Interior designers stress need to focus for inexpensive makeover

I used to associate the word “eclectic” with the positive. “The White Album,” by the Beatles, is their most “eclectic” disc. Some of my favorite restaurants specialize in “eclectic” cuisine.

But all that was before I crossed paths with experts who specialize in helping redesign home interiors.

The word eclectic, I learned, is code for “a scattered sense of style” or “this schlub’s idea of design is as focused as the past season of ‘Lost.'”

For the first time in my life, I had to face the sobering reality that I am the owner of a smartly designed, compact home with an idiosyncratic, modern style — and that I hadn’t done squat with it in the year since I first called it home. I could no longer put off decisions on wall color or window shades or what to do about that quirky porthole the architect slapped on the east wall. I couldn’t blame a landlord for preventing me from pulling up carpet that seemed like recycled trunk lining from a 1974 Ford LTD.

My home needed to reflect who I am, a designer informed me: a single guy who works at home a lot, likes to entertain and wants a balance between comfort and high design.

Unfortunately, my space reflects where I am: undecided, noncommittal and perhaps a bit too attached to a drum table and a desk for purely sentimental reasons. My mishmash of leather, cloth and wood, a mix of antique pieces and contemporary furniture are all across the board.

I turned to two authorities for help, asking for their advice on two budget levels: $500 or less and about $1,500. Kathleen Monarch of Monarch Designs & Studio in San Jose, Calif., and Mai Anh Phan of Design Source in San Francisco had very different ideas of how to monkey with my living room, a space that I use for dining, entertaining and work. But both came with helpful suggestions to guide me through my home renewal.

Though the experts had different ideas on how to deal with the living room, they formed a consensus on a key element: The striped sleeper sofa that had served me well for 11 years had to go.

Monarch’s plan was to make the interior design compatible with the building’s modern design.

Phan, on the other hand, had a very practical approach, doling out chestnuts of advice that seemed obvious, yet so smart.

I came to the sad realization that if I want live to in a home with limited space, it’s time to put some old favorites in storage. Paring down the mementos, which in my case is often a jumble of curios, is part of the process, Phan reminds me.

Adding by subtracting has always been a challenge for me. But in combining Monarch and Phan’s guidance with my own design choices, and learning to let go of a few old things, I ultimately am making my home into something that perhaps better reflects who I am.

Can I call this combination “eclectic?” Perhaps, but after putting some thought into how the entire room works, I can at least now hear the word without flinching.