How to Lean Into Eclectic Granny The Minimalist Way (Via A Vintage Lover’s Dream Home Tour)

Thanks to my never-ending search for home inspiration, my style feels as if it is constantly evolving. This can be disorienting and design paralysis inducing, but it is never boring. Now, as I’ve painstakingly discussed over the past few months on this blog, I am leaning towards an old-world-eclectic-Italian-grandma style in my home. To solidify this path, all I needed was one home tour to hang my hat on, to ensure that this style is not just a phase, that it is in fact where my heart lies. Enter today’s home tour that confirmed my destiny with just one photo.

Today, we have the distinct pleasure of featuring 1925 Tudor located in Los Angeles, California that’s currently on the market waiting patiently for the right buyer. It was staged by our friends at A 1000 X Better so when they reached out asking if we’d like to feature it, I nearly fell off my chair. Little did they know they just sent me my personal dream home, so I was eager for a chance to talk about the exquisite design.

When I spoke with their team, they let me know this was a partial staging, and A 1000 X Better used most of the seller’s own furniture and supplemented with pieces that would integrate into their style seamlessly. What’s really striking is how lived-in and soulful this home is because the staging involved amplifying the already eclectic pieces from the previous owners. While staged homes are just that — staged — this one is particularly dripping with charm making it feel like paying a visit to eccentric yet very stylish grandmother’s house (again, my dream!).

Now, I realize the eclectic granny style is not for everyone. In fact, the comments from this post prove just that. However, if you are slowly acquiring a fondness towards this style, I want you to feel confident that it can be achieved in a minimalist way. So without further ado, let me introduce you to the six steps to doing just that:

Pick Your Big Wall Moments

Obviously, if your home has a floor to ceiling built-in bookcase wall á la Beauty And The Beast, picking your big wall moment is a no-brainer. But I want to dissect why this wall moment works in bringing together the eclectic granny style while still maintaining a minimalist feel.

First, the extensive collection of books makes the space feel eccentric and cozy, but not too busy. The walls surrounding the shelves are kept simple and for the most part bare, so your attention is not pulled in many directions.

With the bookcase wall being the focal point the rest of the decor can be kept simple and minimal. Note that it is minimal, but not at all boring.

This same effect can be achieved with a gallery wall, a large multicolored tapestry, or a wall to wall bookcase styled with books or unique collections. However, if you want to veer away from entering full maximalism territory, just make sure to focus on a single wall, then keep the rest of the walls and decor minimal (while maintaining a simple color palette).

Aside from the loaded bookcase, they’ve styled out the home with a plethora of vintage wood furniture which leads me to my next tip…

Mix Wood Tones And A LOT Of Texture

A big component in achieving an eclectic granny style is incorporating many vintage or vintage-inspired things. Varying wood tones can help achieve this aesthetic and it especially helps if those pieces are worn in and well-loved like this excellent rustic farm table.

To include more depth and warmth consider mixing patterned linens and pottery to layer tons of texture. It is important to vary textures but keep a solid color palette to maintain a relaxed and minimal style.

Keep Your Color Palette Neutral (With Small Pops Of Color)

While this room is clearly warm and neutral it is far from boring. The bedding is crisp and simple but the choice of the rug and pillows adds character and depth.

It’s worth noting how calm and inviting this room is while still achieving a very eccentric and cool style. The aspects that are working to calm the space (the white walls, white accent chairs, and neutral bedding) are paired with vintage silhouettes, patterns, and photographs making the space much more dynamic.

Additionally, the gallery wall of framed photographs are reminiscent of family portraits, emphasizing the room’s cozy and welcoming feel.

Similarly, this bedroom maintains a calm, neutral color palette but is not lacking in color or pattern. To create this look, opting for a colored accent chair or piece of furniture in an interesting shape allows the rest of the space to stay quite minimal. While the bedding is very simple, the curtains add some visual interest with the small pattern that matches the overall color palette. And finally, the rug pulls in even more color that can be accented throughout with art and decor.

As previously discussed here, we love pairing a boldly patterned lampshade with a solid lamp base. The green floral lampshade here brings in just a touch of color and whimsy to the minimal desk set up, making it a perfect little vignette to emphasize the eclectic granny-style they are going for. Also, look how fun and interesting using a “too big” lampshade on that small base looks??

Another classic way to add color in a neutral space is through art. A landscape painting works two-fold by adding color, and when paired with an antique frame, can give off that granny effect. We at EHD are very fond of the vintage landscape paintings and vintage portrait oil paintings to bring more personality into a room.

Ok, this wonderfully odd sculptural piece isn’t adding a pop of color BUT that has EHD written all over it. Excuse me while I search for something just like it…

Layer In More Color And Character With Patterned Vintage Rugs

When a room is lacking character a simple rug swap can do wonders. While we love a neutral or solid rug, there is something special about a rug that adds brightness and dynamic to a room. As you’ve probably noticed, this home is dripping with vintage rugs which adds in a ton of color to the home without being too loud.

If you want to ease your way into eclectic granny, a vintage rug is the most simple and effective baby step you can take. They surprisingly work well with a myriad of styles and always bring life and color to a space. When incorporating lots of vintage rugs as they did here, you can keep your home simple and moderately decorated because the rugs will add that needed pop of color.

Create Zones For Eclectic Vignettes (Show Off Your SPECIAL Collections)

Any wall cutout or built-in is the perfect vessel for displaying collected items, but this can be carried out in any home with a bookcase, shelf, or cabinet. I am a huge fan of decking out bookcases with books as the design gods intended, but any type of unique collection is great for styling shelves.

For example, a simple and affordable hack is to fill a vessel or catchall with matchbooks, as they did here. This creates a curated yet personal feel that is essential to styling any home.

Consider Dark Trim To Ground The Space

If I imagine the space without the dark trim, it is still fiercely breathtaking, but sans dark trim, it is at risk of coming off less dynamic. Creating contrast with trim is going to give the home an eclectic feel right off the bat. Again minimal doesn’t mean boring.

Especially with light-colored walls, opting for dark trim creates contrast but still keeps the space feeling light and bright. If this were a dark room, it would feel very heavy, so keeping the walls light and bare is essential.

Anddd, there she is. Thank you for joining me on this tour through such an inspiring and eclectic home and huge thanks to A 1000 X Better for letting us feature what happens to be my personal dream home.

RESOURCES:

Vintage Rugs: Blue Parakeet

Vintage Kantha pillows: Etsy shop in India

Hemp and Kilim pillows via Etsy shop in Turkey

Turkish textiles: Oddbird

Flowers and Branches: Mayesh

Art: Alison Lowe

For more information on this 1925 Tudor home, check out the listing here. xx

** Staging by A 1000 X Better | Photography by Scarlett Macdonald | Creative Direction by Gillian Lawlee | Real Estate Agent: The Hollywood Home