Make Your Home Eclectic with These Decorating Ideas

Best way to bring zest into your house is to redecorate and completely change the overall design. If you’re thinking of redecorating, try the eclectic style. Make unexpected color combinations, put different textures together, scatter things around and be amazed at how good it actually looks. Making your house eclectic can be a daunting task, if not done properly, some items will pop out like they don’t belong there. Here are some helpful tips on how to achieve the eclectic look.

Colors

When painting a room or a whole house, most people try and stick with one color. With eclectic there are no limitations, except your own imagination. If given enough planning and attention you could mix different colors and hues and still make it work. Try having one go-to color, its role is to tie the whole room together. It should serve as a unifier, use differently colored furniture and decorative items, but always put a little more of your go-to color here and there.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can simply combine colors and that it will be eclectic. Putting all possible shades and colors will just create a mess. Have one strong color and make sure other colors complement it.

Have a canvas

With eclectic style, it’s best to have a clear canvas to work on. Think of all the furniture and decoration as details which need to be presented on a clear canvas. This can easily be achieved by using a neutral color on the walls or the floor. All the color in your eclectic room should be coming from objects, not the background. Clear white always works, but if you feel artistic try gray or light blue. You could also choose one color already being used in the room and make it your go-to color. This can truly bind the room together.

Accessories

Eclectic style can further be complemented by accessorizing with various items. This doesn’t mean to simply from stuff in and it will be eclectic. Eclectic doesn’t mean everything goes, it has to be thought through. Put pillows with the same pattern on the couch, hang decorations on the wall. You can use anything from black and white photos to plants. It’s ok to make it colorful, but again try to put items with the color that matches your background. Put a vase on your coffee table, display your plate collection.

Don’t clutter

There’s a difference between accessorizing and simply throwing stuff into the room. It’s okay to make the room eclectic, but putting stuff that doesn’t go together can create a mess. Putting stuff in and hoping that it will work isn’t a good idea. A good eclectic design has to be thought through and carefully planned. Although, you could pack the room full of decorative items and still make it work. The key to making this work is the layout. You want to make the room look busy and energetic, not crowded and messy. This is why everything has to be arranged and positioned properly.

Furniture

Furniture can be essential to the room’s overall look and can set the tone of the whole room. A must have items in a living room are a sofa, chairs and a coffee table. Once you pick your designer furniture, try and build from there following the color and pattern design for other items. Although, when going eclectic, you could mix different styles, it’s good practice to be consistent with furniture. Use furniture that has similar lines, scale and shape. For example, put both a round end table in a room, and a small circular coffee table. Rounded items tend to give a sense of unity to the room.

It would also be a good idea to choose the upholstery color that matches the one of your background. Matching floor and wall color with upholstery can really tie the room together. This will allow items with different patterns and designs to be incorporated without breaking the eclectic design.

While eclectic style uses unusual matching and mixing, it doesn’t mean that everything will work. It takes careful planning before perfecting this style and making it work for you. Use these helpful tips to help you with it.