Eclectic home interiors, the melding of several or more design eras, speak volumes about the flexibility of the home's occupants. However, without careful planning, the eclectic quickly turns into a cluttered look. Mixing styles works well with modern and early American furniture when a choice is made about which style plays the starring role and which one becomes the supporting player. Filling in around those two choices becomes a fun and easy to understand endeavor because there is a purpose to the design. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Decide which style of furniture fills the majority of the room. This dominant style becomes the visual "envelope" that holds the design.
2. Choose a color palette that works with both styles. Early American furniture works well with palettes of navy, red, dark greens, dark toned yellows, browns and golds. Modern styles lean toward lighter, brighter versions of the traditional palette---light blue, apple green, cherry red, metallic. Choose three colors to work with---one color from the traditional palette, one from the modern palette and a neutral. Try a navy, a bright green and an off-white or a dark brown, bright red and a white.
3. Match the color palette to paint samples that are easy to carry when shopping.
4. Choose a special piece of furniture in the accent style (opposite of the envelope style) to be the accent/focal piece in the room. Treat it as if it were a valuable piece of art and place it where it can be viewed from all entry points in the room. Choose something that has an unusual shape or is large and is special in some way---ornate detail, riveting color, or made with an unusual wood, metal or other material. For example, a modern dining chair like the "Ant" chair by Arne Jacobsen in a bright red-pink is a good choice.
5. Choose the "envelope" furniture for the room. For example, begin with an early American, rough-hewn dining table with a simple turned foot detail (turned details are created using a lathe to form round shapes in a square piece of wood). Adding an early American styled rug pattern and an early American breakfront to hold dishes and linens fills the space.
6. Add touches of the accent style. In this example, an overhead wine rack in a modern chrome style hangs over the the wood dining table along with a collection of modern glasses.
7. Continue to add items that keep the balance of "envelope" and "accent" in mind. Look for interesting textures and shapes--woven woods, perforated metals, carved plastics, woods or metals.
Tags: accent style, color palette, dining table, early American, early American, well with, which style