In love with many different styles and can’t pick the one to commit? Indeed, putting all your beautiful ideas to use without creating a chaotic home can pose a problem. The solution is the eclectic design, which sets the chaos right! With some guidance and curated eclectic decor, you can make your interior come to life in style and harmony, so read on!
Eclectic Home Decor 101
An eclectic decor style refers to a type of interior design where freedom and unpredictability reign supreme. It’s all about mixing and matching different styles and period pieces. Boiled down to the very basics, eclectic interior design comprises the best elements from various eras (and your lifestyle) and brings them together in a cohesive whole.
Breathing new life into your home starts with inspiration. The right guidance and expert insights can produce a successful before-and-after eclectic design project of your own in no time. But first, let’s discover eight rules to pull off an otherworldly interior in any setting.
Not sure where to start with your own eclectic decor transformation? Then, schedule your Free Interior Design Consultation for help from some of the finest interior designers today!
Must-Know Eclectic Decor Tips for Your Home
If your living room is overdue for a style update, this marvelous mix can be just what it needs. By opting for an eclectic style, the odds are in your favor when it comes to incorporating a myriad of your existing favorite pieces. What’s better is that it works everywhere: even your eclectic bedroom decor allows you to sensibly showcase your passions.
1. Let Surfaces Set the Room’s Mood
A surface in an eclectic interior makeover should introduce rhythm and pause. Choose materials that carry different kinds of reflection, from waxed wood to thick enamel, and let them coexist. Combine glossed ceramics with woven trays, or matte-painted walls with metal-framed windows.
Pro Tip: Limit each surface to two distinct textures. Introduce a third only if one of the objects changes shape dramatically.
2. Clash Furniture on Purpose
It’s hard to develop an eclectic decor style if you have all the furniture in a set or looking like it came from the same store. You’re building tension, not teams. So, don’t be afraid to pair a plastic chair with a thick wood table, or place something sharp beside something soft. The trick is to let one piece lead, and then spread the weight. If you cluster too much contrast in one spot, the room will tilt.
Pro Tip: When it feels like the room is fighting itself, shift the boldest piece to a wall and give it air.
3. Groupings Are Grammar
A few things match in eclectic decor, but nothing should float as a single, accidental moment. If an element looks sharp or stiff, it needs something solid next to it. That could be a soft blanket against the edgy armchair, or a round lamp/a wide vase atop a rectangular side table. You can hang an antique mirror next to a factory shelf if something else nearby ties their edges together. If everything in the room has skinny legs, the space will probably feel jittery, so you’ll need something boxy or heavy to settle it.
Pro Tip: If two things look like they match but don’t do anything for each other, separate them. One stays, the other moves
4. Floors Have to Pull Weight
Floors in eclectic home decor are part of the layout. Use color shifts on the floor to set borders. Position a patterned rug to hold a zone in place when the furniture doesn’t match. A bare floor, meanwhile, can create relief when everything above it has color. Furthermore, the rug doesn’t have to stay formally centered; consider pushing it under something big and let it drag the eye sideways.
Pro Tip: Layering rugs works if the top piece is smaller and lighter. Don’t overlap heavy textures unless you’re willing to trip.
5. Light Should Break Even
Relying on overhead light is not a good approach to eclectic decor, as it flattens everything. Eclectic rooms need shadows. Use a lamp low to the floor; hang one too high. Leave one wall darker for a more dramatic effect. Let different light temperatures show up, and you might not need a dimmer.
Pro Tip: Don’t group fixtures. Spread them so no corner dies.
6. Walls Hold More Than Art
Stack frames. Lean a mirror. Add a sconce, then something that ignores the sconce. Break the wall into zones that say different things, introduce travel memorabilia for a global style makeover. Mounting height can send a message here, so be careful what you want to achieve. A general rule is that above eye level, things read more ceremonial, while near the floor, they suggest playfulness. In addition, frame styles should relate. A heavy wood frame can work next to thin metal if the images pull the same.
Pro Tip: Choose one surface in the room to remain open; absence also anchors the eclectic space.
7. Scale First, Then Color
A colorful makeover might come to mind first, but eclectic decor also relies on form. Start with volume, then shift to tone, as color moves best across a space that is already balanced in weight. If the desk is heavy and dark, balance it with gauzy curtains or lightweight shelving. Repeat one thread, whether line or tone, across the whole arrangement.
Pro Tip: Identify the item that casts the deepest shadow in the room. Use lighter shapes to interrupt its pull.
8. Color Doesn’t Blend, It Hits
Color doesn’t match across the board in eclectic decorating. It jumps and shifts, often showing up where you didn’t expect it. That means a red rug doesn’t need red anywhere else, but it does need something that holds its weight, like a dark wood chair or a black metal frame. When color repeats, the layout might go flat. Similarly, if everything colorful just sits in corners or hangs on the wall, it feels tacked on.
Pro Tip: If the object with the boldest color holds much attention, pair it with something quieter that changes in texture.
Need Help Pulling Off the Eclectic Look?
If you’re feeling inspired to update your home, but aren’t sure where to start, schedule a Free Interior Design Consultation for expert help creating your dream home!
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