Secrets to Eclectic Interior Design

Mixing periods and styles is one topic of conversation people bring up to me often and is one of my favorite styles to incorporate into a space.  Eclectic is sometimes translated that anything and everything is thrown together and voila! You have a room.

Sometimes an attempt at an eclectic style can feel disjointed and cluttered.

Eclectic interior design actually is translated as a harmony of different styles and colors, working in together in the room.  Many people seem to enjoy eclectic rooms and I believe they are incredibly popular because they effectively incorporate several colors, styles and patterns, which is more interesting to our eye.  Eclectic rooms can be threaded together easily when the shapes of the key pieces are kept simple and then accented with pieces of a contrasting shape, such as incorporating a boxy square sofa with a curvy Baroque accent chair or irregularly shaped art pieces or soft furnishings such as round pillows.

Geoffrey de Sousa

Featuring key pieces with a common element, such as a common texture or a common finish, creates harmony in the overall design and creates a foundation on which the other elements can relate. However, mixing it up elsewhere in the room by the use of different patterns, prints and colors leads your eye around the room and creates a type of visual tension.

The commonalities of this living room by Palmer Weiss set the stage for other seemingly mis-matched or unexpected items

Proper proportion and scale will also help achieve a cohesive eclectic concept, along with use of color.

Color and texture are two elements used to thread this eclectic room together (houzz)

houzz

I love how the exterior visible through the window acts as a piece of art and how the elements from different periods work with the different textures and finishes (Palmer Weiss)

In every eclectic design, knowing how much to add to or detract from the room is key to avoid a chaotic, cluttered look.  It may seem as if we are just incorporating random elements, however there is an order and method to creating this beautiful, timeless look.