Welcome to cluttercore
May 17, 2022 7:19 AM Subscribe
While I was scrolling deep in the trenches of TikTok one morning, I had a visceral reaction to a video—with what I can only describe as chaotic good energy—about a design trend called “cluttercore.” Taking off during the pandemic, the hashtag has reached 49.6 million views on TikTok (and 23,703 tags on Instagram), and spawned more videos than any of my devices can load. I honestly had a hard time looking away from my screen because I saw so much of myself within this aesthetic. From Sydney Gore in Architectural Digest. See also Vanessa Brown's piece for The Conversation and Olivia Harvey's take for Apartment Therapy.
They call that clutter? Amateurs.
posted by ghharr at 7:25 AM on May 17, 2022 [37 favorites]
posted by ghharr at 7:25 AM on May 17, 2022 [37 favorites]
Yeah, if people think this is a mess, they’ve never seen an actual mess. Lovely photos of some intriguing collections!
posted by corey flood at 7:27 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by corey flood at 7:27 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
my wife has been this way ever since I've known her, and it's been an interesting tension between us as I prefer to have less stuff, and maintain some space and flow in the rooms of our home. I'm clumsy and forgetful, and a cluttered home predisposes me to making messes or spills or setting stuff down in the wrong space. With that said, she has an eye for adding richness to a room that makes it feel cozier, so it's always an interesting conversation for us about how to decorate a room, and how much of that is about adding new stuff or pruning things as we add other stuff.
We're not into "clutter' as a term for the aesthetic, because that implies a sort of unintentional acquisitiveness or something like hoarding. But, lately, she's favored the term "Moody Maximalism" which hits a good note about this still being curated for a target aesthetic, but with a bias towards filling out a space as opposed to ruthless culling.
posted by bl1nk at 7:37 AM on May 17, 2022 [19 favorites]
We're not into "clutter' as a term for the aesthetic, because that implies a sort of unintentional acquisitiveness or something like hoarding. But, lately, she's favored the term "Moody Maximalism" which hits a good note about this still being curated for a target aesthetic, but with a bias towards filling out a space as opposed to ruthless culling.
posted by bl1nk at 7:37 AM on May 17, 2022 [19 favorites]
This post is brought to you by the drywall anchor, repair putty and paint matching industry.
posted by neuracnu at 7:38 AM on May 17, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by neuracnu at 7:38 AM on May 17, 2022 [15 favorites]
I must be a minimalist because that much stuff gives me the heebie-jeebies just looking at it.
posted by conifer at 7:41 AM on May 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by conifer at 7:41 AM on May 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
Albert Einstein was apparently an early adopter of cluttercore, even if he didn’t actually say “ If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
posted by TedW at 7:42 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by TedW at 7:42 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
It is always nice when one's lifestyle choices become a, more than likely, brief fad (RIP Lumbersexual).
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:43 AM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:43 AM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
Things like this send me on a sort of Five Stages of Engaging With Zeitgeist spiral. Shock ("that's a thing?"), exhaustion ("of course that's a thing"), curiosity ("it's kind of neat, actually"), cynicism ("but of course it has to become a whole big deal, why does everything have to have a name and a hashtag these days [proceeds to mutter about social media]") and finally, acceptance ("well, maybe it's just nice that someone has found their joy and it gives them something to hold on to in this terrible world").
posted by fight or flight at 7:48 AM on May 17, 2022 [63 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 7:48 AM on May 17, 2022 [63 favorites]
I like the way artfully-displayed clutter looks, but when it's in my own space, I get really overwhelmed and distracted by it. Also, so many places for dust to settle! I think this is a good trend for me to admire from afar on Instagram and TikTok.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:49 AM on May 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:49 AM on May 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
I must be a minimalist because that much stuff gives me the heebie-jeebies just looking at it.
Me, too.
I read the linked articles but it isn't completely clear to me if they are saying that this is just a new term for having a space full of curated stuff, or if they are saying that there is something new about this style. I've always had friends who decorated like this, so it doesn't feel new to me based on the photos. It's definitely not my style and those spaces tend to feel tight and cluttered to me, but I've been in apartments and houses that are in this style that pulled it off and made it look good.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:51 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Me, too.
I read the linked articles but it isn't completely clear to me if they are saying that this is just a new term for having a space full of curated stuff, or if they are saying that there is something new about this style. I've always had friends who decorated like this, so it doesn't feel new to me based on the photos. It's definitely not my style and those spaces tend to feel tight and cluttered to me, but I've been in apartments and houses that are in this style that pulled it off and made it look good.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:51 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
I love those kinds of artfully arranged messes, but I lack the artful arrangement gene, so I'm left just with messes.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:04 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 8:04 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
“That feeling of whelmed” is my new favorite mood
posted by Mchelly at 8:08 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 8:08 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
"Can you ever just be whelmed?"
"I think you can in Europe??"
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:11 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
"I think you can in Europe??"
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:11 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Dusting is the dealbreaker for me with that kind of display. I have a small glass case that I keep some things in, but just putting stuff on the shelf ends up requiring a extra cleaning I don't want to do.
posted by FencingGal at 8:13 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 8:13 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Oh actually, reading more deeply, I just realized that cluttercore actually stands apart from maximalism by just focusing on cramming more and more stuff onto your walls and shelves, and, yeah, that's all a bridge too far for us.
Yes, to being generous with saying all the things bring one joy. Yes, to being unafraid to use color liberally. Yes, to letting your life story be told in a rich tapestry of knick-knacks, art, and furniture choices.
No, to having the goal be covering every square inch of your wall with something. Hard no to crowding your space further with more bookcases and cabinets just to fuel acquisitiveness.
posted by bl1nk at 8:14 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yes, to being generous with saying all the things bring one joy. Yes, to being unafraid to use color liberally. Yes, to letting your life story be told in a rich tapestry of knick-knacks, art, and furniture choices.
No, to having the goal be covering every square inch of your wall with something. Hard no to crowding your space further with more bookcases and cabinets just to fuel acquisitiveness.
posted by bl1nk at 8:14 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
That top image in the AT link was like "oh, yes, I know this look, this is the making-the-best-of-really-tiny-spaces look." I'm a sort of half-assed minimalist -- I would much rather have clear countertops and peaceful sight lines but I'm not ready to pare down to two plates, two bowls, and a french press. I don't like STUFF but I use things, and I have nowhere to stash them out of sight in my apartment.
So I was momentarily stoked, like oh good, we're gonna see some ways to make it less chaotic and more stylish, when you can't be a millionaire with a hidden fridge and 42 cabinets.
But then everything else was just like WHOA, THAT'S SOME STUFF.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:17 AM on May 17, 2022 [12 favorites]
So I was momentarily stoked, like oh good, we're gonna see some ways to make it less chaotic and more stylish, when you can't be a millionaire with a hidden fridge and 42 cabinets.
But then everything else was just like WHOA, THAT'S SOME STUFF.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:17 AM on May 17, 2022 [12 favorites]
My brain just doesn't work well when surrounded by that much visual (or really any) stimulus. For me those rooms give me the same feeling I get as an introvert when forced to spend way too much time in crowds of people.
posted by mcduff at 8:19 AM on May 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by mcduff at 8:19 AM on May 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
Somewhat ironically, cluttercore aesthetics would have the net effect of meaning that my rooms would be effectively empty due to overloading ADHD brain and grouping the clutter layer into the background layer.
