five minute read time
Discover home:
When we decided to downsize our family home of nearly 4,000 square feet and take off on the adventure of a lifetime, I knew everything we owned would have to be both functional and beautiful. It would have to serve multiple purposes and be flexible all the same. That began a love affair that soon evolved into an obsession: Creating a curated home.
A curated home isn’t one single style; ours just happens to be modern classic or organic modern. But you can curate your home whatever style you choose. There are a few simple things to keep in mind and before you know it, you’ll be obsessed with the look of a curated home, too.
Stick with a color story…
Choosing your home’s color story is the first way to create a curated home. Our color story is neutrals: black, taupe, cream, caramel, and brown. But your color story could be blues and white with touches of color. Or it may be a neutral color story of all primary colors. The key is to keep things balanced. I recently read that your main color should comprise 60%, your secondary color should comprise 20%, and your accent colors should comprise 10% each.
So pick your home’s color story, then stick with that color story throughout your entire home. It will give you the look of a curated home.
Choose flexible items for display…
The items we purchase for our homes – especially if you live in a smaller space – but truly ‘earn their keep.’ Alton Brown used to be a stickler for one-use gadgets in the kitchen. We should think about this approach as well when created a curated home. We want to choose display pieces that have meaning specific to us or our family, but we also want them to be flexible in usage.
Things like books, candles, and florals, should be as at home in the living room as they are in the dining room or bed room. Throw pillows and blankets should also have the flexibility of living on the bed or on the sofa.
When we stick to our home’s color story, then the items we have within it gain flexibility and longevity. Having the flexibility to move items from one room or place to another helps us not to grow tired and weary of ‘the same old thing’ and helps us not overspend when wanting to refresh our spaces. We can shop our homes before shopping the stores, and in the process we save money, and see our collections in a brand new light.
Display meaningful pieces that tell your home’s story…
Your home and mine – wherever we live at the moment – helps to tell our story. Whether we live in a farmhouse with chickens, a modern apartment, or a contemporary condo in the city, our homes reflect our lifestyle and our story. When we seek to create a curated home, displaying meaningful pieces that help tell that story is important.
For us, that means displaying pieces from our travels: A carved turtle from St. Lucia, a dogwood print from an artist in the Smokey Mountains, framed foreign coins from Israel, Denmark, and the UK. It means a set of carved marble dice that reminds us life is more than a game of chance; more than just the ‘luck of the dice.” It’s pebbles from the beach in Brighton, it’s a pottery piece from the Sierra Nevadas, it’s books we purchased at the British Museum and at Stonehenge.
These types of items create conversation when people visit, but they are also daily reminders that life is an adventure – and we get to curate that life on adventure at a time.
If you’re obsessed too…
If you’ve been bitten by the curated home bug, then here are a few ways to get started in your own home:
- Develop your home’s color story. Make sure each room speaks to the other, colors shouldn’t clash or be too jarring. You want your entire space to feel as if one room belongs to the next – as if they could be joined together seamlessly.
- Edit your belongings. If you have items that you no longer love or use, donate them to someone who may need them. But remember to keep your color story in mind with items that get to remain. Choose pieces that can move from one part of your home to another and still feel like they are in the right place.
- Display pieces with meaning. It’s okay to display great grandma’s quilt, a family heirloom chest, or a set of antique books belonging to your grandfather. The key in those moments is to group them together to create a moment of interest so that they also tell a story all their own.
- Fill your home with treasured moments. Remember to leave space for life’s adventure: That morning cup of coffee beside your favorite window, the afternoon nap under your favorite blanket, or the dinners to celebrate life’s precious moments.
Your home is your own special place. When we create a curated home, each room feels meaningful to us, carries memories, and provides solace from the outside world.
xo, Billie
Resources:
- How to Create A Meaningful Home : https://forwardourmail.com/three-ways-to-create-a-meaningful-home/
- An Obsession with Curation: https://www.thewhitecompany.com/uk
- Agate Stone Bookends [affiliate link]: https://amzn.to/46rUjmz
- Stackable Seagrass Boxes [affiliate link]: https://amzn.to/3OrwTrv
- Mongolian Sheep Skin Pillow [affiliate link]: https://amzn.to/4tTAFdj
- Create a Luxury Home On A Budget: https://forwardourmail.com/luxury-home-on-a-budget/
