This is a topic I often talk about with myself in my car. So obviously I must talk endlessly about it here. For me there is a large chasm between the verbs "to decorate" and "to curate."
Decorate = show homes
Curate = a real home
The crux of the matter is finding your design voice through the onslaught of "trends" and endless Pinterest boards. We often design how we think we should design and not curate spaces for how we feel or the emotional connection we want to express within our spaces. We believe that it is important that our spaces reflect the outer glamour we want to express - the same notion of people's glitzy jet-setting social media accounts when they are actually just creating the persona. Be authentic and find your design voice. To me, the key to finding that voice (not the Dune voice - looking at you Lady Jessica) is thinking about how you want to feel in your home. Do you want to feel peaceful and have your home be a respite from the hustle and bustle of your daily life? Do you want to feel vibrant and alive, a home that makes you feel bright and happy? These are questions we should be asking ourselves and questions that designers should be asking their clients.
The perfect example of the discussion of curation vs decoration is this video from a few years ago with Kirsten Dunst and her designer-friend-antique archeologist, Jane Hallworth that was featured on Architectural Digests YouTube channel a few years ago. I think about this video often, how they describe the journey of design through years of curation. They sit in Kirsten's moody kitchen, with walls covered in crackled aubergine coloured gloss tiles and discuss all the pieces that fill her home that the pair curated over years. That is the key, YEARS. Designing your home should take time, it should evolve, and it should include pieces that are historical to you. That is to say have meaning. The pair discusses how they started working together with Kirsten was only 18 years old and knew at that age she wanted to curate pieces for her future dream home. This is akin to how Iris Apfel would shop around the world and curate pieces she would store in a warehouse in New York to have on hand for future clients. Kirsten and Jane discuss the weaving of design, like the selection of the wine-coloured backsplash tiles, to the curation of pieces like a rare Swedish cabinet.
The home feels decidedly lived-in, which to some is almost a swear word of design. It feels like a home, not an antiseptic version of how we perceive a home to be. What is really striking is that Jane Hallworth's design voice does not overpower her clients, they have a bond that seems to transcend the client/designer binary. She works with her client to create the space the client wants not the space the designer thinks they should have. As a designer that was something I really had to work through when I started to work with legitimate clients. To listen to what they were saying and to digest it to assist them in achieving their goals rather than designing them the same white kitchen on every grocery store design magazine cover. Undoubtably this is an act of maturing. Listening is an art. Sure, you seek out certain designers because of their specific voice and design traits. This one because he is a traditionalist, that one because she is a minimalist, and so on. Maximalist, minimalist, traditionalist, are all just marketing gimmicks to put us into boxes.
Think emotions rather than definitions.
As the world churns ahead and the cost of living increases it becomes ever more important to curate spaces that are truly timeless. Look for pieces that will stand the test of time, a sofa with an actual wood frame not something made from scrap wood half way across the world.
An Aside:
In the 1970s when the burgeoning modernist architects decided we must all work in glass boxes, they were not thinking of the feelings of the occupants. They were thinking of the glory they would get from these sleek glass towers they were creating. Now, 50 odd years later we horrid millennials and the likes do not want to work in those spaces. Spaces void of windows and souls. We crave connectivity to something more. Think about that when envisioning your home. Do not create something modern and sleek because its what you think you should do for glory and fame. Think of how you want to live in the space, from today to 50 years in the future. Let your spaces evolve out of this process while you curate.
Kirsten's home works so beautifully because it does not feel too kitchy - made up of a jumble of collected antiques. Nor does it feel too museum-like - as if you cannot touch anything because it is too precious. The Frits Henningson wingback chair sits beautifully in the living room, with its cracked leather seat and glorious wings. It begs you to sit in it rather than just admire it from a distance.
"This is not financial advice" - in my YouTuber voice, but curating pieces is a way of asset collection. The Eames Lounge Chair is a perfect example, as noted in a previous blog post, originals retail for tens of thousands of dollars. There will never be more of. the"originals" made - the very definition of scarcity.
It is incredible to listen to how they speak about design and their reverence to the past. They talk about specific design choices that were made to evoke specific feelings. Like the sage green wallpaper in the kids room to inspire thoughts of nature and intrigue.
This is how we should be thinking about design. When you see something you are drawn towards, assess why? Ask yourself what feeling it inspires in you and what memories it stirs.
Listen and watch and dream!
-G
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