How long have we heard the term capsule wardrobe? Several years by now. If you think about it, capsule wardrobes make a lot of sense. Most of us naturally gravitate toward the same few favorite items, leaving the less desirable pieces to act as dust collectors in the far corners of the closet. Our closet continues to get more and more full, as we continue to choose the few favorites of the bunch. Capsule wardrobes have taken out the painstaking task of standing in front of your wardrobe just to choose the same shirt you wore yesterday…and the day before…and the day before that.
Stitch Fix defines a capsule wardrobe this way:
Think of a capsule wardrobe as the building blocks of your closet that support the foundation of your personal style. Start by investing in timeless, classic pieces that set your current fashion mood – then add trends, color, prints and patterns for each season.
Whether or not you choose to have a capsule wardrobe of your own, we might all be able to agree that the theory behind it seems practical, helps with decision fatigue, and generally makes a lot of sense.
What if we thought of home décor the same way? If we use Stitch Fix’s definition, but replace a few home décor-y words in place of the fashion vernacular, we might come up with this:
Capsule Décor:
Think of Capsule Décor as the building blocks of your home that support the foundation of your personal style. Start by investing in timeless, classic pieces that set your current design aesthetic – then add trends, color, prints and patterns for each season.
How does this view of home décor sit with you? Do you find yourself raising your fists in protest and grabbing your keys to jet to the nearest Home Goods or are you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to hear how it can be accomplished…IF it can be accomplished?
Here’s my challenge to you…if you want a cohesive looking home; if you feel like your home just doesn’t flow together; if you get tired of going to your favorite home décor store just to feel defeated, frustrated and overwhelmed at the vast quantity of choices; if you want your home to look effortlessly put together…creating capsule décor could be the ticket for you!
Four tips for creating your capsule décor:
1. Learn to identify your design style:
Your unique design aesthetic (or style) is as unique to you as your fingerprints. Truly. If you’re looking around right now at the Big Box Store art and the Costco couch and wondering how any of what you see is unique to you, chances are you not only have NEVER learned what your design style is, but you’ve definitely never practiced it. So, how do you do that? The most simple way? Take Pinterset 101: Pinning with a Purpose, where I teach you how to become a student of design so you can learn to identify, then design your home, using the design elements that you most often gravitate toward. This will be the best spent $100 toward your home’s re-fresh that you’ve ever spent. Seriously…just think about your last trip to Target. What did your bill come to? How much of that was spent in the Hearth and Home or the Studio McGee aisle? How many of those decisions did you first think, “This is cute,” but when you got them home they didn’t look quite right with the rest of your home?
I nailed it, didn’t I?
Before I spare you with the details of how I was able to see inside your brain, let me just remind you that after taking Pinterest 101 you’ll be able to walk into Target, visit those same aisles, look and appreciate how cute those things truly are (because, duh, you DO have great taste after all), but you’ll have the knowledge to continue walking to the corner of the store that suits YOUR style. You’ll choose your products with ease, efficiency, confidence and waaaaay less overwhelm. Not only that, but when you get them home, you’ll LOVE how they look with the rest of your stuff. So…you can continue going to Target and dropping a hundred in frustration OR you can make an investment of the same amount to LEARN how NOT to do the former. Get access to the class here: Pinterest 101
2. Identify the baseline, your foundation:
To be honest, this is a lot like step one. But just to be sure we actually know what our baseline is and to ensure that it’s in alignment with our unique design aesthetic, you’re going follow these two easy, but potentially messy, steps. To prepare: clean off the dining room table and set a timer for 25 minutes. Oh...and lace up your tennies too!
a. In all your common areas: living room, dining room, kitchen, library, etc. gather your MOST FAVORITE home decor items - the ones you'd be sure to pack if you were to move house. Lay them out on the dining table. Bonus points if you place them in like-piles. Now, name those piles by their design element name (i.e. black, brass, rattan, leather, etc.).
b. Of the items that you 'just had to have' - those that were your absolute favorites, can you mix and match them? Meaning - do the design elements go together aesthetically? Like in my example above, black can go with brass as easily as it could leather.
3. Identify your outliers:
If you find that some of your items can't be mixed and matched, chances are that those items are outliers. In home design, I lovingly refer to these pieces as Bullies. And we know all about bullies...NOBODY likes them. NOBODY. The good news about bullies, however, is if they are absolutely your favorite, they can be remediated through REPETITION. Bring in two other elements with similar qualities and voila, you show that your bully is now an intentional design decision rather than an after-thought.
4. Purge the outliers:
This goes without explanation. If the bullies are causing mayhem, get rid of them. Plain and simple. Once you've identified items with design elements that can be seamlessly mixed and matched, you can now rest assured that you have a solid baseline from which you can add "trends, color, prints and patterns for each season."
Listen to the podcast here: