I recently attended the beautifully peaceful exhibition at the Museum of Home, curated in a stunning building in East London. . .
As a professional organiser, and interior designer who has been working in London for the last 10 years, I have walked into hundreds of homes, all varying in style, personality and size. But what they all hold in common is that home is just as much filled with physical clutter as it is with emotional clutter.
And the exhibition really summed this up. It looked at trends, furniture, colour, traditions and the power of the ancestral flow that works its way down through the human race and informs the evolution of the next generations homes and lifestyles.
But it looks as well at the powerful feelings that are wrapped up in the home and how "everything begins from home"
I have been observing in my work over many years not only the solutions for home organisation and how to create a sustainable peaceful home that works for you, and not against you.
But just how much, emotional clutter contributes to how homes are run and how this effects how individuals start their day, how their home life affects every minute, every day, every season and year. It is the singular biggest influence to how we live our lives and interact with the world around us.
“If you are in a (home) where you can enjoy the sunrise and sunset, then you are living like a lord.” Nathan Phillips
The bright building which was once an alms house, has been renovated to take you on a walk into the home. The home of everyday individuals that through photos, recordings, video reels and items show the power of what the home means.
As you enter there is a recording from a refugee that was taken in by an East London lady and the huge impact her home has made on his life. Work, togetherness, friends, money, independence, family and safety. Such huge traits that we all need in life and that so many of us can lack or take for granted. And it was lovely to be reminded of this.
The colour and flow of the exhibition and pieces used to show what home meant through the years, dating back to the 1600s was clever, informative, thought-provoking, interactive and very well thought out. Me and my dad sat and played the first ever game of Mario Kart, which was used to show how home entertainment has evolved over the years.
The furniture trends of the living room exhibition were like walking back through time and it was the feelings these rooms evoked, which made it really warming.
Because the feeling of my home growing up has directly influenced how my home is today. It reminded me of both positive and negative feelings that home created through my own life and prompted me to remember how I want my home life to be now, and how much I have to work, physically and emotionally for it to be my place of happiness.
Creating, making and sustaining a home takes hard work and showing up emotionally everyday with those you choose to occupy your home with. This emotional clutter needs to be decluttered just like the physical clutter that has become a modern-day trend.
But what the exhibition really highlights is that home is a feeling not an Instagram able moment. The poignant pieces they included, including a photographic story of single mums in London showed the hardships people go through, but with a home, it seems everything can be achieved. No matter what you have in your home, its the feeling that home gives you that rules your day.
It mindfully reminded me of the visual intricacies of the home in all its glorious individuality, in a very tactile, non-digital format. And how home always needs to be worked on and cherished and most importantly how stuff is not just what makes a successful home.
Homes come in many shapes and sizes, can be happy and unhappy places and can be made in many different ways, the exhibition is a lovely reminder about the importance of the home not only to showcase who we are to the world but to remind us about the emotional side of the home and how if we work to de-clutter this area too, it can be..."my home, my castle, my sanctuary"
Museum of Home
136 Kingsland Road
London
E2 8EA
Parking very limited, so get the train to Hoxton and the museum is opposite.
Open Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 5pm ( last entry 4pm)
Entry is free but for now all visitors need to book a timed ticket in advance.
Take the children along, as the gardens are stunning and Mollys Cafe is exquisite
Enjoy x