Eclectic Style Interiors: Choose the Best - Minimise the Mediocre!

Have you ever played the game where you make a list of famous people you’d like to throw together at a party?  So, for example, my invite list might include: Muhammed Ali, Dolly Parton, Stephen Fry, Oprah Winfrey, Dorothy Parker and Oscar Wilde. 

Eclectic interior style is like the fantasy party game. The term itself comes from the Greek word eklektikos, which means 'to select’. The style selects the very best, combining originals of great character and interest, juxtaposing dramatically contrasting elements where each is not a copy or near facsimile of an iconic piece, but is iconic in its own right.

This doesn’t have to mean expensive. Eclectic style doesn’t mind wear and tear, and can be built from second-hand parts: it can be cheaper than, let’s say, Scandinavian flat-pack. 

So each item is judged on its own merit, minimising the mediocre, consciously pairing light with dark, rough with smooth, fragile with muscular, decorative with minimal, and happily mixing up materials, patterns and colours.  

Eclectic style is less about sticking to a single theme and more about harmonising varied elements to create spaces that are deeply personal and brimming with character. When most other decorative styles say, 'what on earth were you thinking!?', one rare and stellar quality of eclectic style is that it laughs and welcomes all the weird stuff you've hauled back from your travels. 

So let’s scent the room with Molton Brown ‘Black Pepper’, and, Hey Siri, play Philip Glass, Ali Farka Toure, Metallica, Miles Davis and Björk, off we go…

Key Defining Characteristics:

•  Diverse Palette: A mix of patterns, textures, and colours drawn from various styles, materials, locations, and periods.
•  Diverse form: it is just as important that the visual ‘weight’ of different elements is varied, that there is a mix of heavy and clumpy, and fragile and airy.  
•  Curated Clutter: The style is decorated with intentionally chosen artefacts, art, and furnishings, each with its own story.
•  Balanced Chaos: While diverse, there’s a careful balance ensuring the space doesn't feel overwhelming. Negative space, careful styling, arrangement and presentation still matter. There has to be some nod towards order.
•  Global Influences: Elements can be drawn from various cultures and time periods.
•  Personal Touch: Above all, the space feels deeply personal, echoing the resident's tastes and experiences.

Colour Usage:

Eclectic style is open-minded when it comes to colour. There are no strict rules but cohesion is key: think of colour balance as being like a choir, of course you should have some stand-out soloists, but every choir needs a chorus too. Some eclectic schemes never venture beyond tasteful neutrals, but with a marked contrast of texture and light/dark tones. 

You could consider using bold pops of colour against a muted, tonal backdrop, or make exuberant use of a range of strong hues, set off against white or off-white walls.

Or go full-throttle colour and pattern for maximalist overload (as seen below). 

Current Practitioners/Designers:

• Kelly Wearstler: Known for bold, dynamic interiors, original patterns - often at vast scale - and interiors that blend various design epochs. 
• Ken Fulk: Creates whimsical, narrative-driven spaces.
• Luke Edward Hall: Witty and playful design that mixes materials, objects, and diverse furniture with strong and bold pure hues of colour.

 Historical Contributors:

•  Tony Duquette: An American artist who, throughout the 20th century, created maximalist, multi-layered interiors.
•  Dorothy Draper: Famed for her exuberant use of color and pattern.
•  The Bloomsbury Group: A group of English intellectuals, writers, and artists whose homes, including Charleston, were decorated boldly in eclectic style. 

 Iconic Pieces:

Since eclectic style draws from various periods and styles, it doesn’t depend so much on singular iconic pieces. Instead, it's about sparky partnerships, for instance, a Louis XVI giltwood chair with a sleek mid-century table and a tribal area rug. Arrangements should combine elements that contrast in simplicity or ornamentation, colour, and/or texture, with each element being a fine example of type in its own right.  

Materials:

The gamut is vast: from natural wood to metals, velvet upholstery to woven rattans, oriental rugs to concrete sculptures, with plants thrown in too for good measure.  A mix of contrasting surface textures that absorb, diffuse, reflect and bounce light both by day and at night.  

 DIY Tips For Achieving The Eclectic Look:

•  Start with a Neutral Base: Neutral walls or large furniture pieces allow for a mix of varied accents without overwhelming the space.
•  Blend Periods & Styles: Merge old with new, east with west, minimal with ornate.
•  Use Art as Anchors: Let artworks guide your colour and theme choices for a room, but don’t worry about being too matchy-matchy.
•  Layer Textures: Mix hard with soft, rough with smooth, shiny with matte.
•  Make It Personal: Key: Let the space be a reflection of your tastes, travels, and stories.
•  Spatial Arrangement: think carefully about arrangements of furniture and objects, about negative space - room around objects - about styling and grouping depending on height, quantity and so on. There needs to be thoughtful order and curation brought to what could otherwise be a chaotic jumble. 
•  Don’t Be Afraid of Colour: Eclectic interiors often showcase bold colour, don’t shy away from or ‘dumb down’ colour choices, if you’re drawn to strong colour, commit to this fully.   

 Colours To Pick:

•  Primary Palette: Often grounded in neutrals - beiges, grays, whites.
•  Accent Colours: The sky's the limit! Jewel tones, pastels, earthy hues, monochromatic black and white – all can find a home in an eclectic space.

Diving into eclectic style is an adventure in self-expression. It’s about seeing beauty in diversity, finding harmony in chaos, and above all, letting your personality shine through every corner of your space. 

Eclectic style releases you from trends and fashions within interior design, when you understand what you like and choose items for their inherent interest and character you can be confident that a holiday impulse buy will sit comfortably at home.  

It's less about trends and more about timeless personal expression. If you're a lover of stories, memories, and unique artefacts, then eclectic style might be the symphony your soul seeks.

For More Inspiration, Take A Look At These Instagram Accounts:

@thejungalow

@matthewwilliamson

@houseofedencourt

@bibleofbritishtaste

@thefabledthread

@suetimney