When you’re moving into your first place you’re likely to end up with a hodgepodge blend of furniture. A couch from your parents’ basement. A dining room table and chairs from grandma’s attic. A – well, you get the idea. The same thing tends to happen when you’re furnishing and decorating a home on a budget. A desk from your neighbor’s yard sale. Throw pillows from the clearance bin at Target. So on and so forth.

The end result has the potential for greatness in the form of a truly unique space wrought with personal style. However, the end result also has the potential to leave your home looking like a cluttered thrift store. The question then becomes how to keep eclectic home furnishings and decor from looking hectic and thrown together. Here are some options:

Start with a base coat
Try to pick one color that will serve as a unifying shade in the space. For example, white is often a good choice because pretty much everything goes with it, and if you’re moving into an apartment there’s a good chance the walls will be white or some shade of off-white. Get many items in your base coat color and let other items that you can’t control the appearance of (ex. your Aunt Anita’s love seat) act as pops of color in the space.

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Clear out clutter
Try being a minimalist to downplay how eclectic your belongings are. Allow the natural features of the space such as large windows, rich wood floors, or exposed brick to act as accessories to your furnishings.

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Photo Credit: 4 Design Home

Force a match
If you’re truly concerned about your furniture being diverse consider altering it to match. For example, you can buy slipcovers for couches and love seats online without racking up a huge bill. In addition, you can paint and refinish many pieces of furniture including dressers, tables, entertainment centers, picture frames, and bookcases to make them look more alike.

Add a pinch of mix and match
In your eclectic space, try sprinkling in elements that match one another. For instance, throw pillows and picture frames that are the same color. You could also try a throw rug and a throw (blanket) draped across the back of a chair that match. These elements, here and there, that do match can help tie the rest of your decor together or at least make the rest of your decor not seem so obviously miss-matched.

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A square peg in a round hole
Don’t worry about making sure every aspect of your furniture match. For instance, if you’ve managed to secure furniture in similar shades don’t worry about the shapes being different and vice versa.

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Find a peace keeper
If the pieces in your home have colors that traditionally conflict with one another find a piece that can unify them. For example, if you have a green sofa and a wicker chair with orange striped cushions look for accessories that can unite those two pieces such as throw pillows, wall art, or a rug that have both green and orange.

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Embrace the eclectic
Having a truly eclectic space isn’t bad. It’s bohemian. Don’t be afraid (or embarrassed) to simply embrace a space full of eclectic furnishings and decor. Mix-matched items can make a space feel relaxed and casual. They can say, “hey, a free spirit and mellow personality lives here.” There’s nothing wrong with that.

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At some point or another in life, most of us are going to be living in a space with eclectic furnishings and decor. There are certainly things that can be done to help tie pieces together and make the space feel more planned out. However, on the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with embracing the randomness. The bottom line is to go for furnishings and decor that you love, things that truly speak to you. If you do that, your space will never feel hectic and thrown together – it’ll always feel like home.

{Written by Janet Majors}