- Interior
As Geoffroy Van Hulle says, 'eclectic' is a difficult word. It stands for "bringing together different styles and periods, mixing modern with classical, art with kitsch, old with new," according to the decorator. “Nowadays, titles with some conjugation of the word 'eclectic' appear in any interior design magazine. Many of these interiors are a mishmash of things, but they have little to do with eclecticism. So it's not that simple to create such an interior. But don't worry! Geoffroy collected some tips especially for Imagicasa to make your home eclectic.
He himself decorates houses, apartments and restaurants in the Benelux, the United Kingdom, France and the United States. His style is contemporary eclectic with baroque and classical influences. "For me, an eclectic interior is a perfectly balanced, well-considered exercise of bringing together the right pieces of furniture of different origins that harmonise in style, appearance and colour in combination with today's comfort and user-friendliness.”
a perfectly balanced, well-considered exercise of bringing together the right pieces of furniture
“It's best to start any interior with one eye-catcher," says Geoffroy, "a piece you've fallen in love with or felt comfortable with. This can be anything. From there, we continue to combine, fit and measure. Fabrics repeat in curtains or contrast just to create a shock effect. That one piece is actually the basis of the whole interior, whether it is large or small.” When we asked him about a good colour palette, the answer was: "I am allergic to the Flemish colours, which are so often described as 'greige'. Grey mixed with beige. I get goosebumps when another door opens to someone’s interior with bleached beams on the ceiling and a beige sofa that is just a little bit lighter than the linen fabric on the chairs.”
He claims that you have to play with colour and dare to mix. "Green can be mixed perfectly with blue, pink with brown and yellow with turquoise. Rough fabrics like coarse knitted wool can be beautiful with high gloss coffee tables and hang a bamboo curtain in front of the window with wild silk curtains above!” Let yourself be inspired and dare, we'd say!
Images © Claude Smekens