There's a goldilocks amount of 'clutter' that can persist as discrete objects in my brain, but I must reserve that limited number of spots for objects related to critical tasks that I will otherwise neglect or forget, e.g. household waste / daily charging station / medications / etc.
alas, alack. :)
posted by lazaruslong at 8:32 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
There's a goldilocks amount of 'clutter' that can persist as discrete objects in my brain, but I must reserve that limited number of spots for objects related to critical tasks that I will otherwise neglect or forget, e.g. household waste / daily charging station / medications / etc.
alas, alack. :)
posted by lazaruslong at 8:32 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I had to look away. Some select few people can pull this off by virtue of their stylish eye and penchant for keeping things clean and orderly and all at right angles. Everyone else ends up with their own personal thrift shop covered in dust and reeking of cat pee and ugh, I have such an emotional reaction even to photos of it, I can't get away fast enough.
posted by HotToddy at 8:36 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 8:36 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
How precious is everything the moment you have to move? I think I moved nearly a dozen times in my 20s, how do you move this much *crap?
*one persons treasure
posted by djseafood at 8:46 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
*one persons treasure
posted by djseafood at 8:46 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love collections of things, so long as they aren't all one thing. Wandering around someone's home and seeing cool little knick knacks that they found interesting is just fun. I will find it hard not to play with/rearrange them though.
posted by emjaybee at 8:46 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 8:46 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
The first photo in the AD made me feel ill. In my case, an empty desk is a sign that I might be able to concentrate enough to write, and she who dies with the most toys never got it together to give them away.
posted by Peach at 8:47 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Peach at 8:47 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm a very short person, and my cluttercore aesthetic (my collections are not quite as detailed as these examples, but multiple people have described my house's vibe as cluttercore) extends only to about five feet off the ground. I guess I don't like having things looming around me! Business on the ceiling, party on the floor.
posted by twelve cent archie at 8:49 AM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by twelve cent archie at 8:49 AM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
I think part of popularity may be that most people have been inside that household full of decades of knick knacks and thrift shop finds with that particular odor, where you have to step around stuff and things just to get from one room to another. Not apocalyptic hoarding but close enough.
posted by shenkerism at 8:50 AM on May 17, 2022
posted by shenkerism at 8:50 AM on May 17, 2022
It's super interesting to me that when I think about this aesthetic in popular culture, one of the first things that comes to mind is Misery, with the house full of little knick-knacks everywhere. And how it's supposed to be unsettling, and reflect the mind of a psychopath.
posted by nushustu at 8:59 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by nushustu at 8:59 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Cluttercore and minimalism are good at being their own near-enemies, cluttercore when your stuff turns into trash through un-maintainableness and minimalism when you keep rebuying stuff you actually needed (or take up expensive maintenance habits to keep it looking simple).
I love aphoristic heuristics for balancing incompatible values - one of my grandfathers liked "Don’t eat so much at once that you can’t get up and dance", frex. And my rule for cluttercore is that if it gets very dusty I don’t love it enough to keep it - I’m not even picking it up to enjoy it very often. So a lot of my clutter evolves to tools of some kind, and when I actually use them I am so much happier.
Two more posts on cluttercore I liked: a minimalists consideration and one on ADHD, women, and cluttercore.
posted by clew at 9:00 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
I love aphoristic heuristics for balancing incompatible values - one of my grandfathers liked "Don’t eat so much at once that you can’t get up and dance", frex. And my rule for cluttercore is that if it gets very dusty I don’t love it enough to keep it - I’m not even picking it up to enjoy it very often. So a lot of my clutter evolves to tools of some kind, and when I actually use them I am so much happier.
Two more posts on cluttercore I liked: a minimalists consideration and one on ADHD, women, and cluttercore.
posted by clew at 9:00 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
Minimalism is boring, and I am NOT a tidy person, but I almost jumped up and fled from that first picture!
posted by praemunire at 9:07 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 9:07 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wow, lots of negativity in these comments.
Cluttercore has always been my default, verging on (and often succumbing to) messiness. I love it. It makes me feel "nested" and cozy and I like being able to see all my favorite things. Right now on my desk there is a display of Tamagotchis, a doll on a stand, an assortment of little desk items, two squishies, a framed picture of an opossum, a Calico Critters treehouse playset, a sunlight lamp, and numerous other little items. In front of me is a wall nearly covered with Tamagotchis in their vivid vintage backcards, a shelf full of dolls, a rack of sewing thread, and two bicycles.
No one else has to live here and that's probably a good thing. But there isn't anything wrong with living this way, nor does it make me a bad person who's obsessed with acquisitions to the exclusion of higher pursuits. It's just one way of being.
posted by fiercecupcake at 9:12 AM on May 17, 2022 [22 favorites]
Cluttercore has always been my default, verging on (and often succumbing to) messiness. I love it. It makes me feel "nested" and cozy and I like being able to see all my favorite things. Right now on my desk there is a display of Tamagotchis, a doll on a stand, an assortment of little desk items, two squishies, a framed picture of an opossum, a Calico Critters treehouse playset, a sunlight lamp, and numerous other little items. In front of me is a wall nearly covered with Tamagotchis in their vivid vintage backcards, a shelf full of dolls, a rack of sewing thread, and two bicycles.
No one else has to live here and that's probably a good thing. But there isn't anything wrong with living this way, nor does it make me a bad person who's obsessed with acquisitions to the exclusion of higher pursuits. It's just one way of being.
posted by fiercecupcake at 9:12 AM on May 17, 2022 [22 favorites]
…huh, the site with the essay on cluttercore being good for (some) cases of ADHD also has an essay on the rise of in-app influencer shopping and dopamine hunger being financially terrible especially for women with ADHD. Near enemies.
posted by clew at 9:20 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by clew at 9:20 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Nah, I'm sorry for the negativity. I honestly don't mind this at all. If you dig it, go for it. I like minimialism, prefer maximalism, and mostly would have a hard time w/ cluttercore mostly because of dusting. (I honestly started thinking about how I'd dust if I lived this aesthetic, and decided I'd use tacky clay or whatever it's called to hold everything down and then get the gentlest leaf blower I could find to dust.)
