I don't think this space feels schizophrenic at all. In fact it flows very nicely. I love the worn leather tufted chair you found. I could see a stack of books, glass lid w/ a chotchkie of some sort under it on the coffee table. Nice accessorizing on the bookcase!

I'd like to see a house tour? I mean the photo above is just a small glimpse of what otherwise looks nicely done. Schizo? Not from what I see in the one photo.

I've seen some great results mixing different eras and styles as long as there's a strong theme that ties them together, such as recurring colors, textures, materials, etc. I think the room looks really good so far.

Yeah, what PrettyBones said. Seriously, I think that color is a LOT stronger of a bond for the cohesiveness of a house than style. If you like something, get it!

Judging by the photo above, I bet your space is great! I wouldn't worry about it...you'll know if you go overboard. Focus on relating things through color and you'll be fine.

Ditto to what everyone else is saying, you are on the right track. I saw the photo and then was surprised to see that it was a question. You can usually tell right away when it's not a regular post; I thought your post was going to be something about that awesome coffee table. Let's make that happen, ok? Cause I want to read that post.

All really good advice so far. The bottom line is if you like it then it works. No apologies to anyone. And it does look really great. Love the funky coffee table and the leather chair. Things don't have to match, just feel right. And this does.

Different styles lead to an eclectic look - nicely done

I am obsessed with Housing Works. Also, where did you get that plant? I am looking for a good indoor plant that doesnt die in a week.

it looked like you might need some encouragement but it looks like everyone else beat me to it -- i thought this space looked lovely.

Can I ask where you got the coffee table? I have the exact same (except the legs are reddish), and found it at the Alameda Antique Fair, on the other side of the country from you. I was pretty sure the seller had made it himself, but the proportions and everything else are exactly the same as yours, so now I'm wondering!

(Not that it matters. The table is my favorite thing I've bought at the fair in a year of monthly visits.)

And I think your place looks great.

Just make sure that it's good quality, it's beautiful, and you love it. Edit carefully and everything should fall into place.

Uh, this is Apartment Therapy. There are no hard and fast rules, and the lines are few and far between. Your space looks awesome!

Waiting for Gateau, that is great advice.

Does it make you FEEL schizophrenic? Every once in a while, when I start feeling like things are closing in on me, I edit.

FYI, to ejoyce, I bought a similar plant years ago, maybe at the grocery store. I paid about $10. I recently gave it away because, despite my ongoing abuse, the fronds had grown to about 11' (no joke), and it needed re-re-repotting, and I was too cheap to invest in a more expensive container. Mine was in a window on the east side of the house. A good rule of thumb is to keep your plants away from western light.

Honestly, it looks like he's just begun! I'd like to see more more more. So far so good though...

Buy what you LOVE (and NOT just because of "the deal") and you will be fine. We all have more of an innate design compass than we realize.

I think you are doing fine. I only have an issue with the plaid on the sofa, and the coffee table style (I would have picked a heavier style to go with the heft of the tufted chair) but, hey, maybe that's just me. You manage to pick up the sienna/brick color in the carpets and make it complement the rug. I esp. like the vintage glass cabinets with the soda fountain bottles together with the club chair.

I think my personal rule is: mix two-three different styles together, but not any more than that or it might get too schizo. Say, pick MCM with Art Deco, but not farmhouse style together with that.

I think it looks just fine! I'm not a fan of the sofa personally, but everything else is beautiful :) Especially that chair!

Good question. I have this problem too because I love so many different styles.

I really like the chair/bookcase/plant/lamp grouping. It looks very "cozy library" to me. I do find the light coffee table/dark sofa to be a bit awkward. Maybe a darker table?

This picture makes me think you should be giving advice about mixing styles.

Schizophrenia is not the same as multiple personalities, which is what I'm guessing you really mean. But maybe I'm totally wrong and you feel that your furniture styles are making you paranoid, delusional and prone to auditory hallucinations?

I like mixing styles but I don't like that room. Nothing is pulling it together and I don't think any of the items are that great. The couch is really mundane. Maybe a plain black cover for the sofa and different coffee table would be better.

