More Eclectic Rules to Break from Christy Ferer

"To be eclectic means anything goes."

There is a define line between eclecticism and chaos. A room can take on an eclectic look by using subtle contrasts as well as bold ones. Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says A contemporary home filled with classics or a historical one filled with contemporary ones automatically has an eclectic spirit. But it's certainly possible to create an incoherent space by jettisoning all organizing principles. 

She recommends you start small- with galvanized metal chairs pulled up to a rustic country dining table or a sleek halogen lamp on a Chippendale desk. Mix shiny with rough, urban with earthy, provincial with palatial, old with new, the found object with the treasure. That's what eclecticism is all about. But there is safety in some uniformity. Keep one color of wood in a room of different period furniture. Use neutral walls to showcase varied forms of art. 

More Eclectic Tips from Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer says filling up your living space is like panting on a black canvas or assembling an outfit. You are building a look - your look. The advantage of being eclectic is that it gives you the broadest of palettes, one that allows you to dabble in culture, styles, and periods.

One of Christy's mentors, Bernadine Morris, former fashion editor of The New York Times, told me the key to style is never looking like you spent hours putting yourself together. The same goes for decorating a space. It shouldn't look too matched, too decorated, too precise. Fashion Cynthia Rowley agrees. "The worst thing is to have everything perfectly appointed," she says. And Calvin Klein equates modernity with relaxation: "The role of modern design is to make living in a complex world-where even times has become a luxury-easier, more relaxed; it goes beyond trends. Mix casual with formal and work with modern textures and different weights and forms."

More Tips on Eclecticism

Play. Put a funky lamp on a pedigreed table. Modern, colorful pillows on a Victorian velvet settee. Or a cover a beanbag chair in richly colored Thai silk in a room of a more formal wooden furniture. Alter the spirit of a room with a surprise, a jolt.

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says what do you do if you want to use your grandparent's old breakfront, you're deeply attached to an old spindle chair that got you through school, you've bought a lot of upholstered pieces during one uncontrollable spending spree online  . . . and your living room's ended up looking a little grannyesque? Modernize it with a glass coffee table and some sleep wrought-iron accessories and lamps.

On the other hand, maybe you've out-sleeked yourself with too many minimal parsons tables, leather chairs, and slick surfaces? She recommends to try messing things up a little. Add heat and punch with pillows in warm colors, throws,  a pair of ornate lamp fixtures, or a console in gilt woodwork.

Eclecticism

Vidicom's CEO Christy Ferer says forget what you've been told about what goes with what, sticking to one period, one decorating style, or one color thread. It is all boring. Karl Lagerfield once told me that great style, whether it be about clothes or homes, cannot be all salt of sugar… mixing both is what satiates the style tastes buds.

Real Chic comes from mixing it all up, expensive with bargains, antiques with new. The Moroccan vase you get as a wedding gift can look great with all your American department furniture. Old French faience can fit comfortably next to flea-market glasses. Loosen up and let your intuition take over. If you don't like the way something looks, you can always charge it. She says express yourself!