10 Ways to Embrace Eclectic Style in the Bedroom
Eclecticism in interiors is all about expressing your personality, and what space could be more personal than your bedroom?
The eclectic look isn’t one you might automatically associate with bedrooms. The mix and clash of pieces from different eras, the patchwork of patterns and the curation of curios is more of a living room look. With a little adaptation, however, it’s a style that will add bags of personality to the bedroom without overwhelming it. The style may suggest that ‘anything goes’, but there are some savvy design tricks to learn from these appealingly eclectic arrangements.
So your style is … eclectic
So your style is … eclectic
2. Don’t be afraid of the dark
Black walls are a growing trend on Houzz for those keen to add an edge to their interior – and edginess is a friend of the eclectic home. This inky shade works brilliantly in the bedroom, where the effect adds womb-like cosiness. For this sort of sharp, contemporary take on the style, you could create your own neon light typography artwork above the bed (not as expensive as you might imagine – try Seletti) or choose an interesting, large-scale framed photograph.
Flashes of super-bright colour work brilliantly against black and this hot pink fabric flex is an easy trick to steal. There are heaps of colours to choose from, and you just need to feed the two new wires through your existing ceiling rose and put ceiling hooks where you’d like the lights to hang – it’s a DIY look that requires no messy chasing in (even if it’s your electrician doing the, ahem, DIY…). Just add the bare filament bulbs of your choice.
Are you ready to go over to the dark side?
Black walls are a growing trend on Houzz for those keen to add an edge to their interior – and edginess is a friend of the eclectic home. This inky shade works brilliantly in the bedroom, where the effect adds womb-like cosiness. For this sort of sharp, contemporary take on the style, you could create your own neon light typography artwork above the bed (not as expensive as you might imagine – try Seletti) or choose an interesting, large-scale framed photograph.
Flashes of super-bright colour work brilliantly against black and this hot pink fabric flex is an easy trick to steal. There are heaps of colours to choose from, and you just need to feed the two new wires through your existing ceiling rose and put ceiling hooks where you’d like the lights to hang – it’s a DIY look that requires no messy chasing in (even if it’s your electrician doing the, ahem, DIY…). Just add the bare filament bulbs of your choice.
Are you ready to go over to the dark side?
3. Update your bedside tables
In an eclectically styled bedroom, you can do away with matching staples such as bedside units (unless you’re going for the hotelly version of the look, already described).
Hunt out pieces you can repurpose – an interesting old milk stool; a favourite dining chair? – and mix and match them either side of your bed. A ready-made offbeat set of drawers, like this one with wonky angles and odd handles, is a good solution if poking around op shops and antiques fairs isn’t your thing.
In an eclectically styled bedroom, you can do away with matching staples such as bedside units (unless you’re going for the hotelly version of the look, already described).
Hunt out pieces you can repurpose – an interesting old milk stool; a favourite dining chair? – and mix and match them either side of your bed. A ready-made offbeat set of drawers, like this one with wonky angles and odd handles, is a good solution if poking around op shops and antiques fairs isn’t your thing.
4. Go hotelly
If you thought eclectic meant cluttered, bitty and stuffed with junk-shop finds, this bold, smart bedroom proves otherwise. More boutique hotel than boot sale, it oozes glamour and order. And the overriding tip to take away for your boudoir? Symmetry. Embrace it: pairs of chairs, matchy-matchy lamps and coupled-up cushions and prints will pull a room together, allowing you to go wild with the rest of the space safe in the knowledge it won’t feel chaotic. Select luxurious finishes, too – velvet, high gloss, glass and crisp linen will keep things looking classy.
If you thought eclectic meant cluttered, bitty and stuffed with junk-shop finds, this bold, smart bedroom proves otherwise. More boutique hotel than boot sale, it oozes glamour and order. And the overriding tip to take away for your boudoir? Symmetry. Embrace it: pairs of chairs, matchy-matchy lamps and coupled-up cushions and prints will pull a room together, allowing you to go wild with the rest of the space safe in the knowledge it won’t feel chaotic. Select luxurious finishes, too – velvet, high gloss, glass and crisp linen will keep things looking classy.
