Since no piece can compete with another, this visual equality offsets the burden of visual attention. Colour is one way to unite all the pieces in an eclectic assemblage. By selecting a colour as the unifying theme, the eye can pattern-match one element to the next. Similarly, the eye will pattern-match one piece to another if the theme is a design motif.
You also need to consider the scale, proportions and, in particular, the shapes of the furniture you want to put in your room to achieve a pleasing balance of form. This will help the room look harmonious.
Mixing Patterns
Patterns are a great way to bring colour and textural vibrancy to a furniture grouping, but when used in combination, they can also add a real visual buzz to ensure that your scheme feels full of life and up for a party. Combine wildly different looks, such as big florals with small stripes, for added visual interest.
Pay attention to the sizes of the patterns when you mix them, and especially keep in mind the relationship they have to each other. Incorporate some neutrals or accent colours, so the combination doesn’t become a clashing hodge podge.
Eclectic decor elements borrow from several different design styles, so it is easy to mix-and-match new and old pieces. Vintage Moroccan rugs can look wonderful hanging on the wall side-by-side with modern coffee tables.
Mixing Height
Because they’re mismatched, the key is to have them all the same height, so it looks right and it feels right, and you sit down with another person and everything’s basically even. That way no one feels dumb or awkward. If everything’s the same size, with good matching – Matchy Matchy works well here – you can have furniture that was meant for one aspect of another place function in your own unique space. My Mix and Match Your Furniture system addresses the hugely conflicting entities of your beloved seat height preference and the mismatched items you might inherit. Here’s the solution: every piece matches its seat height and its seat depth with itself.
Details are key to creating a cohesive mix-and-match look when mixing styles: colours, accessories, and fabrics. Pillows in colours that complement the dominant hue of each piece. A blue and taupe pillow, for example, will work wonders for a chair made of green and blue-grey shades.
A good starting point for gaining confidence in this area is looking at photographs of actual rooms to see how styles come together in a unified harmonious way. For example, through the use of unifying factors such as colour, material or era.
Mixing Styles
In this spirit, eclectic decor uses mixing and matching among furniture styles. The key is to find common ground among them: shapes, textures, materials or motifs can all serve as focal points that give a unifying sense to a room; otherwise it could just be a jumble of eclectica.
For instance, a gilded mirror is the perfect ‘yin’ to the ‘yang’ of a clean-cut console, and an industrial table plus weathered wood bench make an unlikely duo, but one of quirky and appealing character. Putting these pieces together helps to create personal interest and showcases the intrinsic qualities of each element.
Finding wider motifs in your space may also offer the opportunity for an interpolation of Moroccan rugs, or Indian block-printed fabrics, thus enriching the design through fabrics that, as well as having a cultural quality, add textures that substantiate the sensorial qualities of a space.
Mixing Materials
The final step of putting together an eclectic group of furniture is combining materials when you can. For example, if you have a leather chair paired with a metal and glass end table, the mix is elevated due to the use of different materials. If you can mix textures, too – for example, adding a woven basket next to a glossy glass table – do so!
Combine organic furniture from different cultures: mix modern pieces with exotic accents, such as a Tibetan chest or Balinese basket placed against a clean, modern wall. An understated colour palette will also help you achieve this cross-cultural, organic feel. Black and white will ensure that your attention is on the variety of pieces you’ve decorated with, and the colours of different parts of the world. 6. EURO-FOLK FUSION Have a space or a wall that you want to highlight? Try placing a group of colourful objects against a monochromatic background. This styling trick blends colours from all over the world, and when balanced against a neutral and simple surface – like the white wall in the photo above – it can have a dramatic impact.
Mixing Textures
Other objects, such as textures and materials, multiply eclectic furniture combos and help create depth, intrigue, and visual interest. Hard, metal coffee tables, for example, can be softened by velvet sofas, thus unifying styles while maintaining an integrated feeling.
Colour can also help to unite different furniture styles with an edited palette, such as choosing shades from an oriental rug for throw cushions and artwork to tie Boho Eclectic decor details with Minimalist Eclectic furniture pieces.
If you want your room to reflect one’s personality, an eclectic room design is the way to go because it will be individual and eccentric. You need to create with original and peculiar details – original and eccentric details. This can be done by mixing the old with the new, which is another way to show your quirkiness through quirkiness. In other words, you can find strange objects at flea markets and add original details to old pieces of furniture or simply gather vintage accessories for your items.