His cards spoke the truth—I’m home now and broke. But I had an amazing adventure nonetheless in Bangkok.

Bangkok is antiquated in places, and totally modern in others.  It is beaten down and also built up.  I felt comfortable in this city because, well, it was like my house. 

I live in a new home with some of those sought after upgrades like granite, fancy moldings, and huge windows. This shiny, new backdrop has been lovingly decorated with battered flea market finds, my mother’s discards, and one new couch.  

The first year in our new home, I would wander its rooms and weep little tears of longing for fresh, off-the-truck furnishings. But my budget forced me to embrace my mixed up, mish-mashed, eclectic design aesthetic and so I ran with it. My trip to Bangkok deepened my appreciation of the beauty in disparities and mismatched things.  

Now as I walk through my home, the Chinese Buddha who rests atop an antique phone table with a bright Kandinsky print hanging over his head seemingly smiles at me as if to say, “We like it this way, and it’s OK.”

Lucky for me because this eclectic design aesthetic I’ve applied to my home out of pure necessity is one of the biggest design trends for 2010.  

Libby Langdon, an interior designer and expert commentator on HGTV’s show “Small Space, Big Style”, commented on the trend in her Industry Insights column for the High Point Market Web site. She said, “Consumers are getting more confident about surrounding themselves with the things they love and by gosh, if they bought that enormous Southwestern dining table while they were on their honeymoon, but now like a 1960s mod chair, they are going to mix them together and love it! Designers have been doing it for years. Now thanks to all those design shows, everybody else is figuring it out.” Langdon also said that consumers today trust their own taste more. 

It’s true. Driven by my love of interior design, I comb through magazines and watch HGTV to pick up some of the ways interior designers blend seemingly off-beat colors, patterns, and furniture styles to create a beautiful, pulled together room. Now that interior design has been demystified, I feel confident enough to create an interior that speaks to my individuality.  

Unsure you can mix it up? It’s like this: consider the comfy, floppy fleece bean bag chairs you got for your kids because they take them to a happy place. It’s OK to bring them up from the basement and use them alongside your sleek, modern leather couch and contemporary glass and steel coffee table. If that’s too much of a stretch for you, give the bean bags a touch of modern with cool new covers like the Kinetic Energy style.  You’ll be mixing retro, home-y furniture with modern pieces in a pleasing way.

Explore the fun of design and step away from the perfectly matched sets of yesteryear and into a mix of styles, fabrics, furniture, and accessories!  Below you find traditional form and texture on the upholstered sofa paired with the simple, clean lines of contemporary leather cigar chairs and coffee tables. Note the crystal and steel lamps that combine retro inspiration with a clean, simple, modern feel.  These fixtures are paired with a traditionally shaped wall sconce; the dark scrolled iron and beige lamp shades are quite old-world.  It’s hard not to notice the very modern abstract painting and fireplace hanging that pop with color.  The updated trophy deer head is a playful twist on traditional rustic! (photo courtesy of HGTV.) Plop in a Kinetic Energy bean bag on that retro shag rug and you’re ready for 2010! 

More 2010 interior design trends next week!

Web Sites Referenced

www.highpointmarket.org

www.lasvegasmarket.com

www.pantone.com

www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/news/pantones-2010-home-interiors-color-forecasts-080182

www.barrydixon.com

www.libbylangdon.com

www.kinzeycompany.com/stephen_bernasconi.htm

www.hgtv.com