How to Decorate Your Living Room in Ethnic-Eclectic Style
The ethnic-eclectic living room has a look that says "A world traveler was here" - even if you never left home. Here are some ways to achieve an exotic atmosphere. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Choose seating in a basic neutral and let accessories - kilim-covered pillows, for instance - carry the theme. Or use pieces covered in ethnic prints.
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Go for a more casual look with seating in natural woven wicker or rattan.
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Find ethnic-look lamp tables, possibly carved or hand-painted ones from India or Mexico. Or use Asian-style tables, with their showy hardware.
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Select lamps with exotic bases: woven wicker, porcelain ginger jars, rustic terra-cotta or cast resin elephants, monkeys, tigers or palm trees. Keep shades in the theme with woven wicker, pleated linen, handmade paper and the like.
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Find a coffee table in wicker and iron with a glass top, or use travel-related pieces, such as a steamer trunk (with stamps suggesting faraway destinations) or a stack of leather luggage. Or search out a large kilim-covered ottoman with a relatively flat top (or two smaller ones placed side by side) that you can top with a tray to hold snacks and beverages.
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Look for an area rug in a faux animal print, or choose an Oriental design or a handmade rug - coarsely woven wool or cotton dhurrie from India. Consider sisal, too.
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Scavenge for appropriate vacation souvenirs, folk art (carvings, clay sculptures, ceramic figurines and paintings, for example), candleholders, and embroidered or hand-stamped textiles such as batiks for your art and accessories.
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Cover the windows and walls with fabrics and papers in patterns that suggest rattan and wicker or ethnic textiles. Or use grass cloth.
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Accent the room with a potted palm or other exotic-looking plants, such as dracaena, ficus, orchids or cactus.
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