But truly, this is fun, and if you like it, then awesome. :)
posted by nushustu at 9:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
But truly, this is fun, and if you like it, then awesome. :)
posted by nushustu at 9:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
We're not into "clutter' as a term for the aesthetic, because that implies a sort of unintentional acquisitiveness or something like hoarding. But,
clutter like any organic form wants to be tended when we invite it into our homes. And like any beautiful thing, the wilder we allow it to be, the more it gives back ... until it tries to eat you. I recall a discussion with some friends and friends of friends a while back. It was one of the "friends of" who defined the difference between clutter and hoarding being "clutter doesn't want to kill you". It turns out she'd been badly concussed recently while visiting an elderly aunt. While trying to make some room to sit down comfortably, she dislodged a (thankfully) small TV set that was set high upon a stack of old books and whatnot. And so on ...
posted by philip-random at 9:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
clutter like any organic form wants to be tended when we invite it into our homes. And like any beautiful thing, the wilder we allow it to be, the more it gives back ... until it tries to eat you. I recall a discussion with some friends and friends of friends a while back. It was one of the "friends of" who defined the difference between clutter and hoarding being "clutter doesn't want to kill you". It turns out she'd been badly concussed recently while visiting an elderly aunt. While trying to make some room to sit down comfortably, she dislodged a (thankfully) small TV set that was set high upon a stack of old books and whatnot. And so on ...
posted by philip-random at 9:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Is this just a new name for "the way i decorated my dorm room, which didn't have closets" ?
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:24 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:24 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Listen, I just want something other than the same kind of gray minimalism. I've been dying of aesthetic thirst for so long. Let some of us drink for once.
posted by wellifyouinsist at 9:24 AM on May 17, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by wellifyouinsist at 9:24 AM on May 17, 2022 [16 favorites]
Looks cozy to me. It's a welcome change from all those icy minimalist rooms.
posted by surlyben at 9:28 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by surlyben at 9:28 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
OK, I think I got it.
Goblincore, which was a thing* last year, is essentially a darker-hued, earthy take on cottage core.
Cluttercore is essentially a curated maximalism.
Am I on target here?
*As much as anything online can be a "thing," or maybe just a couple articles designed to get visits and start up a Discourse.
posted by stannate at 9:28 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Goblincore, which was a thing* last year, is essentially a darker-hued, earthy take on cottage core.
Cluttercore is essentially a curated maximalism.
Am I on target here?
*As much as anything online can be a "thing," or maybe just a couple articles designed to get visits and start up a Discourse.
posted by stannate at 9:28 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
This will never be me. Not a fan of stuff. I need a few plants, a cat or two, some books, some mu sic, etc. I slept on a futon on the floor until I was 52 years old...I ' m 75 now. I have never owned a couch. I own too much art supplies likely...and too much jewelry making supplies...although those were my profession...I am overtaking my brother who is a hoarder with ALS....We are the odd couple.
posted by Czjewel at 9:31 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 9:31 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's too bad that they describe cluttercore as the opposite of Marie Kondo minimalism, when what Marie Kondo advocates is not at odds with this at all.
posted by medusa at 9:37 AM on May 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by medusa at 9:37 AM on May 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
Finally, I have found my "_core" thing and people!
From Apartment Therapy link: "It’s the aesthetic for collectors of niche items who want to proudly display their cache. It’s for those who have loads of items that each hold their own story. And it’s for people who aren’t afraid to fill their spaces with the things they love, no matter how whacky, minuscule, or unimportant it may seem to someone on the outside."
From Architectural Digest link: "My first thought was, ‘Wow, these spaces make me so happy,’” Hannah says. “Why has the internet convinced us all that clutter is bad?"...“What’s fun about cluttercore is it REQUIRES personality and specialized interest in order to work and it celebrates radical individuality.”
I do agree with the ADHD link as well, and also that if I put something away and out of sight, I've pretty much lost it forever. I had to empty out half of my apartment for roach spraying recently and I had forgotten I even HAD the stuff that was nicely and neatly put away out of my sight for years. I hate putting it nice, neat, and away! So when trying to put stuff back, I'm trying to put the "things I should keep but rarely or ever want or use" into the oubliette spaces.
I like my clutter most of the time, darn it, though I do admit at times the craft project messes are fairly bad, especially around the kitchen table. But also I live alone so nobody can complain about it. If I had a boyfriend, I'm pretty sure I'd get complained at for putting pretty things out where I can see them all the time.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:38 AM on May 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
From Apartment Therapy link: "It’s the aesthetic for collectors of niche items who want to proudly display their cache. It’s for those who have loads of items that each hold their own story. And it’s for people who aren’t afraid to fill their spaces with the things they love, no matter how whacky, minuscule, or unimportant it may seem to someone on the outside."
From Architectural Digest link: "My first thought was, ‘Wow, these spaces make me so happy,’” Hannah says. “Why has the internet convinced us all that clutter is bad?"...“What’s fun about cluttercore is it REQUIRES personality and specialized interest in order to work and it celebrates radical individuality.”
I do agree with the ADHD link as well, and also that if I put something away and out of sight, I've pretty much lost it forever. I had to empty out half of my apartment for roach spraying recently and I had forgotten I even HAD the stuff that was nicely and neatly put away out of my sight for years. I hate putting it nice, neat, and away! So when trying to put stuff back, I'm trying to put the "things I should keep but rarely or ever want or use" into the oubliette spaces.
I like my clutter most of the time, darn it, though I do admit at times the craft project messes are fairly bad, especially around the kitchen table. But also I live alone so nobody can complain about it. If I had a boyfriend, I'm pretty sure I'd get complained at for putting pretty things out where I can see them all the time.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:38 AM on May 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
ctrl-f "Kondo" .... "too many things in your home “spark joy” and [you] decidedly failed out of Marie Kondo school"
Interior design journo-bloggers still on their tl:dr bullshit, I see.
posted by radiogreentea at 9:39 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Interior design journo-bloggers still on their tl:dr bullshit, I see.
posted by radiogreentea at 9:39 AM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
"What’s fun about cluttercore is it REQUIRES personality and specialized interest in order to work and it celebrates radical individuality.”
See, this kind of thing seems just silly to me. Any style of decor, chosen with sincerity, reflects one's individuality. Everyone has a personality. Everyone has interests. I'd like to believe that my slightly excessive collection of Funko Pops gives me "radical individuality," but...no.
There's also more than of a whiff of "my diagnosis makes me a special and unique personality" in some of the comments in the articles. Also...no.
posted by praemunire at 9:45 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
See, this kind of thing seems just silly to me. Any style of decor, chosen with sincerity, reflects one's individuality. Everyone has a personality. Everyone has interests. I'd like to believe that my slightly excessive collection of Funko Pops gives me "radical individuality," but...no.
There's also more than of a whiff of "my diagnosis makes me a special and unique personality" in some of the comments in the articles. Also...no.
posted by praemunire at 9:45 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Now, you know it's up to you whether or not you want to just do the bare minimum. Or... well, like Brian, for example, has thirty seven pieces of flair, okay. And a terrific smile.
posted by meowzilla at 9:45 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by meowzilla at 9:45 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
Edith Wharton would have hated this.
posted by Mchelly at 9:48 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Mchelly at 9:48 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
“That is very crude of you. When you have lived as long as I, you will see that every human being has his shell, and that you must take the shell into account. By the shell I mean the whole envelope of circumstances. There is no such thing as an isolated man or woman; we are each of us made up of a cluster of appurtenances. What do you call one’s self? Where does it begin? where does it end? It overflows into everything that belongs to us—and then it flows back again. I know that a large part of myself is in the dresses I choose to wear. I have a great respect for things! One’s self—for other people—is one’s expression of one’s self; and one’s house, one’s clothes, the book one reads, the company one keeps—these things are all expressive.”posted by praemunire at 9:51 AM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
This was very metaphysical; not more so, however, than several observations Madame Merle had already made. Isabel was found of metaphysics, but she was unable to accompany her friend into this bold analysis of the human personality.
