Years ago, when Diana and I were just starting our adventure at FCG, I used to cruise around the backroads of Boston in a white SUV with a horse trailer hooked on the back. My mission then – as ours still is today – was to assess and bring back to the showroom the best pre-owned furniture in New England.
Consigning furniture was somewhat of a new concept fifteen years ago. I spent a lot of time explaining to homeowners what kind of furniture we wanted for our store and how the process of consignment would work for them and us. I visited dozens of homes each week.
One of the best parts of the job, back then, was getting a glimpse of the richness of the lives our consigners lived whether the home was an elegant suburban colonial or a chic city condo. Each home was unique with artifacts, treasures, and heirlooms. Everyone’s décor told a story about them and their families.
Even now, I distinctly remember one special home. Inside, every table, display case, and wall was filled with memorabilia from trips to Africa and Europe: Murano glass from Venice, beer steins from Germany, golf art from Scotland. All these objects gave the home a special warmth.
Decorating a home so lavishly went out of vogue sometime around 2010. For more than a decade, we’ve endured bland walls, neutral colors, and benign décor. Some embraced an aesthetic so stripped down that their homes were more like a moderately priced chain hotel like a Ramada. Decorating your living room with anything but a gray or oatmeal sofa seemed like a dangerous choice.
Here’s some good news for those of you who, like me, love a home with personality. There’s a new trend that gives us permission to make our homes uniquely ours with all the clutter, color, and texture we crave. It’s called Maximalism and the basic design theme is “more is more.”
What all this means for you is that you have the full permission of the gurus of the design world to make your home uniquely yours. Riotous wallpaper? Yes! Leopard-print side chairs? Why not! Furry ottomans? Make it two. Tell the story of your life, and your family’s life, with wild abandon. Let FCG help take you there.