It looks very good. Not at all outlandish or inappropriate - in fact, it seems quite conservative.

Do YOU like it? That's all that really matters. Designing for yourself is strictly personal... and personally, I like this.

It looks fantastic. I would be very comfortable lounging in this room! (And the plaid looks great, very classic)

A house needs to serve the people who live in it, no apologies, excuses, explanations needed.
This room is so perfectly curated and put together I am surprised you use such a drastic term as "schizophrenic."

I don't think there should ever be any lines drawn for mixing styles, especially in home design.
And you're doing great! I, like jenkwise, really like the grouping around the chair, and I love how your tied the chair to the couch with the matching blanket and pillows set. Looks wonderful!

(If there's further concern, though, I think the one thing you could do is slipcover the couch in a bright and bold accent like red or mustard yellow!)

Looks great! I love the eclectic style of this (my personal taste as well). So many homes are decorated with the same ol' things you see in all the big box stores and that is such a bore to me. When you mix styles and purchase things that are dear to you, regardless of what others may think about it, that's when your house will become a home. Love!

Things usually go together fine when a single person does the choosing. Your home looks good to me.

Not a fan of the couch. but overall it looks like a homey, cozy space.

not a fan of the plaid throw
but
that cool lamp needs to be
center stage

It's not schizo, it's nicely masculine, I think. The barrister's bookcase, the metal-trussed table, the military metal case thing on top of the shelves, it's all very "vintage masculine chic" and I happen to like it -- it's a happy cousin to the "vintage scientific equipment/naturalist specimen chic", which is one of my preferred avenues.

I think the lamp and the plant are slightly more "tropical/colonial veranda" than any of the other pieces and maybe the...hmm, I think the lamp could be swapped in the future. Or maybe a shade other than the milk-glass globe would help? Not sure about that but open to experimentation.

I see nothing schizophrenic in that picture. It looks great! You have a terrific eye. Mixing styles/periods keeps a room from looking like a museum. If you like something then don't hesitate to get it. No need to fret - it'll work.

I'd say you have crossed a line at the point when things start to feel "wrong". Sometimes you can tell what's causing it, sometimes it's harder to pinpoint.

I like Asian things, both the ornate Chinese carved wood and the ultra-streamlined Japanese zen look. (And lots of other things as well.) It would be easy to cross lines if you didn't edit carefully.

In your room, I'd avoid adding in some little delicate Victorian side tables or anything too petite, but as it currently is, no problems.

I agree with a PP, just put a little something-or-other (little glass sculpture? a few candles? i dunno) on the coffee table and you're set!

It looks nice to me but if you "feel" overwhelmed, then you could maybe remove the pillow from the brown chair, but that's all I would do really. Looks good!

I love it! And I love the fact that you got everything used. Shows so much vision on your part. I am such a fan of recycling furniture I had thought about writing an article called "Furnished by Craigslist" back when my beloved Domino mag was still around because practically all my stuff is from there or flea markets!

it's perfectly cozy as it is. Nice mix. And somehow, the "wrongness" of the plaid sofa is what makes it perfect for me!

Kind of like the "mistake" intentionally woven in for some textiles where the culture insists that only the Divine is perfect. Or the "mistake" y mother in law would put in her quilts so that the ACTUAL mistake wasn't so glaringly obvious

Why would you want to limit your style drawing a "line"?

Keep on going... your guts will tell you when to stop.

Nope. Don't like it and I love the eclectic look but this isn't working for me. It's not so much the style, but the proportion. Things are not in balance. For example, the chair, mirror, plant, bookcase are too big while the couch and coffee table are too small. It truly does look like you spent one day at a flee market buying the first chair, table, couch, bookcase, etc. that you found with no thought to proportion or flow.

Sorry to be harsh, but you asked. And the fact that you asked makes me think there is something about this room that you don't like either.

I think you may be able to resolve some your problems buy lowering the mirror, moving the chair (really, it's just painfully wrong there), and swapping out the drab pillows for something with a little more punch. Carry the punchy color of the pillows somewhere else in the room (e.g. coffee table).

Good luck.

Thank you, DanielleM.

