Elegant Decrepitude

Photographed by Peter E. Lee

Nancy Mitford once said, "All nice rooms are a bit shabby."

There is something engaging about interiors that appear lived-in.

Editors know this intuitively, which is why magazine photo spreads are often styled to show signs of life.

A reader sent me a note recently and said, "I wonder why some houses look lived-in yet still somehow so charming, but when my house gets messy, it just looks messy."

His Grace, the Duke of Devonshire, relaxing at home at Chatsworth

What makes one room or person or garden look alluringly déshabillé, and another just look disordered?  Good question.

Ralph Lauren

It seems to me that off-hand elegance has certain characteristics--that it follows certain principles.

Eat, Pray, Love

The smartest man I ever loved told me that when you are trying to master something, discover the principles of whatever it is you are trying to learn.  He wasn't talking about decorating at the time but he said, techniques can vary as long as you don't violate the principles....

Ralph Lauren

So in terms of mastering offhand elegance, the first principle is likely cleanliness.  Elegance may be many things, but it is never foul.

We may allow the place to run to ruin and the silver to go unpolished, but still we must dust.  Unless we are Mario Buatta. 

Principle two, the disarray must be localized.  A little louché here and there says the house is alive--that vibrant, busy people live there.  However your style (and sanity) will suffer if everything is messy all of the time, at the same time--that doesn't say alive, it says overwhelmed.  

In other words, if the rest of the bathroom is tidy, a towel on the floor won't look like a school gym locker.  

Consider something like, oh I don't know,

maybe one-third mess to two-thirds neat?

Principle three is symmetry.  One reason English country houses are so appealing is that the requisite outdoorsy country house chaos is usually organized by the ordered structure of Georgian symmetry.  In Furlow Gatewood's glorious Georgia home, above, the symmetrical backdrop makes his collection of books and treasures look cultivated, not cluttered.   

And of course, great bone structure always helps.

Sharyn Bromley

Dignified architecture supports (literally and figuratively) the lives we live in our homes.  Mark Hampton says,

Principle four is quality.  As "disposable" products age, they just look old.

Ralph Lauren

Quality products may cost more initially, but they demonstrate their good sense daily because they last longer, and look better as they age. 

A house furnished with good quality products gracefully handles generations of the daily hub-bub.  Furniture and accessories need not be exorbitantly expensive, but should be solid, and well-crafted. 

Hotel Danieli, Venice

If a quality sofa, or table or picture frame eats up a good portion of your decorating budget, one solution is to simply slow down, buy less, and take more time.  Garage sales and flea markets might be happier (and greener) hunting grounds for the quality-savvy decorator than big-box super stores.

The most important thing one can do to make a house look and feel better, from the day one first sets up household to the day one leaves it all to the children, is to resolve to stop buying temporary, cheaply-made, disposable junk.  

Roman & Williams

Before we bring something home, we might ask ourselves, is this beautiful?  Is it appropriate?  Is it useful? 

Paulus Theodorus van Brussel

The principle of quality remains the same, even in contemporary interiors.

Jill Morris

Principle five, choose classics and it will all work out magically.

via Decorpad

Build a wardrobe of classic furniture and accessories.  Like a crisp white shirt, a classic trench and a good basic watch, the classics make whatever they rub shoulders with look profound, genteel, aristocratic even.  

Ralph Lauren's study

Ralph Lauren's study is a mishmash of eras and styles, but has an aura of the charming personal lair of a sophisticated vagabond.  It works because everything is classic, even the classic modern Eileen Grey table and Tizio lamp on the far right.

The beauty of choosing an antique French desk for your work space, is that it will still manage to look distinguished when covered with late-night Twinkie wrappers, take-out cartons and piles of papers. 

Books, boots, kids, basket balls, dog leashes- no problem.  Antiques have been there, done that.  With aplomb. 

Photographed by Ricardo Labougle for World of Interiors

Classic, pre-loved furniture and accessories can add a lot of style on a budget.  Check out Jennings' fun interview filled with tips for buying antiques, here.

You know how people wish for a personal chef or a celebrity trainer?  I wish for a Sherpa.  Some strong and patient soul to follow me around and carry all of the stuff that I am constantly carting from here to there and back again.  Until then, bags will collect by my door and on my kitchen counter as I pass through.

Natural organic materials are green and attractive, and that is Principle six.  Plastic bags are ugly and horrible for the environment.  Plunked on the floor or counter, filled with groceries, beach gear, toys or garden tools, natural straw or organic cotton or linen canvas bags look prettier than plastic.  Treat yourself (and the earth) to baskets and bags that are reusable and are better for the environment. 

Michael Bastian for Domino

Cleanliness

Symmetry

Localized Disarray

Quality and craftsmanship

Timeless classics

Natural, organic materials

Further Reading: