Monday, June 15, 2009

Decor vs Clutter


Is it Decor
or ...
Clutter?

I love looking at decorating pictures. It pretty much doesn't matter whether the style is Shabby Chic, Country, French Country, Traditional, Victorian, Country Victorian, and on and on. My problem is, I love it all.

But as I've gotten older and have decided to scale back on the volume of my "stuff", there has been a subtle shift in my thinking.

While I can appreciate the lovely picture on the right, my common sense also tells me that the goodies artfully arranged on the mantle and side dresser scream one word - dust.

I inherited my love of "stuff" from my father, who loved and collected antiques. It is a constant battle to not bring more "stuff" into my home while in the process of moving "stuff" out of my home.

I've found the surefire way to do this. I find "stuff" that I think is really cool, refurbish or redesign it, and pass it on to others. This way I earn a bit of pin money, have fun, and get to enjoy "stuff" as it passes through my home.

2 comments:

Lola said...

One cure for a love of stuff is to work in a historic house museum.

I did one summer for my undergraduate degree. I Just loved Victorian homes up until I had to catalog each and every piece of linen, pottery, bric a brac and tsotchkes.

I too love many styles. I even love that 50's Retro stuff, modern and such, but don't know if I could live in a home full of it. Something about "modern" style can get depressing. Often the modern art of that era reminds me of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".

I've been trying to be hard nosed about the junk brought in. New or Old. I tend towards loving everything.

But, when I reach for that silver plated tray at the Thrift store along with the Van Nys pottery, I hear my friend Coco saying, "Elegance is the art of refusal". I now tend to put many items back on the shelves.

I can guess I'll be hearing my friend Adreinne saying a thing or two as I continue to read your Lovely Art of Living blog.

MightyMom said...

that mantle is toooooo cluttered!
it's visually overwhelming.

There should be enough things there to make you want to look, but few enough that you don't have to stare and wonder what you're looking at!!