Stay in-the-know with all things home-related with our series of Insight Reports, which bring you long-form analysis on the themes we’re seeing in design, architecture, interiors and more. Here, we’re taking a look at the art of curating and displaying objects at home (from art to furniture, textiles to books), something which is hardly a ‘trend’ but which, given that we should all be living with less, consuming responsibly and appreciating what we’ve got, is a lesson, we think, worth learning.

So, how can the simple act of displaying objects at home in a thoughtful way be an act of conscious consumption? Well, for starters, placing old objects and artworks you’ve had lying around for years in a new context can be a great way to switch up your home interior and calm the impulse of going out to buy new things. Would that kilim rug in the living room make for a beautiful wall hanging in the dining room? Could you round up all your vases and group them in new ways?

For this, you shouldn’t worry if your ceramics have picked up a few dents over the years, or if your favourite armchair would look newer after being reupholstered. As founder and editor of Cereal magazine, Rosa Park, told us when we visited her flat in Bath, she looks to the wise words of esteemed Belgian designer and collector Axel Verdoort for advice on embracing wear-and-tear. “He says that he doesn’t understand why the modern world is so obsessed with restoration, just making things look new,” Rosa said. “The passage of time is the greatest sculpture and why would you want to delete those effects? Obviously, if it’s not working, you have to fix it. But I love that idea of really having reverence for old things – just letting it be with warts and all, so to speak.”

That worn-in sofa, or heirloom chest of drawers that’s got more than a few chips? Embracing the patina and age of things such as these is not only easy on your wallet, it can also be a philosophical act of accepting wabi-sabi principles of the imperfect nature of life and appreciation of the beauty of age, roughness and wear. As Genevieve Lutkin explained when we visited her for our My Modern House series, even though her and her partner Joel’s space is quite minimal, “there’s a definite wabi-sabi softness to it; there are lots of old and aged objects, natural materials, textures and plants.” 

But even if the wabi-sabi aesthetic is not for you, its lessons around accepting things for what they are is worth bearing in mind when displaying objects at home. A moment spent considering what makes an object worth having or what you like about its form or materiality will mean that you can position it in the best way – “I wouldn’t call myself minimalist, but I think often things need space around them to be properly appreciated,” explained design writer and editor Tom Morris at his flat in the Barbican. If you have the luxury of storage, why not use it to stash some things away to give pieces on your mantelpiece or bookcase some breathing room? You might end up appreciating those things more, and you can always revolve the pieces every couple of months to switch it up.

Tom also hints at an important point that thoughtfully displaying objects doesn’t equal minimalism. In fact, it’s arguable that if you’re a bit of hoarder, you’ll need to think even more carefully about where things go than someone who takes the pared-back approach. As interior designer Beata Heuman explains, even if you’re a maximalist, “it’s really important that your space isn’t cluttered.” Even the most maxed-out home should pay a concession to order, arrangement and things being in their right place, we feel.

So, you’ve arranged the current objects in your home into a carefully edited ensemble. How do you decide what you let into your home now? Will that new mirror completely throw things off? To answer this, we defer to Catherine lock, Creative Director of The New Craftsmen, who told us that, “Home is the ultimate expression of one’s self. It’s storytelling – the story of your life … I’m always amazed when I see these homes that come together in an instant because I wonder how much they express their owner’s style. Homemaking is done bit-by-bit in a process that you form and layer with your own aesthetic over time.” The lesson here is that your home is an evolving space that should grow with you, change with you and reflect your sensibilities over time. Don’t be afraid to sell pieces off, put things in storage for a few years, come back to old things you’ve loved or acquire new things that resonate with you.

When picking up new pieces it’s worth staying critical, however, to examine why you need something, what value it will bring to your life and, most importantly, whether it will last or not. Niels Strøyer Christophersen, founder of Danish multi-disciplinary design practice Frama, had something to say on this matter when we visited him at his Copenhagen home; “Frama is not interested in following seasonal themes and trends. We’re interested in things that are a lot more permanent and long-lasting than that, because I think there is a beauty to how things age and wear over time.”

Again, the wabi-sabi principles of appreciating the impression of time on an object can be deployed when curating things in your home: not only can you apply it to things already in your home, but thinking about how an object, piece of furniture or decorative item will age over time when you buy it is an approach that will safeguard from buying things that may only hold interest for a couple of months. If it seems like an indulgence to contemplate such things, we’d argue differently. Thinking responsibly about the consumer choices you make and the longevity of items in your interiors not only carries with it a greater sense of wellbeing at home but has an environmental benefit too.

Even more commendable on the environmental front are those who fill their homes not with new things, but vintage pieces and found objects. “I like the idea that buying vintage things comes with the responsibility that you have to look after and preserve what you have bought – it’s so much more valuable,” says art director Tom O’Dell.

And, for advice on incorporating found objects into your home interior, we follow the direction of master curator Jim Ede, whose home, Kettle’s Yard, is perhaps the ultimate lesson in displaying objects at home. As Andrew Nairne, the current director at Kettle’s Yard told us, Jim’s lesson is that, “we should value all kinds of objects, not just art. We should pay a similar amount of attention to an arrangement of pebbles as we might to a painting by Joan Miró, for example.

“Jim’s approach raises questions about visual aesthetic value, and what gives a space a sense of being connected. Jim was very interested in how one organises spaces so that they work well with people and are enriching. He would always argue for the power of art and found objects to do that. He made simple arrangements with pebbles and shells throughout the house, which are much-photographed and very beautiful. Essentially, the lesson is that anyone can be creative.” Happy curating.

Further Reading
Axel Verdoort’s Timeless Interiors may prove a good starting point for thinking about curating a space that will stand the test of time.

Kettle’s Yard: A Way of Life explores Jim Ede’s philosophy and home using pictures and accounts in his own words.