I have no truck with minimalism, I think you know that already. All that hiding things away and rooms devoid of ephemera beyond a single artwork or carefully placed pot. Instead, for me, our goods and chattels are precious because they tell the story of our lives. As such, they should be celebrated, not hidden.
Why Marie Kondo is wrong
Marie Kondo, of magic of tidying and sideways jumper-folding fame, recently wrote on Instagram, “It is not our memories but the person we have become because of those past experiences that we should treasure. The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the pas…
However, it’s a short hop from treasured to trashy if items are not displayed well; the trick being a combination of considered curation to careful containment. But don’t make the mistake of trying too hard, it’s really just about pulling together the threads of your taste, and a few other little tricks as explained in my five steps to good shelfie action below.
Primarily though, it’s about being sure that every single thing that you choose to surround yourself with is something that has meaning for you. In other words, that you'd be sad if it got broken. Anything else is just stuff, which could likely be let go. After that is the creation of dedicated spaces in which to display such prized possessions; something which often occurs in the living room.