How to Pull Off Diverse Home Decor that Doesn’t Clash

Decorating your home can be a challenge, especially when there are differing opinions. Your spouse may favor something more shabby chic, while your choice may be more traditional. You may also be looking for a way to incorporate a family antique into your contemporary great room. Fortunately, there aren’t many decorating styles that are truly pure nowadays, and you’ll find the following tips handy for blending the variety of eras into your scheme.

Limit Your Color Palette
Too many colors can be distracting and a limited palette individualizes the various furnishings in your room. When it comes to color, you want to spread the wealth by repeating similar shades throughout your living space. This could include showcasing a piece of artwork with gold, green and beige, and then working around the warm colors. Fabrics, wall colors, throws and rugs can all be blended together to make the room flow.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Unify Your Patterns
A particular shape or pattern used throughout a room can bring it all together. It can also keep it from appearing disorganized and scattered. If you have a specific line that flows through your favorite chair or love seat, you can incorporate that curve into an eye catching piece of artwork. Sites like artismo.com offer artwork searchable by decor style, from contemporary to country.

Select a Focal Point
Oddball pieces that don’t look like the rest of your home shouldn’t be hidden; they should be the focal point of your room. If you have a particular painting by a favorite artist or something that has been in the family for generations, you can draw attention to it and decorate the remainder of the room around that particular piece. Instead of turning it into a “no,” you’ve turned the unique artifact into a “wow.”

Photo Credit: Flickr

Matching Woods
Pieces of furniture from two different eras may not look well together in a room. However, staining the pieces in similar shades can mesh the wood tones, which then ties them together. This includes end tables, sofas, chairs, and decoratively framed artwork.

Blend the Periods
Rooms today don’t have to stay the same, and you can blend the period pieces. If you’re fond of antique furnishings and have a few items from the big box stores, you can blend them together. Solid colors and clean finishes won’t compete with the other décor in your home.

Stick with a Theme
No, this doesn’t mean a room full of antique dolls or wood ducks. In order to bring the elements of a room together in your home, you want to select a theme. A rustic cottage look or Tuscan villa theme can give a charming flair to your den or living room.

Today’s decorating styles are more pliant and typically centered around what works for your individual tastes. What was once considered contemporary and traditional is now, simplistically, “transitional.” Eclectic design typically paved the way for trends once, but it has gotten in on the action by blending the various looks to create its own brand. Creating your own style is easy when you follow the above tips to design a home that’s unified.

Savannah Bobo is a liberal arts graduate and technical/freelance writer who has a vested interest in all things art, literature, and design. Home decor is the perfect way to express your individuality, and there is no reason your living space shouldn’t reflect multiple facets of your taste! Artismo.com aids in the accessorizing process by offering an art print database searchable by theme and subject—including contemporary, country, global, and traditional.