There are two kinds of people when it comes to decorating: those that decorate and those that don’t. The first kind begins designing their homes with a strategic floor plan and a mood board. The second, either doesn’t make an effort or — as I’ve come to observe in shelter magazines and home-oriented blogs of late — design organically, with no real plan except perhaps to collect what they love, regardless of style.
The Selby (www.theselby.com) is a big proponent of the anything-goes interior, having photographed laid-back surfers in Australia in their messy homes, surf gear plopped on the floor next to a sand-covered rug and scuffed wooden floors, as well as major names in the fashion industry with their unconventional spaces.
Though the two schools of decorating (or, undecorating — as the new term goes) hardly ever meet, thanks to an increasingly partisan style of living emerging, two different books tackle each theme in a manner that’s strikingly similar. Though Christiane Lemieux and Rumaan Alam’s tome Undecorate is on the eclectic-unfinished home, the interiors are just as stylish and well put together as those in Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick’s book Decorate.
Though one team highlights the process, while the other celebrates the results, the subsequent images in both books reveal that, no matter the road you take, if you have the desire to make your space a welcoming one, the destination is sure to be captivating — either way.
Undecorate
By Christiane Lemieux and Rumaan Alam
Clarkson Potter Publishers, 256 pages Available at National Book Store
In Christiane Lemieux and Rumaan Alam’s world, there are no rules to interior design. The duo celebrates Imperfectionists, people who don’t sweat the matching linens or custom-printed wallpaper. “Most real people don’t hire a decorator and then expect to move into a flawlessly furnished house six months later,” Lemieux explains. “The most stylish people these days understand this fundamental aspect of good living: It’s always evolving. Great style isn’t necessarily a finished product so much as it is an ongoing process.”
Whimsy, a talent for mixing traditional and modern with kitsch, and an eye for oddities make up the elements of an undecorated home. Here, an English manor set in Hollywood mingles with a rustic barn in placid neutrals, its only true decor the magnificent natural light.
There are some peculiar homes that make for good reading, their idiosyncrasies charming when seen under a forgiving lens. An aging couple makes way for a trailer inside their residence. A young family creates a Louisiana home that pays homage to the past with creaky signs thrifted from Goodwill and, sometimes, the garbage bin. In Palm Springs, a modern bungalow makes up for lack of bedroom guest space by transforming the garage — cement floors and all — into an industrial dormitory-esque space that has its own appeal.
The Internet is largely responsible for this phenomenon. As Lemieux tells the New York Times: “It used to be the people with the super-cool eclectic houses went to estate sales and got a first look at everything. Now you have access to a very cool flea market, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The popularity of that eclectic interior is because it’s achievable now.”
Lemieux and Alam’s thesis, made apparent once you’ve flipped through the book’s many interior examples, is that this school of design is more than just the sum of its parts.
“Undecorating isn’t haphazard style; it’s not thought-free,” says Lemieux. “It’s about being guided by something other than the traditional constraints.
“If you undecorated, you acknowledge that life is a fluid thing, and accordingly, that style is a flexible thing. Undecorated style isn’t one wholesale thing — it’s a shifting target, and has much more to do with the process than with the finished product.”
This kind of thinking yields an accidental aesthetic, one that’s just as charming as a professionally-styled space. Even better, some might argue, because the results are often spontaneous and authentic.
Decorate
By Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick
Chronicle Books, 288 pages
Available at National Book Store
Decorate is another creature altogether. Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick’s design volume is a friendly collection of concepts (or “1,000 professional design ideas for every room in your home,” as the cover blurb reads). For beginners with no idea where to start, Becker and co. provide a glimpse into the interiors of the design savvy with helpful tips on how to get there. There are graphs and drawings to give a perspective on space and how to maximize it. There are tips on storage and selecting the right wallpaper. Best of all: There’s helpful advice from professionals on how to finish a room. (One of my favorites: “If you can only afford one statement piece in a living room, make it an oversize chandelier. I think chandeliers should always be bigger than you think you need and more expensive than you think you can afford,” says Jonathan Adler.)
It’s a more-than-comprehensive starter kit for design neophytes, with clear illustrations on furniture placement and recommendations on highlighting architectural details.
Though their premise is the opposite of the Undecorate duo’s — a desire for a distinct look, accompanied by clear intentions for the outcome — the results are surprisingly similar.
“We all have our own style and personality to our work, even if we follow the same step-by-step instructions,” argues Lotta Jansdotter, who crafts paper products for a living.
“When you intentionally decorate the look and feel of your space, you become more genuinely yourself, more at home in your skin and in your space,” concludes author Carrie McCarthy.