HOME PRINCIPLES
What every organizing icon has in common
“Have nothing in your home that you don’t know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” I often think of this quote from William Morris, a British artist, designer and poet (among other things) within the context of curating my home. It’s an excellent summary of the balance a home should strike: beautiful and useful. It reads both as an empowerment to go wild with the design and decor elements that delight you and to realize that you’ll have to keep those cleaning supplies and gardening shoes somewhere.
Years ago, I read almost all of the books on minimalism, reducing excess and clutter management when the topic was trending. From Marie Kondo to the radical minimalists, I thumbed through the wisdom of people who simplified their homes (and their lives) to maximize joy. If there is one theme throughout all of these books, it is delight. Each expert, in their own way, devised a radical plan to get more joy out of life through the management of their homes. Marie Kondo’s method of vetting is to determine if something “sparks joy,” minimalists reduce all excess in favor of radical simplicity and Jennifer Scott’s method is to use the best things that you have. The overlap of each message was that the place where you live can either enhance or detract from your life.
A home should be beautiful and it should be functional. Our definitions of “beautiful” are subjective, yes, but there’s an underlying desire to be in an environment that delights us, makes us feel at peace and can be enjoyed by others. This week’s newsletter is an ode to form, function, design, organization and creating spaces where we can actually live.
HOW TO BUY THINGS THAT LAST
A foolproof test
If I’m adding something to my home, wardrobe or life, I want that item to be enduring both in style and in function. This is tricky, though, because finding high-quality items is a puzzle. Many of us shop primarily online, making it difficult to feel and experience something before purchasing, or quite simply, big box stores aren’t generating items that are of high quality.
But I have a no-fail process for determining if an item is up to snuff before I make a purchase: I call my grandmother.
She is all-knowing and has wonderful taste. I frequently ask for recommendations, like which sheets are good brands, where to purchase a high-quality set of towels and how to know if a fabric will work for reupholstering a chair.
In the event that my grandmother doesn’t have a recommendation, I turn to the Wirecutter column at The New York Times. They test and review all sorts of items, from kitchen appliances to air purifiers to tech systems and give long explanations as to why one is more lasting than another.
HAPPY MEDIUM
100 words on the kitchen in “It’s Complicated”
The kitchen in the film “It’s Complicated” is a perfect example of practical beauty. There are pots over the stove, a kettle ready for tea, dishes on shelves, herbs harvested from the garden and a crock full of wooden spoons. The homes in Nancy Meyers’ movies are magic because they’re somehow perfectly styled and also livable. This, to me, is the decor ideal: to make your home beautiful and still be able to live in it every day with ease. It’s not messy but it isn’t so perfect that you can’t make a mess in the kitchen or nap on the sofa.
DECORATIVE STORAGE
Alternatives to IKEA
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When it comes to organizing, there are plenty of plastic bins and shelves and cases and bags available for purchase, but my favorite discovery is that there are many creative ways to use items with personality to manage the practical organization needs in your home: a bunch of baskets to corral blankets or pillows and even the vintage bookcase we opted to use as storage for toiletries in our guest bathroom.
Skye McAlpine’s kitchen in London sourced from Homes & Gardens. Image credit: Future/Paul Massey
Instead of rushing to IKEA, here are some storage and display alternatives:
A collection of glass jars to contain pantry staples, spices, candies and the like, in the style of Skye McAlpine’s London kitchen (pictured above) — I like Weck jars or Le Parfait jars
This statement-making waste bin to catch junk mail, tissues and papers
Baskets from France to use atop shelves for storing out-of-season clothes or for containing extra linens
A boot tray, so that it’s very clear where errant shoes should go if they’re not in the closet
This floral serving bowl, for the fruit on your countertop
Instead of installing a new cabinet or shelves in your closet, what about a barrister bookcase which you can move around or use in another space down the line? Also, you can find something like this at an antique mall — I found mine for $100 in a local shop. It’s the sliding glass doors on the front of the cabinet that make it great for storage because they prevent dust.
A luxe velvet tray for jewelry
HOW TO ORGANIZE ANYTHING
Tried-and-true methods
I prefer a tidy home and work to keep it that way, but I have one very-present vice: I am not very organized. I love the theory of being organized and efficient, but I am a chuck-it-in-the-closet-and-deal-with-it-later type of person. Out of sight, out of mind! As a result, I must, every few months, organize the minefields that I’ve made out of my closets and cabinets. This time of year, this dead week between Christmas and New Year’s, is my favorite time to do so.
While I’m horrible at maintaining organization, I’m excellent at achieving organization for a fixed period of time. I guess I kind of miss the entire point of organization. But no matter, this is how I live! Should you be free this week with nothing to do, may I suggest an organizing session? Here’s how to go through your home efficiently and successfully.
Identify your categories.
Whether you start with a single room or with a specific category (like clothes or papers), don’t begin until you’ve mapped out what you wish to organize and in what order.
Take everything out.
Marie Kondo and the minimalists agree: if you want to organize it, you have to see it. Take all of your clothes out of the closet, gather all of the papers, or empty the cabinets of kitchen tools so that you can see everything at once.
Be honest with yourself.
If you are keeping things that you don’t wear, don’t use or don’t like, you are wasting space and accumulating clutter. Don’t hold onto things that don’t work for your life as it is now, not the life that you imagine you might have one day when the stars align.
Separate items into three piles.
Keep, donate and trash are your best bets. Though, if you’re incredibly indecisive, I’d recommend coming up with a box for items you’re conflicted about. Just toss them in there and then reassess at the end of the process.
Get a move on.
Take your donations to a charity and toss the designated trash items. Don’t let them sit around.
Put everything back before you buy organizing bins.
You may not need to spend a fortune on plastic bins and baskets (though, they are really fun to buy). Put the items that you’ve decided to keep back in their place before you go out to purchase organizing tools. If you’ve done a thorough tidy and toss-out, you probably won’t need as many bins, baskets or boxes to corral your things.
GOOD CHOICE
The best bedding ever
Bedding is one of those items that people tend to shell out a decent amount of money for, hoping that the higher price will indicate higher quality. This is not always necessary. If you’re looking for sheets or a duvet cover, I can vouch for L. L. Bean. We have their bed sheets and they’re excellent, soft and have worn very well.
And, more than anything, the brand is approved by both my grandmother and Wirecutter.
Correction: This section was altered to provide the correct link and brand name.
NEXT WEEK
Dispatches from Rome
I have a special travel edition of “Choosy” for you coming next week. I’ll be writing to you from Italy and sharing both about our trip and the designs that inspire me. What better place to find examples of enduring style than in a country full of ancient buildings?
All the best,
Mary Grace