As I noted in Part One, my childhood home was crowded and a trifle...eccentric. In contrast, my friend Marsha Smith lived in a clean, clutter-free home. A perfect home, in my 12 year old opinion.
But here's what I eventually came to realize; Marsha's kind (but uninspired) mother walked into a store one day and bought an entire suite of furniture. Everything matched, every piece was the correct scale and proportion in relation to every other piece and it was all lovely and perfect. And that was that. Effort done. No art, no accessories and nothing personal. No further thought was given to home furnishings or decor at the Smith home for about fifteen years (when it was time to get a new suite of furniture).
Was Mrs. Smith's approach to furnishing her home wrong? Of course not! It worked perfectly well. Was her home boring? Absolutely. Uninteresting? Most definitely. Lacking in personality? Certainly. But did that bother Mrs. Smith? Not one bit. She was very proud of her home, as were the other members of her family.
But what does this have to do with "curating" a space? Good question.
Curating a space, at least in the way that I use the term, is simply the process of making your house a home through the inclusion of things that have significance to you, and/or to the other people who inhabit the space with you. Curating involves the collecting of furnishings, art, rugs, lighting, decor and even a few tchotchkes (if that makes you happy) that mean something to you. Or that make your heart happy when you look at them. Or that bring back special memories. Curating a room, or a home, is not something that happens in a week, a month or even a year. It's the layering of things that we acquire as we are busy living our lives. Art from a special trip, candle holders that belonged to grandma or a woven floor mat you found at a local craft show. I believe "why" we choose to include something is more important than "what" we choose to include.
Here's an interesting truth; you cannot create a curated home by strolling through the aisles at Home Goods a few times. Can't be done. You can definitely decorate your home with one or two trips to a big-box home goods store. Truthfully, almost any of us could easily decorate our homes with a few trips to a decor store. But all we would be doing is "buying stuff". And the result would be a home that feels like a showroom for a big-box home goods store. Now before you get irritated with me, please understand what I'm trying to say. Big box-home decor stores are FUN! I love to peruse the aisles when given the opportunity. But I try to find one new thing to blend in with my existing decor, as opposed to buying an entire room full of items in one marathon shopping expedition.
Small, independently owned gift and home "boutique" stores, like The Foundary, offer people the opportunity to find much more unique items. I had many customers who stopped by the store once every few weeks to see what was new. They didn't want mass produced, cheaply made products. Instead, they were looking for something to help define the personality and character of their space. It could be a five-dollar bud vase, and it could be a seven-hundred-dollar metal giraffe. We used to say to customers "You'll know it when you see it". And they usually did!
We should be curating our spaces with things that enhance our personal style, whatever that may be. I'm a living testament to the fact that personal style will evolve over time. In fact, the curation of my home is a never-ending process. And I think that's ok too. I love the challenge of blending my old favorite pieces with my new favorites. It doesn't always work, of course. But that's what closets are for. If you can't figure out how to make a particular piece work, but you can't bear to part with it, tuck it away for a few months and try again later. I rotate my decor and accessories all the time.
It's so important to understand that creating a curated look is not about quantity - it's about quality! You don't achieve a curated look by simply adding more and more pieces to a space. You achieve it through the thoughtful selection of the right items. Items that you feel good about displaying. Items that make your space feel like home to you! Another way to look at it is this; curating is like creating the personality of a space. And just as we all have different personalities, we should all have different homes.
Now back to the much-maligned Mrs. Smith. There really wasn't anything wrong with the Smith home. It was clean and neat and well organized. But it was boring. So very boring!! It lacked personality and character. It wasn't cozy or welcoming. There were no personal touches and no hints about the people who lived there. It was very much (as noted in Part One) like a furniture store showroom. And almost no one actually wants to live in a furniture store showroom.
My childhood home, on the other hand, spoke volumes about the people who lived there. It was cozy, welcoming and comfortable. It was filled with art, books, pottery, plants and mementos of our family travels and adventures. Of course we never thought about the concept of "curating" our home. It just happened. Which is exactly how it should be.
Don't try too hard to create the perfect home, instead aim for an interesting home with reflections of your own personality.
Danna
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