I frequently wonder how others see art + objects + interiors.
I suspect that often where I see synergy, others see a hot mess!
I’m aiming for a sweet spot that’s refined without being over-stylised, original without being tasteless, the right amount of vintage without being kitsch. Not luxe, not glamourous, not too crafty.
My shelves are always in a state of change, shifting mood and energy when it no longer works. I’m learning to be ok with my own taste but it’s definitely a process.
The vastness of visual information that is open to us now has changed the game when it comes to taste and style. In a 2 minute scroll you can be in a Parisian apartment, a NYC townhouse, a rustic fisherman’s hut on a remote Scandinavian island and a mountain retreat in the Dolomites.
It’s personal
It’s easy to be drawn into someone else’s idea of ‘an elevated interior’. Or to feel as though a huge budget is needed to put a room together. I’m not interested in ‘elevated’, rather self-assurance.
What I like to think about is creating spaces that feel personal, with collected things that work together and that invoke happiness.
For me, that’s not the hugest expanse of marble I can afford to be my benchtop. Or a painting that is ‘important’. Materiality is really important though (something raw + not too refined works for me). And curation and consideration.
ART
I’m drawn to my own paintings, perhaps because I’m particular about a colour palette and there’s something satisfying about having made a thing. I love collecting and looking at other artist’s pieces in small galleries and when I’m on travels somewhere. Buying a little piece on a trip is a constant recollection of a time and a place.
The following mix is:
a little grid painting I bought in Paris, a creamy antique vase sourced locally (sold), a Dries Van Noten grid perfume (my husband’s), a great poster (sold) and the best red ceramics found by Sophie locally (sold).
As I write this, I’m sitting in a room full of acquired things, paintings, clay, books, perfumes, something odd I found in a suburban Salvation army store. A Japanese ceramic I couldn’t afford. There’s quite a lot of stuff that I don’t like to look at too (and plenty of stuff that others in my family would rather disappear for good), the boxes full of God knows what, holes in the wall, the stain on the rug and the kids paraphernalia.
Wish I could say I’m all good with that stuff too but I’m not. Get it out, now.
Sara