Stylish Spaces

Curating Furniture

BY Pallavi Pinakin

What’s the difference between curating and decorating? Interior decor is generally based on using a specific colour palette, theme or design influence while curating your space is far more personal.

The latter means hand-picking individual pieces of furniture, deciding their place among the items you already own and even adjusting other elements of your space around them.

Instead of everything being perfectly matched, a curated look gives your home an unplanned, creative and cosy touch – while still looking complementary and well put together.

Curating furniture provides lots of scope to express your personality. It also makes you feel emotionally connected to your surroundings in a way that professionally decorated interiors simply can’t.

Here is how you can achieve a curated look that’s cool and eclectic without being messy.

MIX AND MATCH The best thing about curating furniture is being able to blend all types of styles, colours and eras in a way that showcases your taste. Combining retro items with contemporary pieces instantly lends the space a unique character – fresh yet as if it was built up over decades!

Similarly, mixing distinct stylistic influences instantly elevates the style vibe – be it pairing rustic chairs with a glass and steel table or tossing jute cushions onto a velvet sofa.

The best way to keep your look unexpected and exciting is to switch up where you shop. Visit a secondhand market one day and a trendy furniture brand store the next. Unexpected textural and colour combinations also help enhance a curated ambience.

CREATE A FOCUS Even while creating unusual interiors, it’s important not to lose sight of this key design principle – have no more than one or two focal points in every room.

It could be an imposing chest of drawers, a sleek futuristic bar or a vintage four-poster bed. Too many commanding items in the same space will divide attention and lose the desired impact.

ITEMS YOU LOVE Sometimes, people have a tendency to fill a room with varied pieces to make it feel eclectic. But this can easily make the space look cluttered or even tacky.

Since stylish spaces come together over time, make it a point to buy only furniture that truly resonates with you, and make sure to give each item its own expressive place. Yes, it will take longer to complete your interiors this way, but the result will be spectacular.