If minimalist interiors leave you cold, eclectic décor offers a more colourful alternative – combining furniture, artwork and accessories from different periods and styles to create a home with plenty of personality.

But eclectic does not have to mean chaotic. The key is finding enough common ground between seemingly unrelated pieces to make the room feel deliberate rather than cluttered.

Anchor the space with something in common. This could be a limited colour palette, repeated timber tones, metal finishes or similar shapes. Interior stylists recommend using a few colours while introducing variety through fabrics, patterns and textures when creating an eclectic interior.

Lighting can also help tie a room together. YourHome says light-coloured surfaces reflect more light, while darker interiors absorb it. Warm-white lighting, generally around 2700–3200K, is commonly suited to household living areas and can help create a consistent atmosphere across contrasting furnishings.

Rather than filling a room with competing statement pieces, start with one or two favourites – perhaps a bold painting, vintage armchair, unusual lamp or treasured piece of furniture – and allow other items to play supporting roles.

Mixing eras is firmly part of the eclectic approach. Melbourne designer Chelsea Hing told Domain her own home combines contemporary and vintage pieces with strong artwork, describing it as an “eclectic assembly” sourced from different places.

Vintage and second-hand pieces can also give a home a more individual character. Successfully blending old and new does not require sticking to the period in which a house was built, while spreading vintage pieces throughout a room can make the combination appear more natural.

There can be an environmental benefit too. The Government’s YourHome program encourages reducing, reusing and recycling materials to lessen demand for new resources. More Australian householders are gathering discarded and second-hand furniture to be used to create colourful, highly personal eclectic interiors.

Above all, include objects that mean something to you – books, photographs, travel finds, family pieces and handmade items. An eclectic home works best when its different ingredients still tell one story: yours.