An Eclectic Approach Equates to a More Timeless Result
When it comes to decorating one’s home, few things are more painful than coming to the realization that your house is in need of a complete design overhaul. There are extreme cases where people feel the need to redecorate an entire house, but whether your problem is one room, multiple rooms, or an entire house, the root of the problem is oftentimes the same. The problem that I’m speaking of is this: you’ve woken up one morning and realized that your home’s style has become stale and outdated.
But how can this happen? Some may find it hard to believe that such a dramatic shift can take place, but it takes place more frequently than you might imagine. The most common reason why this usually occurs is because you’ve married yourself to one particular style of design. And if you do marry yourself to one period/style of design you not only increase your risk that the look and feel of your home becomes dated, you increase the risk of being forced to confront a nasty, nasty word – expenditure. Simply put, if you reach the point where entire areas of the house are dated, you can pretty much guarantee that you’re facing additional expenditures of time, energy, and money to transform your home into a place that you are once again happy and comfortable with.
The key to avoiding this fate is to take an eclectic approach to interior design, which simply means intelligently incorporating a variety of styles and themes into a single room. Think of it this way: as people evolve so do their personality traits, their tastes and their preferences. How many people are truly the same person they were twenty years ago? Or for the purpose of this discussion, if you currently prefer a contemporary style, what are the chances that you like just as much five or ten years from now?
Much like the fashion of women’s clothing, design styles are always in flux. The good news is that if you can properly incorporate a blend of styles into a single space, you stand to achieve a room that is both tasteful and timeless. It becomes much easier to update the design of an entire house with an eclectic approach because the simple act of moving or adding a single piece of furniture can alter the whole look and feel of a room. On the other hand, adding and changing a piece of furniture in a room that has an across-the-board style often results in a look that is, well, strange (and I don’t mean that in a good way!)
An eclectic approach can accommodate shifting viewpoints and tastes, and as a result, it is a much more cost-effective way to decorate an interior. However, to have an eclectic approach that works consistently, you need to take the time to understand the functionality and scale of the furniture in question AND have a specific plan for the space as a whole. For example, people tend to be afraid of big pieces of furniture, but the reality is that they are needed to act as a room’s anchor. If utilized correctly, a large piece can actually expand the size of a room in appearance.
The same theory applies to the mixing of contemporary and antique. Many are afraid to combine the two, but for my money, few design elements are more interesting and engaging than to see a piece of contemporary artwork juxtaposed with an antique piece of furniture from the 1800’s. Many people feel as though they need guidance from a professional when it gets to this point – and that’s not a bad idea – but a little experimentation isn’t a bad idea either. Try a little mixing and matching on your own – you might end up finding a combination of pieces that works even better than you could have envisioned!
So next time you’re considering an addition to a room in your house, try to force yourself out of the “one look and feel” box. You may just surprise yourself with what you come up with, and your wallet and your sanity will probably thank you in the long run!
For more interior design insights, you can visit www.lentrepotdesign.com – this site is maintained by the author and contains additional information on interior design and antique furniture. In addition, it provides a variety of photographs and examples of the eclectic approach in practice.
