introduces pattern, movement, and color. I love that juxtaposition,” he explains. “It’s a perfect example of how you can take a piece from a major retailer and make it feel completely unique through what you surround it with.”
Wayne also paired a colorful woven artwork with the cool, understated Argent side table by Athena Calderone to the same effect.
Stick to Your Budget—Really
“Good design isn’t about everything being expensive,” says Wayne. “It’s about knowing what pieces work together and creating a space that feels cohesive without being predictable.” The dining room perfectly showcases this unexpected balance, featuring not one but three pieces of seating from Crate&Barrel—a cushy curved Leandro banquette and two leather-seat Linus dining chairs—as well as a small pedestal table and an oversized CB2 pendant hanging overhead. None of the pieces is particularly flashy, but thoughtfully wedged together in this small room they offer a cozy, welcoming vibe like the best corner booth in a neighborhood restaurant. It’s equally easy to picture messy pancake breakfasts and very intimate dinner parties in this little nook.
Play with Scale & Proportion
The best match for a big, dazzling piece? Consider another that’s just as show-stopping. “The upholstered bed in the primary bedroom has a generous silhouette, so I wanted a rug that could visually hold its own,” Wayne says. “When the scale is right, everything feels more intentional, regardless of where it was purchased.”
A more muted or flat rug might have gotten lost underfoot, and adding extra super-plush textures to the room actually makes the voluptuous bed feel right at home instead of random. Together, they are sized appropriately: a smaller bed may have gotten lost in the big space, creating dead zones, and the rug just reaches the edge of the window treatments without its fringe being at all hidden. In the living room, a statuesque marble DJ booth meets its match in a diminutive fluffy ottoman that’s somehow just as magnetic.
Crate&Barrel
Rhea Ottoman by Jeremiah Brent