5. Throw in a curveball
This understated, elegant, neutrals-heavy room could be straight out of a Kelly Hoppen hotel, which pretty much defines the opposite of eclectic. Until, that is, you get to that in-your-face bright yellow artwork. A brave, contrasting detail can be all it takes to edge into eclecticism. Don’t forget to give your curveball a couple of friends (three, of course, being the magic number in design). Here, the yellow of the painting is picked up in that spray of neon flowers and in the just-visible sunshine-hued footstool at the end of the bed.
This understated, elegant, neutrals-heavy room could be straight out of a Kelly Hoppen hotel, which pretty much defines the opposite of eclectic. Until, that is, you get to that in-your-face bright yellow artwork. A brave, contrasting detail can be all it takes to edge into eclecticism. Don’t forget to give your curveball a couple of friends (three, of course, being the magic number in design). Here, the yellow of the painting is picked up in that spray of neon flowers and in the just-visible sunshine-hued footstool at the end of the bed.
6. Liven up a neutral backdrop
For some, a bedroom packed with pictures can excite the senses away from sleep. If that’s you, but you’d love to enjoy some of your favourite prints and pictures in your sleep space, tucking them behind your bed is a nice way to do it. A shelf like this is a smart idea if you have a divan base – you’ll need to get a simple ledge built along your pillowside wall, since a shelf is likely to incur head banging if positioned this low. Push it higher up the wall, though, and that’s an option, too.
Paint your new feature the same colour as your walls and blend your textiles into this plain canvas to let your eclectic arrangement stand out. Add an adventurous light fitting or two and perhaps hang a quirky vintage find on the corner of your headboard, or on a nail on another wall, and you’re done. Take out these small decorative details if you tire of them and your room returns to neutral.
For some, a bedroom packed with pictures can excite the senses away from sleep. If that’s you, but you’d love to enjoy some of your favourite prints and pictures in your sleep space, tucking them behind your bed is a nice way to do it. A shelf like this is a smart idea if you have a divan base – you’ll need to get a simple ledge built along your pillowside wall, since a shelf is likely to incur head banging if positioned this low. Push it higher up the wall, though, and that’s an option, too.
Paint your new feature the same colour as your walls and blend your textiles into this plain canvas to let your eclectic arrangement stand out. Add an adventurous light fitting or two and perhaps hang a quirky vintage find on the corner of your headboard, or on a nail on another wall, and you’re done. Take out these small decorative details if you tire of them and your room returns to neutral.
7. Accessorise bravely
Take one simply decorated bedroom with classic white bedding, white walls and barely there wallpaper and transform it with inventive accessories. This unstereotypically feminine room is a shameless style mashup: the modern, glamorous mirrored dressing table rubs up against an antiques shop oddity on the wall; the stripy lampshade makes a statement on its own; and that photo… Where a schmaltzy snap of the kids would clash with this quirky curation, this humorous portrait fits in perfectly. As for those Alice in Wonderland lights…
The style lesson here? Take a little of what you fancy and add slowly. Live with each new addition for a bit to see if it works before adding the next and doing the same. Don’t be tempted to crowd the room: cherishing that empty white space will create a design-y edge.
Take one simply decorated bedroom with classic white bedding, white walls and barely there wallpaper and transform it with inventive accessories. This unstereotypically feminine room is a shameless style mashup: the modern, glamorous mirrored dressing table rubs up against an antiques shop oddity on the wall; the stripy lampshade makes a statement on its own; and that photo… Where a schmaltzy snap of the kids would clash with this quirky curation, this humorous portrait fits in perfectly. As for those Alice in Wonderland lights…
The style lesson here? Take a little of what you fancy and add slowly. Live with each new addition for a bit to see if it works before adding the next and doing the same. Don’t be tempted to crowd the room: cherishing that empty white space will create a design-y edge.
8. Use jewellery to create a display
If you have a collection of trinkets currently cluttering up a drawer, why not get them out and turn them into a work of art (chances are you’ll find those earrings you’ve been looking for, too)?
Customising a pinboard with paint or fabric and a nice frame is one route, as seen here, but you could also seek out a vintage printers’ tray to mount on your wall and fill with jewels, or use a spirit level to create a dead straight, horizontal line of nails across a blank, white wall for a display of necklaces and bangles.
More creative ways to display your jewellery
If you have a collection of trinkets currently cluttering up a drawer, why not get them out and turn them into a work of art (chances are you’ll find those earrings you’ve been looking for, too)?