“I don’t agree with you,” she said. “I think just the other way. I don’t know whether I succeed in expressing myself, but I know that nothing else expresses me. Nothing that belongs to me is any measure of me; on the contrary, it’s a limit, a barrier, and a perfectly arbitrary one. Certainly, the clothes which, as you say, I choose to wear, don’t express me; and heaven forbid they should!”
“You dress very well,” interposed Madame Merle, skilfully.
“Possibly; but I don’t care to be judged by that. My clothes may express the dressmaker, but they don’t express me. To begin with, it’s not my own choice that I wear them; they are imposed upon me by society.”
“Should you prefer to go without them?” Madame Merle inquired, in a tone which virtually terminated the discussion.
This had been my default since I was a teenager. Here if you have any questions on placement of shrines need in a guest bathroom (and should you fill a decorative chest with plastic babies and toy dinosaurs? yes), tips on how to build shelves out of your too-many books to house your collections of other stuff, whether there is an actual point at which you should stop trying to acquire old gilt picture frames (for old weird art or your friends' current weird art) and how dresses, handbags, jewelry and basically any weirdo shit you take a shine to at the thrift shop can make for A+++ wall art.
posted by thivaia at 9:51 AM on May 17, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 9:51 AM on May 17, 2022 [8 favorites]
I’m surprised the post on Ms Pink didn’t auto-link. Hey, also Bella Donna!
posted by clew at 9:52 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 9:52 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Victorians suffered from horror vacuii....this seems similar.
posted by Czjewel at 9:52 AM on May 17, 2022
posted by Czjewel at 9:52 AM on May 17, 2022
We live in, what my wife terms, "a glorious explosion of things". Most of those things has a story about it or a memory or was a gift from someone we like to think of. We don't store stuff in the basement---save for the obvious things like seasonal decorations and canning equipment we don't need every day. And a library, but that's on shelves (mostly). But there are not boxes of stuff lying about. We do turf outs and prunes every few years.
IDK if it's "cluttercore". I don't see a ton of books in those pictures and that's our most common clutter.
posted by bonehead at 9:56 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
IDK if it's "cluttercore". I don't see a ton of books in those pictures and that's our most common clutter.
posted by bonehead at 9:56 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Two more posts on cluttercore I liked: a minimalists consideration and one on ADHD, women, and cluttercore.Ooh, that's interesting, because I actually think my ADHD is the reason that I get overwhelmed by busy-looking spaces. I tend towards clutter, because my general executive dysfunction makes it hard for me to keep things tidy, but I definitely function better when there's not a ton of clutter around.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:58 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
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Have enough stuff and you won't have any flat surfaces to dust
posted by scruss at 10:10 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Dusting is the dealbreaker for me
Have enough stuff and you won't have any flat surfaces to dust
posted by scruss at 10:10 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think it's important to differentiate between a hoarder (like my ex-housemate, who was allowed to relocate her stuff from Germany to Ireland for free, and brought everything, even her reusable shopping bags and stale coffee), people like my parents (who've just lived in the same place for a long time and picked up lots of random interesting stuff), and this, which is very busy, but very curated.
It was definitely a thing in coffee shops in Dublin 10+ years ago - not a TGI Friday's style clutter, but floor-to-ceiling picture frames of different sizes that happened to be aligned just-right, couches with multicoloured throws and way too many cushions etc. Precise clutter. It fell out of fashion a while back, but maybe it's returning.
posted by kersplunk at 10:12 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
It was definitely a thing in coffee shops in Dublin 10+ years ago - not a TGI Friday's style clutter, but floor-to-ceiling picture frames of different sizes that happened to be aligned just-right, couches with multicoloured throws and way too many cushions etc. Precise clutter. It fell out of fashion a while back, but maybe it's returning.
posted by kersplunk at 10:12 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Dust falls upon the flat
And also on the unflat clutter;
"You have to dust it all, my friends"
The asthmatic wheezes in a mutter.
posted by clew at 10:14 AM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
And also on the unflat clutter;
"You have to dust it all, my friends"
The asthmatic wheezes in a mutter.
posted by clew at 10:14 AM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
It was one of the "friends of" who defined the difference between clutter and hoarding being "clutter doesn't want to kill you". It turns out she'd been badly concussed recently while visiting an elderly aunt. While trying to make some room to sit down comfortably, she dislodged a (thankfully) small TV set that was set high upon a stack of old books and whatnot. And so onI grew up around the Pacific Rim and lived through though two earthquakes.
The point where my wife and I needed to talk about balancing her maximalist tendencies with my own more minimal preferences was when she stacked two tall DVD shelves on top of another, short and wide bookshelf, and the sight of it just triggered this visceral buried trauma in me. Like, I could not look at that shelf and not think, "that is the thing that will kill me."
It didn't matter that we live on the East Coast and earthquakes aren't a thing. Looming stacks of things balanced on other looming shelves of other things is just a deep fear trigger for me.
posted by bl1nk at 10:19 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I do residential design and the bulk of my clients have kids at home. Often people will apologize for their house mess but, truly, pretty much everyone's house is in a state of living. I often think of the famous quotation by Corbusier, "A house is a machine for living in." If you know his work, you know this kind of household higgledypiggledy is not what he meant. But, he should have! A house with an active family inside is a machine which must support a range of functions and the more little people you have in there, the more chaotic the sine waves become. Our hobbies and collections range the spectrum and what makes one person comfortable is another person's itchy, too-small sweater. A Monday is not a Tuesday is not a Saturday. I have only been in one house that had kids which was shockingly tidy and minimalist, she admitted that she had OCD and spent the first two hours of every day cleaning and tidying. Her partner's one area was a contrast to this in what I considered a delightful way. I love when people do have important collections or interests that need to be catered to in the design of the home. Often people do just want a solution to "all this mess" and my favorite thing to do is improve flow and function such that the everyday movements are more comfortable, quite delightful and calming. Also: "curio cabinets" were definitely a huge thing back in the day. Talk to any boomer wanting to unload theirs while downsizing...it's tough.
posted by amanda at 10:34 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by amanda at 10:34 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
Most of those things has a story about it or a memory or was a gift from someone we like to think of.
As my girlfriend likes to say to me: "Everything you own has a provenance, and a lengthy backstory."
posted by twelve cent archie at 10:37 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
As my girlfriend likes to say to me: "Everything you own has a provenance, and a lengthy backstory."
posted by twelve cent archie at 10:37 AM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
why does everything have to have a name and a hashtag these days
Namecore is the trend that unifies all trends [The Face]
posted by ellieBOA at 10:45 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Namecore is the trend that unifies all trends [The Face]
posted by ellieBOA at 10:45 AM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
This is getting a lot of favorites but you know that hoarding is compulsive, right?
+1 to this.
It's also not really cool to use OCD as shorthand for anything except describing the condition. It's not a fun thing to live with at all and the whole "haha I like clean things I'm sooooo OCD" trope contributes to a lot of misunderstandings about how it presents, as well as what people with the actual diagnosed condition have to deal with. Less casual ableism around here would be nice.
posted by fight or flight at 11:17 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
+1 to this.
