What is eclectic design?

Yesterday I ran the Living Etc Magazine one-day course on Eclectic Design at KLC (an interior design school in Chelsea… actually, the interior design school that I attended…). So, this week I thought I would share some of the eclectic images that I found when I was developing the materials for the course…

Eclectic design is simply a blend of furnishing styles from a mixture of sources, styles and time periods. It is usually perceived as free and easy, vibrant and unrestrained in terms of style, but this is not necessarily the case. The art of mixing a range of pieces, architecture and colours in a space takes considerable skill. It can be quite overwhelming when considering all the different elements that contribute to an eclectic scheme.

At the heart of successful eclectic design is the ability to understand how it is possible for such a completely different variety of things to be mixed together and still remain one cohesive piece that remains consistent with the overall design style.

Eclectic design is definitely not a ‘hodgepodge’ or jumbled assortment of random items, but a planned and very deliberate design. A shared theme or component should still tie everything together. A room styled in an eclectic way is brought together when the furnishings relate to each other in colour, pattern, scale, proportion, texture, finish, and shape.

Below are some images of eclectic design that I love…

(Image from Elle Decor)

(Image from ellmania.blogspot.com)

(Image from nymag.com)