Customising a pinboard with paint or fabric and a nice frame is one route, as seen here, but you could also seek out a vintage printers’ tray to mount on your wall and fill with jewels, or use a spirit level to create a dead straight, horizontal line of nails across a blank, white wall for a display of necklaces and bangles.
More creative ways to display your jewellery
9. Try it out on the kids
A child’s bedroom is a brilliant place to practise eclectism, because this look is about having some fun… just the right approach for small people’s spaces. A cosy carpet is soft on little toes, but why not be bold with it, too? This busy geometric pattern sets a quirky yet hip tone for the room, and the blue and canine themes – while injecting fun and humour – also help to keep the design coherent.
What also achieves this is the plain backdrop. Here, the white walls, window treatment and bed do the toning down, but for a cosier rather than airy space, or in a room that doesn’t get much natural light (where white can look grubby) embrace the shadows by switching whites for a deep indigo or grey. Such details and design precision will make for a calmer sleep space as nothing will jar visually.
A child’s bedroom is a brilliant place to practise eclectism, because this look is about having some fun… just the right approach for small people’s spaces. A cosy carpet is soft on little toes, but why not be bold with it, too? This busy geometric pattern sets a quirky yet hip tone for the room, and the blue and canine themes – while injecting fun and humour – also help to keep the design coherent.
What also achieves this is the plain backdrop. Here, the white walls, window treatment and bed do the toning down, but for a cosier rather than airy space, or in a room that doesn’t get much natural light (where white can look grubby) embrace the shadows by switching whites for a deep indigo or grey. Such details and design precision will make for a calmer sleep space as nothing will jar visually.
10. Let your walls do the talking
Even without the standout raw walls, this bedroom still has an interesting look. But this detail elevates the design and gives this room a real stamp of individuality – the founding tenet of eclecticism. If you’re peeling off old wallpaper, you may naturally encounter ageing plaster to create this effect (speak to an expert about sealing it so you’re not sleeping amid dust). Do choose luxe furnishings to ramp up the contrast (and stop you feeling as if you’re sleeping in a building site).
Alternatively, perhaps you have layers of wallpaper from previous owners that you could peel back to expose the different eras of your home as a feature. You could also look out for the many trompe l’oeil wallpapers that will re-create anything from bare brick to rough concrete and ceramic tiles, or even, at the other end of the scale, depict a lavish, buttoned fabric.
TELL US
Will you be taking inspiration from the rooms above? Which ones?
MORE BEDROOM STYLES
10 Steps to a Heavenly Art Deco Sleep Space
How to Give Your Bedroom a Scandinavian Edge
‘New Girl’ Style: Recreate Jess’ Nanna Chic Bedroom
Gypsy in Your Soul: 10 Steps to a Bohemian Bedroom
Even without the standout raw walls, this bedroom still has an interesting look. But this detail elevates the design and gives this room a real stamp of individuality – the founding tenet of eclecticism. If you’re peeling off old wallpaper, you may naturally encounter ageing plaster to create this effect (speak to an expert about sealing it so you’re not sleeping amid dust). Do choose luxe furnishings to ramp up the contrast (and stop you feeling as if you’re sleeping in a building site).
Alternatively, perhaps you have layers of wallpaper from previous owners that you could peel back to expose the different eras of your home as a feature. You could also look out for the many trompe l’oeil wallpapers that will re-create anything from bare brick to rough concrete and ceramic tiles, or even, at the other end of the scale, depict a lavish, buttoned fabric.
TELL US
Will you be taking inspiration from the rooms above? Which ones?
MORE BEDROOM STYLES
10 Steps to a Heavenly Art Deco Sleep Space
How to Give Your Bedroom a Scandinavian Edge
‘New Girl’ Style: Recreate Jess’ Nanna Chic Bedroom
Gypsy in Your Soul: 10 Steps to a Bohemian Bedroom
The bedroom is an easy space in which to introduce lots of textiles. Eclectic interiors love variety and this riot of print and colour may look as if it was thrown together and just happens to work. In fact, it works for a simple reason: as ever in a busy, hue-heavy scheme, there’s a strict palette at play to maintain order.
A great trick is to pick a painting or framed photograph and work outwards: look carefully and you’ll see that all the colours in the room are reflected in that abstract artwork. And with pattern, designs of different scales and shapes tend to work best together.