Trend of 2012: The Curated Look

A great trend of 2012 that I'm loving is the curated look. Its a very personal and unique way of decorating.  "Curated rooms are filled with well-made, meaningful treasures, which have been carefully edited" (Source). Achieving the curated look is not as easy as it appears to be… there is a fine line between a chaotic eclectic look and a refined collected look. To curate your space means to edit your items.  This takes time and a lot of hard work, but the end result is well worth it.

Every piece that goes into a curated space is carefully selected for a purpose, so that even though you have various elements they all come together into one cohesive look. Often times my clients get bogged down with items they have received as a gift and they feel that it has to always be on display. I always say, "Remember this is your home, and you make the rules."  Just because someone gave you a gift does not mean it has to be front and center, or even up at all for that matter.  But if you want, a great way to incorporate those items and others you have laying around is to rotate those items within a collection. If you have different collections or just a lot of "treasures" don't show it all at once. Rotate items and edit, edit, edit; this way your home will always have something new going on and it gives you a chance to showcase different pieces over time.

Designed by Jute Interior Design

This room, shown in Elle Decor, shows very few pieces but there is so much variation between them that I would classify this as a curated look. The furniture styles vary as well as the different textures and pay attention to the individually selected photos and frames, they all have a purpose.  It all comes together with the color tones and it looks very cohesive.

Designed  by Slesinski Design Group

I love this room, also seen in Elle Decor, it is a great combination of asian and western. The elements are perfectly blended to created a smooth, beautiful design.

Designed by James Cleary Architecture

This curated look, found on Houzz.com, focuses on the collection on white jars, vases and statues displayed on the shelves. Very beautiful and straightforward.  To the untrained eye it may not look like it, but I'm sure a lot of editing and consideration went into this simple looking design.

Designed by Nichole Loiacono-Young
Photo courtesy of Houzz.com

Every girls dream room! Classic tufted sofa in a pink velvet, mixed with stark white surroundings and bold striped floor to ceiling curtains - gorgeous. All the pieces in this room have their place from the art prints stacked by the window to the lollipops in the jar on the end table.

Designed by Jamie Laubhan-Oliver
Photo Courtesy of Houzz.com

 Yet another nicely curated space. The black and white elements, as different as they are, are held together by that very color scheme and by the fact that they are all so different. If too many objects are similar is style or shape than the rest would look out of place.

Designed by Richard Hallberg

This space, shown in Veranda, is a beautiful mixture of contemporary and fine antiques. The designer carefully selected these pieces to create this specific design and it's very intriguing. Again, very few pieces, but the furniture items shown are really all it needs.

I hope in 2012 you can take some time to refine your home to achieve this fun and fabulous curated look.  Just remember to edit, edit, edit.  Once you are done, ask yourself one question: "Does everything have a purpose?"