CAROL MEREDITH

A beautiful, full-color guide to designing or decorating the home by mixing styles, whether traditional or contemporary, Eclectic Style shows how designers combine modern furnishings with family heirlooms. Lush, color photographs accompany inspiring ideas on how to mix:

‧ old with new — traditional design with accents of contemporary furnishings
‧ new with old — contemporary with traditional accents and/or antiques
‧ collections of art, antiques, family heirlooms, or decorative objects
‧ international styles — East meets West and other cross-cultural combinations
‧ the signature element, one large piece, with other furniture

Unique. Distinctive. A joyous celebration of personal taste and vision. Eclectic interior design can be all of this and more. Breaking the mold of cookie-cutter design, an eclectic approach spans time periods, juxtaposes cultures, and embraces various styles.

Transcending the constraints of a particular era, geographic identity, or school of design, eclecticism holds the possibility of freshness and excitement.

Incorporating diverse elements into a coherent whole requires not only imagination and creativity, but also a solid sense of form, color, scale, light, and texture. Eclectic Style develops that sense by opening the door to hundreds of one-of-a-kind rooms. Here you'll find spaces that liberally blend the timeless with the very latest, whimsical collections with stately family heirlooms. With insights from successful designers and glorious color photographs of eclectic spaces, Eclectic Style instructs and inspires those on the journey to expressing heart, mind, and soul in their surroundings.

Carol Meredith writes about interior design and architecture for magazines, newspapers, and professional design firms. During her fifteen years in the field, she has served as managing editor for Texas Homes magazine and home and garden editor for New England Living. Ms. Meredith's articles have appeared in Design Times, Boston magazine, and the Boston Globe. She currently lives in New Hampshire, where she shares a home with her husband, David Reynolds, and step-daughters Anne and Aleisha.