Hard for me to comment as my eclectic look consists of new pieces mixed in with old pieces mixed in with hand me downs that I liked and kept. I tend to tie it all together with color rather than with style.

My entire home is pretty eclectic when you look at it as a whole. My living room being the most eclectic. It started with a beautiful table from India that I fell madly in love with at an antique shop. Added as a coffee table in our Southwestern living room, it looked great. A physician friend of DH's brought us back a beautiful painting on silk from India a few months later and our eclectic room was born. So, was it serendipity or conscious decision? Probably both. After that, i started picking up exotic, beautiful things if they would work in there. My inlaid Syrian game table. An antique bamboo end table from England. My brass deer to sit on the hearth. We still have Southwestern art in there, but it works for us. Probably because we keep the background simple. Cream colored walls and sofas. No drapes. Dark brick floor with a dark, muted Oriental rug. The art and tables stand out, each piece unique, with that calm, backdrop. Or, I dont know, perhaps it works because we just don't care what anyone else thinks, and decorate to make ourselves happy.

Not well-planned and I think it shows.

I think a true eclectic style is very difficult to pull off well. Otherwise, I think a mishmash of styles just looks indecisive. Lynn's is done well, and represents a lifetime of collecting and displaying loved items.

Thank you, Dee. Yes, I should have added that I did not go out on a hunt for things to "go with" our table and painting from India. I've, indeed, collected them over many (many!) years.

hmmmm....ghosts in old furniture?

I plan the room, or the house, very carefully. I don't believe in too much eclecticism in architectural details. So the wrong door knob or the wrong style of millwork in a house --or too many details from different periods jumbled together--bugs me a lot. But when it comes to moveable contents like décor -- pretty much anything goes. I can't say that I plan it. However I have very specific taste, even though I like all sorts of styles and periods, so maybe it's sort of inadvertently planned, by what I like vs. what I don't like.

I agree with palimpsest. Mixed styles in architectural details bothers me a lot. I have several in my current house. It is a mutt.

This echoes Pal, but the lines of anything in my house are the cohesive base for my decorating. Almost all furniture, in all rooms, has a curve and in many, a curlicue. Everything was collected over time though and my eye was naturally drawn towards a certain style. Once I became aware of the repeat, I purposefully considered everything before putting it in a room.

Now, it's a deliberate understanding of lines when I choose anything.

Color is secondary.

" Or, I don't know, perhaps it works because we just don't care what anyone else thinks"

And like Bumblebeez said. My eye seems to be drawn to the same style so that's what I buy. I know what I like. I know what I don't like. If I like it, it lives with me here.

One aside I probably should make is that I don't know a soul who "decorates" their home. Maybe it's our location. This is a jeans and t-shirt sort of place. Farmers and small business owners. A few factories. Back in the day, people got dressed up and "went out". Nowadays going out is probably to a kid's ball game. Supper at Olive Garden. We don't plan a visit to friend's homes in advance and we don't issue an invitation for Saturday night. We might get together and grill something but that's mostly outdoors. Not much high maintenance here.

"I know what I like" comes up a lot with people who collect over time. I too, know what I like, but a lot of these things don't work together. So, does that mean I don't actually know what I like? :)

One thing I *do* know is "what I've liked for a long time". Maybe that's a good indicator of what I should buy (as opposed to things that have only just begun to love recently). Or at least, pick things that work well with things I know I love.

I also know that I don't know much about antiques, furniture styles, eras, etc. I wonder if developing more of an appreciation for good furniture pieces, their provenance and so forth, would enable me to figure out what I like *most*.

I think an eclectic interior that works, is a combination of "buy what you love", with a good dose of "careful planning".

I think any decorating scheme benefits from balance in color, pattern, texture and scale.

Did some googling and found a few discussions. I think the takeaway for me is that it is too hard, and I think decorating around one look will be much more achievable for me.