It's also not really cool to use OCD as shorthand for anything except describing the condition. It's not a fun thing to live with at all and the whole "haha I like clean things I'm sooooo OCD" trope contributes to a lot of misunderstandings about how it presents, as well as what people with the actual diagnosed condition have to deal with. Less casual ableism around here would be nice.
posted by fight or flight at 11:17 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
For people who love this, you might like this video of mudlarker Nicola White starting about 12:00. She does a tour around her place showing many of her collections of items salvaged from the Thames, many Victorian or earlier, and some from more recent years including plastic toys and plush. Many interesting histories of things, too.
posted by Glinn at 11:17 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Glinn at 11:17 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
As I read the link summary, I was very much hoping for a "more inside" link.
posted by k3ninho at 11:21 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by k3ninho at 11:21 AM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I will find it hard not to play with/rearrange them though.
If any of you somehow manages to come to my house please feel free to play with and/or rearrange any of the various trinkets in my house. They are there to be enjoyed! And they probably came to me by way of someone I care about, so it makes me happy to see them being used.
posted by TedW at 11:21 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
If any of you somehow manages to come to my house please feel free to play with and/or rearrange any of the various trinkets in my house. They are there to be enjoyed! And they probably came to me by way of someone I care about, so it makes me happy to see them being used.
posted by TedW at 11:21 AM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yessss it's finally my time. Err, wait, no, not like that!
I also have ADHD and I sincerely love clutter and a messy desk. I have since I was a kid. I learned to stop beating myself up about my clutter years ago because it's not really a failure or something I need or want to stress about.
I also recognize clutter drives other people bananas, so I religiously and strictly keep my happy mess to myself and out of shared spaces. When I cook in a kitchen I do all my dishes and clean up before I eat so I don't have to deal with it afterwards, and I definitely don't leave my socks or belongings all over the house. I don't even store anything in the shared bathroom and just keep all my toiletries in a nice basket so I can just grab it and go.
But put me in a starkly clean minimalist home or room and I also go bananas with anxiety that it's too clean for me, because I know that I probably have mud or something on me somewhere just because I bike and walk everywhere in all kinds of weather. I just can't relax and I will forever be perching on the edges of furniture and walking around on eggshells and will never feel truly at home. And if you want to see me get really anxious, have a white couch or carpet or something and offer me a cup of coffee or a glass of red wine or something, because it's highly likely I'm going to make a mess of it.
And I'm definitely most comfortable in lived in houses or spaces with clutter. People try to apologize to me about this all the time and it just feels like home to me. I'm totally comfortable shoving aside a pile of laundry to make room on a couch, or dealing with pet hair all over the place or a working around a sink full of dishes. It just feels like a functional, living home to me.
One of the first things I do if I'm in a hotel room or even a guest room at a friends place is rumple up the bed and even scatter some of my stuff around so it's more messy and comfy for me. Basically the only time I make my bed is if I'm about to sleep in it and the covers and bedclothes are too tangled up to be useful. In practice I make my bed most often in the middle of the night after I've tossed and turned so much that my comforter and sheets are tangled up in a ball that no longer functions as covers and "making the bed" is just a matter of untangling all of that, throwing the top sheet and comforter flat again and crawling back into bed.
Despite my space looking like a tornado hit it I also somehow usually know where everything is. Sometimes my housemates ask if I have something useful like tape, or string, or a hand tool or something and I generally have no problems diving into my mess and popping out with that useful thing in seconds. Because it's right where I left it when I was last using it, like my organizational system is temporal rather than spatial, as though it's organized into sedimentary layers.
Part of the reason I really like clutter like this is sometimes I get new ideas out of the juxtaposition of things. A book or field guide propped up on my camera stuff, or perhaps some clothes that I haven't thought about wearing together that look nice as a combination of colors or textures.
Another reason I like my particular brand of clutter is that it's functionally saved my bacon or helped someone else because due to my lazy inertia I never ended up throwing something away or taking it to donate to a thrift store, and now I have it at the right time and place and I can just give it to someone who can use it.
Where my system totally fails is finding clothes in a hurry, especially since so many of my clothes are black and they all kind of blend together.
But that's fine by me because I hate being in a hurry anyway and my routine to get ready to go to work or do things is planned around not wanting to hurry. I'd rather wake up early and take several hours getting ready than being one of those people that can somehow wake up and get out the door in 15-20 minutes. Which, frankly, I don't understand at all. But that's fine.
I have no problems being punctual and on time, every time as long as it's not in a hurry or at the last minute. I don't generally like being totally spontaneous because I hate hurrying in general. Give me a firm time and place with enough notice and I'm there.
Curiously I am much better organized when traveling or when I've been homeless and/or camping for extended periods, like on a bike tour. I get super obsessive about packing - and overpacking - and keeping everything super tidy and well organized. I write extensive packing checklists. I love bags with many, many pockets and sub-pockets. Even in my day to day life everything I use and carry has a specific place on my person or in my bag.
But this is more of a matter of functionality and less about personal aesthetics, because if I don't pack well and keep everything organized I ended up losing or ruining things. IE, if I leave my clothes or bedding scattered around like I would at home in my own space it makes or uncomfortable camping if I have wet clothes or bedding that has been rained on or dropped in the mud.
But there's also a weird aesthetic part of it for me that it conflicts with the natural chaos and clutter of nature, which I enjoy very much as its own thing where there's a total riot of colors and greenery from the natural order or disorder of things. And similarly I'd much rather camp somewhere with this kind of natural disorder all around me than a well groomed car-camping spot that looks more like a parking lot.
If I'm going camping I want to hang my hammock deep in the greenery and wake up with banana slugs and spiders happily sharing my space and just submerge myself in that natural chaos in some integrative, low impact, leave no trace kind of way. I've woken up to deer curled up next to my camp or squirrels in my hammock and I think it's utterly charming and enthralling.
So, yeah, please leave my messy desk alone. Yes, I know it's a complete riot of audio and photo gear, wires and cables, books and papers, half finished projects and more. Yes, I know where almost everything is, and if you try to disrupt that and organize it for me you won't be doing me any favors and I'll get cranky in a hurry.
For me there is a deeper philosophy to this controlled chaos and clutter and it has to do with entropy. You can't create order within a system without creating more disorder somewhere else. One of the reasons I like living like this is because I functionally use and consume less stuff. I seem to generate less landfill waste, too.
There's a parable or passage from Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine that's always resonated and stuck with me ever since I first read it when I was young.
The parable - loosely paraphrased - is that Douglas Spaulding's grandmother's kitchen is a total disorganized wreck, with spices and ingredients loose in drawers, unlabeled and all over the place, but she's known for amazing home cooked meals despite the chaos. Douglas' aunt visits and organizes everything, puts the seasoning and spices back into their jars, labels everything and sorts it all out.
Then the Spaulding family eagerly looks forward to the first meal his grandmother cooks after the reorganization, that it surely must be better now that the kitchen is all nicely sorted and put away.
