“Forget about the matchy-matchy look.  Decorating a room with different furniture, styles, colors, and patterns is fashionable and fresh….but it can also be hard to pull off.” ~ Jen Derose

If you are like me, you have collected furniture and accessories for many years.  This is what I find in most all the homes I am invited into. Every once in a while I am out shopping and see a new accessory or piece of furniture and think, “That’s not really my style, but I love it!” Not long ago while out shopping, I spied a lamp that I absolutely loved.  Did it match my mostly traditional décor?  No, but I loved the lamp!  Yes, I bought it and placed it in our great room.  Although it is contemporary in style, it goes, and the new style helped to update the great room.  Why did it work?  The base of the lamp is antique brass like many of the other traditional accents in the room and the lamp complemented instead of looking like it did not belong in the room.

Style At Home’s, Kimberley Seldon, says, “Here’s my own recipe for getting the mix right and creating rooms that feel cohesive instead of crazy.  I call it my 80/20 rule, and it works like this:  as long as 80% of your interior is unified by the same style, same period or same philosophy, you can deviate with the other 20%.  In other words, a fine antique can absolutely work in an ultramodern space.”

A couple of decorating styles that have developed due to a mixing of style is the transitional, a blend of traditional and contemporary and the eclectic style, a blend of many different styles.

Your style may be shabby chic and your spouse wants to play it safe with traditional, or your home is contemporary and you have a family antique piece that you would like to use. Mixing decorating styles may be easier than you think if you keep these tips in mind:

• Pick one style to have more presence in your space.  The other style can be used as accent furniture or accessories. Remember Kimberley’s 80/20 rule of thumb.
• Consider using a modern or abstract piece of art in a more traditional space or a beautiful oil landscape in a modern space.
• Use color to update a space.  Color can transform the mood and personality of a room. You may have a ‘hand-me-down’ dining table and chairs.  Paint the chairs a fresh new color….such as yellow, turquoise, teal, lime green, or orange. Then purchase a couple of yards of an updated fabric and cover the seat cushions. Don’t forget to use that color a few other places in the room….like the art or the accessories….this will tie it all together.

Can opposite styles attract? Yes, they can! Have fun mixing and matching.

A consultation with Ava is chock full of information you can use right away.  The result is easy to live with changes that can jump-start your project while stretching your decorating dollars.  Sometimes it just takes another set of eyes to see your home in new light, whether you are working with what you have or starting from scratch.  Call to schedule an appointment.