Eclectic Interior Design
By Kate McIntyrekate.mcintyre@interiordesignschoolreview.com
Interior Design School Review Columnist
Good interior design schemes are easy to come by these days. Upscale home furnishings stores offer one-stop shopping for perfectly coordinated bedrooms, dining rooms, and dens, complete with matching accessories and pre-distressed knick-knacks. But a growing number of decorators are rejecting one-size fits all interior design in favor of more personal, eclectic looks.
Keep Your Interior Decorating Unified Using Color
Good eclectic interior decorating makes you feel as though all of the pieces in the room were carefully collected over the years. Eclectic interior decorating incorporates pieces from different cultures, time periods, and design styles. The idea is for all of the very different elements to merge into a cohesive interior decorating scheme.The energy in a room comes from the dynamic interplay of the furnishings. If there are no unifying elements, rooms can look poorly planned, as if the pieces were haphazardly thrown together rather than artfully selected. But sticking with a few colors can help to create a unified feel. Neutral colors or earth tones work especially well. These muted shades help to tone down the riot of line and texture characteristic of eclecticism.
Shopping for Eclectic Interior Design
The fun part about eclectic design is that there are so few limitations. An oriental rug from the 1920s can pair beautifully with a mid-century modern chair, if you can find the unifying thread between them. Maybe they both are a certain shade of light green, echoed again in the drapes.Your shopping should be similarly wide-ranging. Rather than focusing on the usual interior design furnishings stores, consider import stores, auctions, antique stores, flea markets, and architectural salvage shops.
Eclectic interior design undoubtedly requires creativity and vision. But if you are up for a challenge, no other design style can so perfectly capture your one-of-a-kind taste.
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About the Author
Kate McIntyre is a writer in Portland, Oregon. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Oregon State University.
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