But it's not. The meal is awful. It's lacking it's characteristic charm and inventiveness. As I recall even the visiting aunt notices that it's not right. And the Spaulding family quietly pushes away their plates and goes into the kitchen and puts everything back the way it was, emptying spice jars loose into the drawers and trying to recreate the happy mess that it was before.
That's me. In this sort of happy chaos - there's life being lived. No, it's not everyone's cup of tea. No, I'm not saying it's more functional than a tidy home or living space. I'm not saying it's the only way or the best way, but I do notice and observe that well organized people are more likely to be critical of disorganized clutter than the other way around as though it's some grievous sin to sincerely want that kind of clutter, or feel uncomfortable if everything is too tidy for my tastes.
"How do you live like this!?" I've heard, many times. Happily, I say.
I like it. And I tend to get along best with people who also like it like this.
posted by loquacious at 11:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [15 favorites]
I also have ADHD and I sincerely love clutter and a messy desk. I have since I was a kid. I learned to stop beating myself up about my clutter years ago because it's not really a failure or something I need or want to stress about.
I also recognize clutter drives other people bananas, so I religiously and strictly keep my happy mess to myself and out of shared spaces. When I cook in a kitchen I do all my dishes and clean up before I eat so I don't have to deal with it afterwards, and I definitely don't leave my socks or belongings all over the house. I don't even store anything in the shared bathroom and just keep all my toiletries in a nice basket so I can just grab it and go.
But put me in a starkly clean minimalist home or room and I also go bananas with anxiety that it's too clean for me, because I know that I probably have mud or something on me somewhere just because I bike and walk everywhere in all kinds of weather. I just can't relax and I will forever be perching on the edges of furniture and walking around on eggshells and will never feel truly at home. And if you want to see me get really anxious, have a white couch or carpet or something and offer me a cup of coffee or a glass of red wine or something, because it's highly likely I'm going to make a mess of it.
And I'm definitely most comfortable in lived in houses or spaces with clutter. People try to apologize to me about this all the time and it just feels like home to me. I'm totally comfortable shoving aside a pile of laundry to make room on a couch, or dealing with pet hair all over the place or a working around a sink full of dishes. It just feels like a functional, living home to me.
One of the first things I do if I'm in a hotel room or even a guest room at a friends place is rumple up the bed and even scatter some of my stuff around so it's more messy and comfy for me. Basically the only time I make my bed is if I'm about to sleep in it and the covers and bedclothes are too tangled up to be useful. In practice I make my bed most often in the middle of the night after I've tossed and turned so much that my comforter and sheets are tangled up in a ball that no longer functions as covers and "making the bed" is just a matter of untangling all of that, throwing the top sheet and comforter flat again and crawling back into bed.
Despite my space looking like a tornado hit it I also somehow usually know where everything is. Sometimes my housemates ask if I have something useful like tape, or string, or a hand tool or something and I generally have no problems diving into my mess and popping out with that useful thing in seconds. Because it's right where I left it when I was last using it, like my organizational system is temporal rather than spatial, as though it's organized into sedimentary layers.
Part of the reason I really like clutter like this is sometimes I get new ideas out of the juxtaposition of things. A book or field guide propped up on my camera stuff, or perhaps some clothes that I haven't thought about wearing together that look nice as a combination of colors or textures.
Another reason I like my particular brand of clutter is that it's functionally saved my bacon or helped someone else because due to my lazy inertia I never ended up throwing something away or taking it to donate to a thrift store, and now I have it at the right time and place and I can just give it to someone who can use it.
Where my system totally fails is finding clothes in a hurry, especially since so many of my clothes are black and they all kind of blend together.
But that's fine by me because I hate being in a hurry anyway and my routine to get ready to go to work or do things is planned around not wanting to hurry. I'd rather wake up early and take several hours getting ready than being one of those people that can somehow wake up and get out the door in 15-20 minutes. Which, frankly, I don't understand at all. But that's fine.
I have no problems being punctual and on time, every time as long as it's not in a hurry or at the last minute. I don't generally like being totally spontaneous because I hate hurrying in general. Give me a firm time and place with enough notice and I'm there.
Curiously I am much better organized when traveling or when I've been homeless and/or camping for extended periods, like on a bike tour. I get super obsessive about packing - and overpacking - and keeping everything super tidy and well organized. I write extensive packing checklists. I love bags with many, many pockets and sub-pockets. Even in my day to day life everything I use and carry has a specific place on my person or in my bag.
But this is more of a matter of functionality and less about personal aesthetics, because if I don't pack well and keep everything organized I ended up losing or ruining things. IE, if I leave my clothes or bedding scattered around like I would at home in my own space it makes or uncomfortable camping if I have wet clothes or bedding that has been rained on or dropped in the mud.
But there's also a weird aesthetic part of it for me that it conflicts with the natural chaos and clutter of nature, which I enjoy very much as its own thing where there's a total riot of colors and greenery from the natural order or disorder of things. And similarly I'd much rather camp somewhere with this kind of natural disorder all around me than a well groomed car-camping spot that looks more like a parking lot.
If I'm going camping I want to hang my hammock deep in the greenery and wake up with banana slugs and spiders happily sharing my space and just submerge myself in that natural chaos in some integrative, low impact, leave no trace kind of way. I've woken up to deer curled up next to my camp or squirrels in my hammock and I think it's utterly charming and enthralling.
So, yeah, please leave my messy desk alone. Yes, I know it's a complete riot of audio and photo gear, wires and cables, books and papers, half finished projects and more. Yes, I know where almost everything is, and if you try to disrupt that and organize it for me you won't be doing me any favors and I'll get cranky in a hurry.
For me there is a deeper philosophy to this controlled chaos and clutter and it has to do with entropy. You can't create order within a system without creating more disorder somewhere else. One of the reasons I like living like this is because I functionally use and consume less stuff. I seem to generate less landfill waste, too.
There's a parable or passage from Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine that's always resonated and stuck with me ever since I first read it when I was young.
The parable - loosely paraphrased - is that Douglas Spaulding's grandmother's kitchen is a total disorganized wreck, with spices and ingredients loose in drawers, unlabeled and all over the place, but she's known for amazing home cooked meals despite the chaos. Douglas' aunt visits and organizes everything, puts the seasoning and spices back into their jars, labels everything and sorts it all out.
Then the Spaulding family eagerly looks forward to the first meal his grandmother cooks after the reorganization, that it surely must be better now that the kitchen is all nicely sorted and put away.
But it's not. The meal is awful. It's lacking it's characteristic charm and inventiveness. As I recall even the visiting aunt notices that it's not right. And the Spaulding family quietly pushes away their plates and goes into the kitchen and puts everything back the way it was, emptying spice jars loose into the drawers and trying to recreate the happy mess that it was before.
That's me. In this sort of happy chaos - there's life being lived. No, it's not everyone's cup of tea. No, I'm not saying it's more functional than a tidy home or living space. I'm not saying it's the only way or the best way, but I do notice and observe that well organized people are more likely to be critical of disorganized clutter than the other way around as though it's some grievous sin to sincerely want that kind of clutter, or feel uncomfortable if everything is too tidy for my tastes.
