Eclectic Collected
A home that heals
She’s a wellness founder with a side of community organizing. You might catch her pouring drinking chocolate from an Alessi kettle or wearing Tibi while lounging in a vintage Eames chair. Her nails are bare, her rings are big, and on the weekends, she and her senior rescue dog practice tai-chi.
She’s a walking paradox, and she knows it. Her home is, too.
Niche? I know.
But aren’t we all? A walking paradox, I mean.
The more time I’ve spent in the world of decor, the less convinced I am by the concept of interior design. Or, to put a finer point on it, the concept of a stranger blanket buying furniture and decor for your home.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for someone to hire me as an interior designer, I’m just not entirely sure it makes sense.
Shouldn’t our homes be a collection of things we’ve gathered over time, things we love, things that reflect a certain phase of life?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the most interesting people I know have a collected home. Not because they’ve set out to do it, but because their lives are interesting, filled with books, and travel, and art, and their home is where it all gathers. Oftentimes, these people have a decent sense of style and so it all fits together.
Granted, there are plenty of people who don’t have an interest in design, who are well-read and traveled but would rather have someone else make the big design decisions for them. If budget allows, I think an interior designer makes a lot of sense here; they can help maximize what these folks already own instead of starting from scratch.
But for those of us who do—take an interest in design that is—I think there’s something self-affirming about the process of creating a collected home. Watching your home take shape around you, especially for someone in their 20s or 30s, can be healing. It encourages, nay forces, you to come face to face with the places you’ve been and the decisions you’ve made. Choosing to put it all together in a way that works, is, by proxy, a way of choosing yourself. Messy parts included.
Now, you know I can’t tell you what to buy to create a collected home, because that’s not how it works. I did lay out some tips for making it look good here, in case you need a little assistance in pulling it all together.
That said, there are a few specific design items that seem to be consistent across my favorite collected homes that I’ll share here, just in case.
Alessi Michael Graves 9093 Stainless-Steel Tea Kettle (HERE)
Ingo Maurer table lamp (HERE, slightly more affordable HERE)
Akari Paper Pendant light (HERE)
Heath Ceramics (HERE)
That’s it!
Xx,
Serena
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Just want the links? Head to my ShopMy
1000% agree with this! It’s also a very applicable concept to personal style and building a wardrobe that reflects your authentic self.