Last Friday I spent the day digging though treasure and junk.  I was at one of the countries largest flea markets in Springfield, Ohio and being my first time at this renowned event, I was so excited to seek for something really wonderful to add to my old farmhouse.  I walked through rows and rows of antiques, salvaged goods, handmade furniture, and relics, yet walked away with none of it.  Why? 

The answer is simple, I didn’t need anything.  Through all of the amazing pieces I examined, I always asked myself, “do I need this?” and the answer was always no.  Previously, I’d fallen into the mindset of, “just get it now in case I need it later” but recently, I’ve stopped short. Mostly because I have a house full of ‘things’ that mean nothing to me, but also because I’ve realized how easy it is to get caught up in a culture of want.

It’s easy to buy a plethora of things you’ve seen in a recent catalog to decorate your house.  Anyone can do that.  It’s easy to walk into a shop and buy an entire look.  I’ve realized over the years that the more money one can devote, the less skill it takes, and the less gratification follows. I thought of the feeling I get when I save up to buy something that I really love, working to make sure it fit just perfectly in my home. It takes ingenuity, resourcefulness, and foresight to put a beautiful room together, but with greater income, and greater want comes less intention.

What is admirable, however, isn’t ability to throw money at design, but instead is the awareness of need, function, and how style can play a part.  It’s not about buying a bunch of designer pieces and styling them together in the perfect (and might I say, homogenous) Instagram photo.  Design is about fulfilling a need, and making it beautiful in the process.

I might be rambling, but this is the whole reason I started this blog. Design only means something when it means something to us, and I feel that restraint is a key component of curation. Whether you save for the perfect piece, or design and create it yourself, there is something about fulfilling a specific need and the fabulous gratification that we get from it.

This weekend, it was liberating to explore the market without a need for anything. I experienced a different kind of gratification, fulfilling a need for absolutely nothing.

p.s. the above picture was taken by my friend Krista.  I was looking at a ‘The Mama’s and The Papa’s’ Album trying to see how many songs I knew… do you know any?