"How do you live like this!?" I've heard, many times. Happily, I say.
I like it. And I tend to get along best with people who also like it like this.
posted by loquacious at 11:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [15 favorites]
That photo in the Conversation piece doesn't show decorating so much as it shows "having stuff". That's how everyone in my family has stuff, although our bookshelves tend to be a little tidier.
What kind of stuff is one supposed to have? Well, one should have books and one should have art and one should have mementos, and one should have them all on or around bookshelves where they produce a pleasant sense of history and security. These categories obviously overlap - a book could be art and a memento, etc. "History" may well be "I have lived in this apartment for six months" and "art" may be "posters from shows and demos" and "mementos" may be "mementos of three months ago", but the accrual principle is the same and if you keep doing it for years eventually you have art from a long time ago, also you probably inherit or are given some books, art and mementos as the years go by.
Additionally one should have a couple of comfortable chairs in pleasant materials and colors and some old lamps. Nothing should be obviously dirty although it all tends toward the shabby. Unless you absolutely need to buy all your furniture at once and new, there should be no more than one new on-trend piece at a time, and you should not have another until the first one has started to go shabby, so you should eventually build a little timeline of the formerly new and on-trend.
A home is a sort of shell or labyrinth and you live in the middle.
posted by Frowner at 11:53 AM on May 17, 2022 [8 favorites]
What kind of stuff is one supposed to have? Well, one should have books and one should have art and one should have mementos, and one should have them all on or around bookshelves where they produce a pleasant sense of history and security. These categories obviously overlap - a book could be art and a memento, etc. "History" may well be "I have lived in this apartment for six months" and "art" may be "posters from shows and demos" and "mementos" may be "mementos of three months ago", but the accrual principle is the same and if you keep doing it for years eventually you have art from a long time ago, also you probably inherit or are given some books, art and mementos as the years go by.
Additionally one should have a couple of comfortable chairs in pleasant materials and colors and some old lamps. Nothing should be obviously dirty although it all tends toward the shabby. Unless you absolutely need to buy all your furniture at once and new, there should be no more than one new on-trend piece at a time, and you should not have another until the first one has started to go shabby, so you should eventually build a little timeline of the formerly new and on-trend.
A home is a sort of shell or labyrinth and you live in the middle.
posted by Frowner at 11:53 AM on May 17, 2022 [8 favorites]
Somewhere out there, there's a World Of Warcraft devotee at the intersection of cluttercore and goblincore yelling "FOR THE HOARD!".
posted by mhoye at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Clutter is what happens when you have a normal amount of stuff inside a small space. I know people with just as much stuff as my family, but their homes are 2-3 times bigger, so their stuff is more spread out.
Okay, and also they put it away more often.
posted by jb at 1:16 PM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Okay, and also they put it away more often.
posted by jb at 1:16 PM on May 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
A home is a sort of shell or labyrinth and you live in the middle.
What are those little creatures that make a shell by sticking together gravel? And occasionally people put them in tanks of gold dust and pearls? Caddisflies, maybe?
posted by clew at 1:20 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
What are those little creatures that make a shell by sticking together gravel? And occasionally people put them in tanks of gold dust and pearls? Caddisflies, maybe?
posted by clew at 1:20 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
“Women with ADHD are more likely to experience anxiety and depressive symptoms, so bright colours, lightboxes and evocative decorations can be hugely beneficial, providing an outlet for stress and aiding with clearer thinking,” Dr Tom MacLaren, consultant psychiatrist at Re:Cognition Health tells Stylist. “Galaxy lights, evocative wallpaper, ornaments and a varied colour palette can provide stimulation.”
Thanks for the earlier links, clew! As a gal with ADHD, I was surprised to discover that cluttercore apparently is appealing to some (obviously not all) other folks with ADHD. It is both totally appealing to me (bright colours! sparkly things! old things! random things! fairy lights!) and also overwhelming. I am constantly trying–and failing–to find some kind of balance between having my walls covered with stuff and having stuff I love in artful arrangements and having visually calm spaces for my sleeping and work areas.
It's a challenge. I frequently move furniture around in my apartment, trying to find the right layout and then right decorative mix. Anyway, I thought MeFites might have some feels on this topic; truly appreciate all the comments.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:33 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Thanks for the earlier links, clew! As a gal with ADHD, I was surprised to discover that cluttercore apparently is appealing to some (obviously not all) other folks with ADHD. It is both totally appealing to me (bright colours! sparkly things! old things! random things! fairy lights!) and also overwhelming. I am constantly trying–and failing–to find some kind of balance between having my walls covered with stuff and having stuff I love in artful arrangements and having visually calm spaces for my sleeping and work areas.
It's a challenge. I frequently move furniture around in my apartment, trying to find the right layout and then right decorative mix. Anyway, I thought MeFites might have some feels on this topic; truly appreciate all the comments.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:33 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
This just made me realize that every generation needs to rename the same old shit just to feel ownership. This is just maximalism. Sorry.
If it has an editorial eye, it's maximalism. If it has no POV, it's hoarding.
posted by RobertFrost at 1:35 PM on May 17, 2022
If it has an editorial eye, it's maximalism. If it has no POV, it's hoarding.
posted by RobertFrost at 1:35 PM on May 17, 2022
Wait.. they passed up Hoardcore??
posted by RobertFrost at 1:39 PM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by RobertFrost at 1:39 PM on May 17, 2022 [10 favorites]
I would say that around 1 in 4 of my ADHD community are effectively minimalist, while the rest are maximalist. I have one friend who reads actual printed books for a hobby, and watches movies. Those are his main things. He never has more stuff in his accommodation than you can fit in one car. Everything goes to charity shops.
posted by asok at 2:17 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by asok at 2:17 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Until I was 33 years old, I owned almost nothing. I lived in a suitcase, even when I was married and owned a home with my then husband. And then after the divorce, when I moved into my first own (rented) apartment things changed. I now give away dozens of books every year, and still have many hundreds and can't enter a bookstore without buying something. I can host at least 40 people and serve them three courses on porcelain and with proper silverware all found in thrift stores. I have all the mementos and knick-knacks you can imagine, most with a story to tell. There are so many Persian rugs that half of them are rolled up and serve as draught-blockers. And don't even begin with the kitchen. It is no joke that I can sustain a family of six for a month with what I have in my pantry.
But maybe it was a phase of my life. I definitely needed all the comfort of all the stuff, and most of my friends love my "style" if you can call it a style. I loved to be able to cook up a feast at a moment's notice. I also loved the constant flux, for 25 years or more, everything has been changing all the time, things moving in and out (mostly in). Now, I am beginning to get rid of stuff. It is still a slow process. I don't really know how far I will go. I feel certain I won't go back to living in a suitcase, there was a sadness to that. But the future will be different.
I feel that all the stuff has been a form of self-care. A way of connecting to my ancestors and to my feelings. Some things are inherited, but as I mentioned above, I have also spent a lot of time in thrift stores and flea markets. Silverware from a long-gone hotel gives me a sense of history that I really needed at a time. Tea-cups with a special war-time history made sense to me, while my peers were buying designer tableware.
