A Life Decluttered: Cluttered vs. Curated

The Morgan Library. Photo courtesy of Christian Voigt Photography. 

Curate: (v) select, organize, and look after the items in (a collection or exhibition)
Clutter: (n) a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass
              (v) crowd (something) untidily; fill with clutter

‘Curate’ is a bit of a buzzword these days. I throw it around myself. It’s fancy. When I hear it I think about museums. I think about the curators who cull pieces together for exhibits. I find curators intimidating. I love talking to them, but all the while I really just want to listen. Their knowledge on art - different periods, artists and forms - trumps mine. Just teach me your wisdom, you know?

So why is it in my vocabulary? Because curating isn't just for museums.  When I visit my favorite boutique or lifestyle shop, I go there because I want to see what new finds the owner has collected to sell. And it needn't be limited to brick and mortar shops.  The internet is all about curating. The websites and blogs I frequent religiously have taste and style that I'm interested in. They have their finger on the pulse. Be it health, style or design - the sites I love curate information and products with grace and elegance and I reap the benefits. We are curating our world left and right. And we don't need a shop or a website to do it. All we need is our home. 

Now let's get one thing straight. No one wants to live in a museum. They're gorgeous places no doubt. But they aren't exactly comfortable. In a home, form cannot be the only criteria because function matters too. I prefer form and function to co-exist, but let’s take my couch, for example. It’s nice and all; it’s color scheme works with the family room. Is it a work of art? Not quite. But the naps it has given me? Priceless. 

So when I talk about curating a home, I mean first creating efficient systems to make your day to day activities manageable (and hence more serene) while also finding a way to integrate your personality, passions and personal sense of style. So when you step inside your door, you relax. So that truly, home is where [your] heart is. 

But before we can curate, we need to get rid of the clutter.

Sidebar: my favorite museum in the world is The Morgan Library (pictured above). The next time you're in NYC, go. J. P. Morgan wasn't just a financial giant, turns out. He also loved to collect, and had been collecting since he was a boy. Letters, ancient texts, paintings, sculptures, you name it. In the last third of his life, his personal collection was so overflowing that he bought up another section of his block and built an Italianate Renaissance-styled library to house it all. (Mr. Morgan's version of a storage unit.)  

Anyway, the man loved Europe and spent three months out of the year there. On those trips he bought much of his art. He yearned to bring the culture of Europe to New York, making it the cultural center of America. Lofty goals. What a vision. Props to Mr. Morgan.

After the library was built he hired a young unknown beauty of a librarian to organize (!!!) his collection. Her name was Belle da Costa Greene and she would eventually become the first director of the Library when it went public, after Morgan's death.

Belle had style, guys. Like, in a major way. And taste. AND she was thought of as the foremost knowledge for illuminated manuscripts in the world. (AND there weren't many female librarians back then. A woman ahead of her time.) As her and Morgan's relationship grew, she very much influenced his choices. Before her, he'd buy whatever anyone pointed a finger at. But Belle, she knew value when she saw it. She had her finger on the pulse, and Morgan reaped the benefits. When Morgan died and his son, Jack, wanted to sell off the entire collection, she took her time to get to know him to help him understand that his father's art had value beyond cold hard cash. It took about a year to bring Jack around, so to appease him, she sold off the less valuable pieces, thereby culling the collection. 

Belle decluttered. Then she curated. Boom.

How many times have you dug up a framed picture from the depths of your closet, and it made you smile? It reminded you of that one precious moment in your life, and oh, you'll just never part with it. I have to say, if a possession strikes such a cord, let's hang it, people. No more waiting. Your eyes will gaze upon it regularly, and it will bring a smile to your face. Visitors will stop by, and you'll have a story to tell them.  

So let's get started. Let's clear out those closets, rediscover your treasures and make them a part of your home. Let me be your Belle.