Some thoughts on eclectic style

Sometimes it can be difficult to reconcile different tastes when it comes to furnishing and decorating your home. My guess is that most people probably have a slightly eclectic style at the very least. It makes sense considering all the experiences that influence us over our lifetime that certain unrelated things would stick. A few of mine: The pattern of one of my grandmother's dresses, the colorful trinkets in a Chinese restaurant we went to when I was growing up, the Pantone color swatch book, a seashell mirror my mother made in the 70's, antique Audubon prints... You get the idea.

Granted there is probably a certain percentage of the population that truly doesn't care too much about how everything looks together, but I think what prevents the rest of us from letting our eclectic decorating personality shine through is an uncertainty about how to pull it all together. We've all made some missteps over the years attempting to express our personality through our home, but it's time to take charge! This post is dedicated to all the other reluctant eclecticists (I think I made that word up) out there — with the hope that together we can overcome fear and avoid RTG syndrome* at all costs.

*RTG syndrome – noun Pathology.
a common ailment characterized by the matchy-matchy "buy the whole room look" found at Rooms-To-Go.

My apologies for repeating the above photo from a previous post.

Ruthie Sommers' living room from the first issue of Domino still makes my heart sing.



photos from Domino Magazine

To borrow a phrase from the Beastie Boys, in my opinion Domino was the most mackinest at illustrating examples of combining different styles, eras, finishes etc. Why, why did it go away, leaving this sad hole in my heart?

My boyfriend has teased me on more than one occasion for the obsessive way I fuss about keeping all my Domino back-issues safe and intact — I have every issue, you see, and the book too. But to me, that publication was an awakening to the idea that it was possible to have a home that's a true expression of self that doesn't look too shiny new or over-decorated, but just right.

I'd like to devote some space in future posts to explore inexpensive ways to achieve an eclectic style. Stay tuned.