Living simply isn’t simple. In fact, it’s complicated.
So a recently released book – “Keep It Simple,” (Ryland, Peters & Small), which weighs in at 176 pages — reminded me. By definition, the concept of simple shouldn’t need a book, or a monthly magazine for that matter, but apparently it does.
That’s because, in our bigger, faster, must-have-more, must-make-more, must-beat-the-Joneses-more, consumption-driven world, simple got stuffed in the cupboard behind the Cuisinart and the Keurig.
Today, simple hangs in the back of the closet behind the clothes that fit 20 pounds ago, and underneath the wedding album from your new spouse’s first marriage. Today, simple is buried in the garage under the cobweb-encrusted croquet set, the new-fangled edger and the light-up reindeer.
This is what I’m thinking as I look through “Keep It Simple,” by married British designers Atlanta Bartlett and Dave Coote.
I’m thinking that as we — and I am including myself in this pack — collectively relegated simple to the furthest outposts of our homes, while putting the latest shiny new trends in the forefront, we have taken the humble out of home.
It needs to come back.
I’m also thinking, as I leaf through the photo-heavy pages, about the line between “pretty” and “pretentious” — and how easy it is to cross.
Pretty is a mason jar filled with loosely arranged tulips, their stems bowing, their petals relaxing into middle age. Pretentious is a four-tiered arrangement of carnations, gerbera, and roses that never open stuffed into a soaked foam block and held up with green tape on scaffolding so elaborate you’re sure the florists are still inside working on it.
Although I tried for several weeks to get Bartlett, who lives in England, on the phone, she apparently has simplified her life so much that she doesn’t take calls from reporters in the States, and I respect that. So with her publicist’s permission, I am sharing a few pieces of simple-living advice from “Keep It Simple,” which might help us put a little humble back in our homes.
1 Ditch fashion. “The very nature of fashion demands a certain level of consumerism that jars the Simple Mindset,” writes Bartlett. “Anyone can follow fashion if they spend enough money.” Homes that try to follow fashion feel, frankly, soulless. Instead, trust your own sense of style. (I pass this advice along with one eye squinting, knowing some of you can’t be trusted, but I am going to remain hopeful here.)
2 Combine styles. Blend the incongruous. If you like French country and chrome modern, do both. Put ethnic print rugs with chintz curtains with industrial chairs. Embellish some spots of your home elaborately, and keep others spare. Such yin and yang is human.
3 No suites or sets. Buying a matched, three-piece set of furniture lifted from a showroom floor is not the way to create a relaxed home. “Style is not about looking as if you live in a show home,” she writes. Use what you’ve gathered along the way. Shoot for practical, comfortable and individual.
4 Clear the clutter. “Simple” does not mean slovenly. Relaxed isn’t tacit permission to let the place go. You still must edit and eliminate.
“Be ruthless,” Bartlett writes, singing my song. “Less stuff equals less to clean, less debt, less stress, less to organize, and, a more aesthetically pleasing home.”
5 Organize so your house works. Once you’ve decided what to keep, find everything a home. Good storage is crucial and needs to be factored into your design from the get-go. (And it needs to look good; that means no visible plastic bins.)
But when it comes to storage, function is first. “You can lavish money and attention on the décor of your home, but if it doesn’t work on a practical level, it’s a failure,” Bartlett says.
6 Upcycle. Check your urge for new things. Repurpose old stuff. It is more planet- friendly — and just plain cooler — to paint or recover grandma’s dining room chairs, making them yours while honoring their heritage, than it is to buy new chairs. I still remember an ingenious shopper at the estate sale I held when clearing out my parents’ home. She pulled a meat grinder out of the trash pile and planned to make it into a lamp.
7 Fix, patch, repair. In today’s disposable world, buying new stuff is easy, but restoring something worn is satisfying. “Every time we repair something, we add to its history, its soul and its inherent beauty.”
8 Embrace imperfection.
Don’t compromise looks, but do “embrace a style of decorating that can weather the bumps and scuffs of daily life.” Choose furnishings made of distressed wood, linen, worn leather, and other materials that improve with age. Create a home where you and your friends can put your feet on the coffee table without worrying about scratching it.
9 Add bloom to your room. Fresh flowers add simple beauty. Don’t just buy them when company comes. The simpler the arrangement and vase, the better. Learn to appreciate flowers in all their phases, said Bartlett, “as most will be just as beautiful in their final, faded stages as they were in the first bloom of youth.”
It’s that simple.
Marni Jameson is the author of two home and lifestyle books, and the forthcoming “Downsizing the Family Home: What to Keep, What to Let Go” (Sterling Press). Contact her at marnijameson.com.