It's about time people learned that schizophrenia has nothing to do with multiple personality disorder. At least 1% of the population has schizophrenia and ignorance about its symptoms breeds unnecessary fear and misunderstanding of this common illness.

AT, please take editorial responsibility to use words correctly.

I think the most important thing in mixing styles is to consider the proportions and relationships between the various pieces; For instance, the coffee table should be the right height for the couch and chair, depending on your use to determine "right height." Small frail scale mixed with large heavy scale can feel burdensome. Weight distribution in the room creates balance. These are things I have learned through the years of dragging home used and slightly abused finds and mixing them with expensive and new pieces: it's all about balance. Balance in weight, balance in height, balance in color, and balance in eye demand time (fru fru, frilly, reflective, edgy, overcarved surfaces wear on the eye and it needs balance to rest somewhere soft and easy (matt, clean lines). You have a lot of that balance going for you already. When you have balance, the styles don't matter at all. The shapes and proportions, color and details, weight and height, these all blend in balance to create a great home and room, I think. That's my trial and error finding. I wrestle with it all the time because my home is always an ebb and flow of stuff coming and going, always looking for the "perfect room" to be finished, but knowing that it is the process itself that I truly love.

That being said, I should add that the couch back looks too low for the rest of the pieces, the coffee table looks too high for the couch and chair, and the mirror looks like it is evaporating up to the ceiling, maybe try horizontal? If you had room, a nice sofa table or shelf behind the couch would work to heighten it and it would look good with those pieces of art showing in the mirror on it. One art piece looks a little coral and one a little golden and with the little boxes along behind the sofa would maybe make it better to look at for me. I would then hang that mirror horizontally over the art shelf, punch up the pillows on the couch, and a great textured throw in that bright color in the rug and artwork you have hidden on that high shelf. So you would have the sofa table behind the couch with the art work and boxes seen now in your mirror, reflecting that back would be your existing mirror turned horizontal and lowered, a matching textured throw and pillows for punch, trying to match the color in the artwork and rug, and put something inviting on the coffee table, perhaps a shiny silverplated tray with an inviting book or two and an interesting object on top of that, smallish. If that coffee table isn't your favorite thing, I would look for a different one with a little lower height to the height of the seat cushion tops, or just another sofa. I don't think the chair is the problem, I think the furniture hunting should be in order, couch, table but try those suggestions first. That's all I have to offer and I thank you for that indulgence. Please feel free to completely ignore my opinions without offense if they don't gel for you.

I think HouseBee got it right regarding the proportions of the furniture. I knew something was off, but couldn't figure it out. The couch looks way too small next to that large armchair; I also agree that some colorful pillows would help. Otherwise, I think it's fine and I love that lamp! Is that a floor lamp? It's so hard to find floor lamps with personality.

I tend to think that slavishly adhering to one style makes a space look more like a theme park than a room. A mix of styles can a place look more accessible and less overwhelming. I love mid-century modern, a la Mad Men, but I want to mix more traditional pieces in with the clean lines so that my apartment doesn't scream, "Welcome to 1965!"

I think I agree with a couple other ppl that the couch is the weakest link here, but it looks like that tartan is just a throw anyway, so I have no idea what it really looks like....  Everything else is pretty great, and now I need to find out more about Housing Works....

I like the space, and it doesn't seem too eclectic at all (but would love to see a full house tour). many of the above comment-ers seem to think that you'll just "know" when you have too much stuff. that switch is a bit faulty in *my* brain, but I generally know that when I have too much stuff on display, my place stops being peaceful. I'd recommend a third party (whether another friend who gets you and your style, or a totally objective "re-designer") who might be able to give you a few suggestions for areas you think might be problematic).

objectivity can be helpful (and you can always re-arrange or tweak later if you don't like the changes).

;)

Read Amanda Brooks' "I love your style", especially "eclectic" chapter. The book is about clothes, but works for me when I need to apply the principles to home aesthetics.

Thank you everyone for the great feedback and positive comments! I'm currently looking for a sofa that will fit that space and working on a few other projects. I would love to do a house tour! - Best, Luca

i love your mix of pieces ! keep it up with picking what you love and it will all go together because each piece will reflect a part of your personality :)