Photos of 2013: The Most Popular Eclectic Spaces

They follow the heart instead of rules and mix genres with ease. Check out all the personality in these top eclectic designs

Mitchell Parker December 30, 2013

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More

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Eclectic design, by its nature, is tough to pin down. It’s not immediately identifiable, like farmhouse, Victorian or modern style. Instead it’s a combination of these styles, sometimes many of them. In other words, eclectic spaces have a personality that you can’t quite put your finger on. There’s always the sense that the furnishings and artwork were collected over time by someone who didn’t judge a piece on whether it would fall in line with the look and feel of the home’s other pieces, but rather on how it made the homeowner feel.

And that’s why an eclectic space is always a unique one, with feeling. A space about which you imagine the homeowner’s saying, “It’s just me.” Sometimes it’s sophisticated; other times it’s downright quirky; but for the most part, an eclectic room is just fun and full of energy. To celebrate this character-centric design style, we’ve gatherered the top 15 eclectic photos uploaded in 2013. Does one speak to your own style?

Kristin Peake Interiors, LLC

1. The No. 1 most saved eclectic photo uploaded in 2013 was also the 23rd most saved photo overall and the No. 17 most saved kids’ room photo. It’s no doubt due to the arrangement of eclectic furnishings, which were mostly customized by interior designer Kristin Peake. She even carefully tested various pink gumballs in search of ones with the perfect hue to fill the custom desk lamp with.

Wall paint: In Your Eyes, Benjamin Moore

2. Eclectic design is all about skillfully mixing styles and periods, and this bathroom does just that.

The white subway tiles are classic, but with a charcoal-gray grout, they verge on modern. A custom steel vanity with a rust-preventing finish similar to one used for gun stock lends an industrial edge to the traditional brass sink and shower fittings, while a slate floor once again modernizes things.

Mirror: Casa Midi; showerhead: Henry Gooseneck, Waterworks; subway tiles: Ann Sacks; sink basin: Kohler

Sarah Greenman

3. Sometimes eclectic design is all about character. This tree house in Dallas epitomizes that. Built for a couple’s grandkids — and shared by extended friends and family — over nine years, it has attention to detail that is staggering. This is evident in the ideabook’s Comments section, where one user proclaimed that it’s “better than my own house!” Another user went even further with her appreciation: “Although I am 57 years old, will you please tell the homeowners that I am up for adoption! You have done a beautiful job. Well done!“

See more photos: The Most Incredible Kids’ Tree House You’ll Ever See?

Esther Hershcovich

4. The picture ledges in this Canadian home helped turn this wall into something more than the sum of its parts.

See more photos: My Houzz: Creative Salvaging in the Canadian Countryside

Brookfield Residential YYC

5. Layers of patterns and fabrics steal the show here. Most readers want to know where the bed cover is from (Urban Outfitters) or the chandelier (Home Depot), but the wall paint (Rose Hips by Cloverdale) and the custom-built bed by Bigwood in Calgary, Alberta, are also popular.

6. The La Cornue CornuFé stove sets the stage in this Portland, Oregon, kitchen. Pale green cabinets against white walls and a surprising rug make it truly one of a kind.

Wall paint: Acadia White, Benjamin Moore; cabinet paint: Van Alen Green, Benjamin Moore; rug: Kush Handmade Rugs; sink: Shaws RC3018, Rohl; island: custom by Garrison Hullinger Interior Design

InDesign / Lori Ludwick

7. Layers of bright colors and touchy-feely texture stand out in this kids’ room. Trim outlines flocked wallpaper behind a patterned headboard, while colorful pillows sit on a thick turquoise window seat cushion. To really push the layers, interior designer Lori Ludwick added embellishments to a simple Ikea nightstand. She also custom made the feather-covered chandelier.

Wall paint: Palace White, Benjamin Moore; ceiling paint: Florida Keys with pearlescent glaze, Benjamin Moore; headboard: Country Swedish; bedding: Pratesi; wallpaper: Darly Leblone, Osborne & Little; nightstand: Malm, Ikea

Whitney Lyons

8. Roadside discoveries and DIY spirit go hand in hand with an eclectic look. Salvage-loving decorator Shannon Quimby found the blue chair on a roadside, the three white ones at a discount store and the brown one at a garage sale. She painted the salvaged table’s base legs using a mix of all the green paints she found in her garage. And she made the bottle lights by cutting off the bottoms of beer and wine bottles she found on her property during reconstruction, spray painting them with a frost spray and installing pendant lights from Lowe’s.

Table: salvage, Urban Timberworks

See more of this home

Eclectic Bedroom My Houzz: Pretty Meets Practical in a 1920s Walk-Up

9. A photo collage using different frame styles and colors sets the tone for this eclectic bedroom.

See more of this house

The Cousins

10. A popular modern color like turquoise on traditional cabinets mixed with an antique mirror backsplash achieves a slightly eclectic design. But look closely and you’ll see a fun mix of cabinet pulls and knobs that gives the kitchen real personality.

See more of this Kitchen of the Week

Cabinets: Decora Cabinetry with Turquoise Rust finish

Flik by design

11. This bedroom is all about opposites living in harmony: traditional and modern; bright colors and neutrals; textured surfaces and smooth ones; old and new.

Wall paint: Snowfall White and Strawberry Shortcake, both by Benjamin Moore

Adrienne DeRosa

12. It’s no surprise this photo is popular: The collage wall has a vibrant mix of paintings and sketches that echo the collected furnishings and sculptural pieces.

See more of this house

Four Brothers Design + Build

13. Holy primary colors! It’s hard to imagine a boring meal in this dining nook and adjacent room that pull from almost every color on the wheel. I love how the soft, warm yellow wall and bright banquette recall a farmhouse, while the Saarinen-style table base and nearby George Nelson lamp bring everything up-to-date.

Daleet Spector Design

14. Modern, industrial, farmhouse, oh my! This house has it all going on. A sliding wood barn door on the second floor and bright colors balance the metal island on casters, metal stools and metal-framed glass light fixture to create a space that’s both bright and stark, warm and cold. Bonus eclectic points for integrating a flying dog portrait on the wooden structural beam.

15. Here it’s almost as if the designer took a traditional kids’ bedroom and hand dipped it in modern finishes. If this were a black and white photo, at first glance you might think this room belonged in another era. But with soft purples, modern grays and playful patterns, it’s a space meant for someone entirely of our time.

Your turn: Please show us your eclectic space in the Comments!

More: So Your Style Is: Eclectic