Chaotic to Collected
Making your clutter feel a little more curated
Hi lovelies,
I hope you’re all well. Things are good here—busy (starting a brand and working full-time is no joke)—but the air has warmed considerably and there’s light in the sky until well after 8pm, so no complaints.
Most evenings are late, but I’ve been trying to switch off early a few times a week. I pour a glass of natural wine, turn on this (very aptly named) playlist, or this one, light a candle, and let the springtime breeze do the rest.
My home is feeling good these days. Still tiny, but very me (with sprinkles of Erik throughout, lol).
It certainly hasn’t always been this way. For so long, I felt like the decor within my space didn’t reflect who I was becoming as a person: someone who loves travel and thoughtful design, natural textiles and clean lines.
I kept telling myself it was budget: if I only had enough to afford the “nice” brands, my home would reflect me better. And while that’s true to an extent, we all know money can’t buy taste.
Over the last few years, we’ve moved a lot, which means I’ve had to pare down my “keep” pile considerably. But, through that process, plus lots of inspo since moving to Europe and plenty of taste development, I’ve come up with a formula for turning my clutter into something that feels a bit more collected, and more reflective of the life I’m living.
A few notes before I dive further:
I naturally lean minimalist, I don’t gravitate towards tchotchkes or objects without a function, which probably makes this task slightly less daunting. If you tend to lean maximalist, this exercise might fall short of helpful.
A “collected home” design style might not be for you! There’s plenty of others out there that can reflect who you are as a person without having all your personal effects on display.
Step 1: Decide what you do want on display in your home. Just because something is meaningful, doesn’t mean you want it exhibited. Get rid of what you don’t care about and neatly store what you do. The rest can go on display.
Step 2: Lay out the things you want to show (pillows, blankets, art, ceramics) and group them by vibe (visual below).
To me, a collected home works best when there’s plenty of white space between objects. Again, if you’re more of a maximalist, this exercise won’t cut it for you. But if you like color in small doses, do this:
Say these are the things you have:
Feels chaotic, no?
Step 3: Try grouping them by vibe and room. Let patterns, textures, and general vibes lead the way:
It won’t be perfect; you won’t know where to put some things and others just won’t fit (notice I lost of few from the original image). That’s ok. Onward! The goal is to work with what you have for the most part. I repeat: it won’t be perfect.
Step 4: Try creating a vignette with the groupings, adding in some white space to make the chaos feel curated:
Better, isn’t it?
That’s it!
Xx,
Serena
PS: You may have noticed a little re-brand here on Substack. It felt natural to merge this world with Salvē, but let me know what you think. Drop me a line if you’d like: serena@salveofficial.com.
Working on designing (and thoughtfully de-cluttering) our new apartment… and wowza was this helpful!