Now that I am finally getting treatment for PTSD, the things mean less. I don't need a wall of old prints to protect me from evil. I think/hope/maybe.
(I'm not sure I can end the book addiction, though)
posted by mumimor at 2:55 PM on May 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
But maybe it was a phase of my life. I definitely needed all the comfort of all the stuff, and most of my friends love my "style" if you can call it a style. I loved to be able to cook up a feast at a moment's notice. I also loved the constant flux, for 25 years or more, everything has been changing all the time, things moving in and out (mostly in). Now, I am beginning to get rid of stuff. It is still a slow process. I don't really know how far I will go. I feel certain I won't go back to living in a suitcase, there was a sadness to that. But the future will be different.
I feel that all the stuff has been a form of self-care. A way of connecting to my ancestors and to my feelings. Some things are inherited, but as I mentioned above, I have also spent a lot of time in thrift stores and flea markets. Silverware from a long-gone hotel gives me a sense of history that I really needed at a time. Tea-cups with a special war-time history made sense to me, while my peers were buying designer tableware.
Now that I am finally getting treatment for PTSD, the things mean less. I don't need a wall of old prints to protect me from evil. I think/hope/maybe.
(I'm not sure I can end the book addiction, though)
posted by mumimor at 2:55 PM on May 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
My wife and I have been together 30 years, married for 10. We've done a lot of traveling, and between that and getting gifts for xmas, birthdays, etc, we have amassed a distressing (to me) amount of stuff. So I guess you could say our home style is clutter-core. But it's been this way for many years.
She's more "clutter-core" than I am, and she loves knickknacks. On the plus side, she's been a business owner for 20+ years and does hospitality (boutique hotel) design, so she has good taste. I've learned a lot from her.
I'm firmly in the position of "no more stuff" but she makes more money than me and she's the one who buys the stuff, and well... we have been living clutter-core since before there was a clutter-core.
I hate dusting our home.
posted by SoberHighland at 3:06 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
She's more "clutter-core" than I am, and she loves knickknacks. On the plus side, she's been a business owner for 20+ years and does hospitality (boutique hotel) design, so she has good taste. I've learned a lot from her.
I'm firmly in the position of "no more stuff" but she makes more money than me and she's the one who buys the stuff, and well... we have been living clutter-core since before there was a clutter-core.
I hate dusting our home.
posted by SoberHighland at 3:06 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Honestly, dust is the most infuriating thing. You put the object somewhere safe, you didn't even move or use it, and it still gets dirty? That's bullshit.
posted by praemunire at 3:16 PM on May 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 3:16 PM on May 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
In the photo at the top of that AD article, what does the lady have on her lap? It looks like... a plush doll of the butts of conjoined babies?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:22 PM on May 17, 2022
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:22 PM on May 17, 2022
I think it’s a big pillow in the shape of a hand, and the perspective is a bit weird.
posted by Glinn at 3:48 PM on May 17, 2022
posted by Glinn at 3:48 PM on May 17, 2022
Glinn, it occurred to me that it might be a hand, but if so it seems like it's only part of a really swollen, deformed hand. Like, maybe from the knuckles/upper palm to about half of the fingers? Even allowing for perspective wonkiness I can't quite work out what I'm looking at.
It may be that this "aesthetic" is just kind of inevitable when you have a lot of trendy young people who can't afford homes of any size but can afford to buy lots of little things. They can't expand, so their homes end up looking like cute vintage shops.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:41 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
It may be that this "aesthetic" is just kind of inevitable when you have a lot of trendy young people who can't afford homes of any size but can afford to buy lots of little things. They can't expand, so their homes end up looking like cute vintage shops.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:41 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I guess my main question is, if you're cultivating a Cluttercore aesthetic where every possible flat surface has a carefully collected and arranged assortment of stuff on it . . .
where do you put the actual clutter?
posted by soundguy99 at 5:17 PM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
where do you put the actual clutter?
posted by soundguy99 at 5:17 PM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
I always wonder that. Whenever you see a beautiful home picture of any style-- minimalist to cluttercore-- where the hell do they keep the charging cables, tissue box, books they are reading right now, mail, extra pens, coupons, grocery bags, etc.? Where are all the craft supplies? I would welcome a photo shoot of lovely homes during the week before they've been tidied up for the camera.
Dusting: put the leg of a pantyhose over the hose of the vacuum-- you can get the majority of things and anything that accidentally gets sucked in gets trapped in the net. This is how you do silk flowers and needlepoint or macramé hangings, but it works for many items. Works better for knick knacks if they're earthquake-tacked down.
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:56 PM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
Dusting: put the leg of a pantyhose over the hose of the vacuum-- you can get the majority of things and anything that accidentally gets sucked in gets trapped in the net. This is how you do silk flowers and needlepoint or macramé hangings, but it works for many items. Works better for knick knacks if they're earthquake-tacked down.
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:56 PM on May 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
No clue how people don't nest inside an ever-expanding library of collections of useless fascinating precious objects. I have collected and displayed useless objects (like things people think are trash) since I was a child.
Please give me all of the colors, shapes, and textures. I painted my bathroom walls bright pink glitter. I then hung up several pieces of loud art and looked around and decided I really needed to make another very large piece of art out of an ancient advertisement for "B.O. soap", an old mirror, and some more pink glitter. Much better. Also then I had to move the disco ball so now it hangs over the tub and the bathroom is almost fancy enough for my taste. I've been thinking about how I need to hang something over the mirror, like maybe a neon sign that reads LIVE NUDES with an arrow pointing to the shower.
Dust is just another charming fuzzy texture to admire.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 7:30 PM on May 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
Please give me all of the colors, shapes, and textures. I painted my bathroom walls bright pink glitter. I then hung up several pieces of loud art and looked around and decided I really needed to make another very large piece of art out of an ancient advertisement for "B.O. soap", an old mirror, and some more pink glitter. Much better. Also then I had to move the disco ball so now it hangs over the tub and the bathroom is almost fancy enough for my taste. I've been thinking about how I need to hang something over the mirror, like maybe a neon sign that reads LIVE NUDES with an arrow pointing to the shower.
Dust is just another charming fuzzy texture to admire.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 7:30 PM on May 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
where the hell do they keep the charging cables, tissue box, books they are reading right now, mail, extra pens, coupons, grocery bags, etc.? Where are all the craft supplies?
That's like asking where are the half-eaten plates of food (as opposed to perfectly-plated just-served ones) or fitness models when they aren't perfectly cut. Insta don't play that.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:24 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
That's like asking where are the half-eaten plates of food (as opposed to perfectly-plated just-served ones) or fitness models when they aren't perfectly cut. Insta don't play that.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:24 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
It didn't matter that we live on the East Coast and earthquakes aren't a thing.
Sometimes the Earth moves for other reasons.
posted by clew at 9:20 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sometimes the Earth moves for other reasons.
posted by clew at 9:20 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
And I'm definitely most comfortable in lived in houses or spaces with clutter. People try to apologize to me about this all the time and it just feels like home to me. I'm totally comfortable shoving aside a pile of laundry to make room on a couch, or dealing with pet hair all over the place or a working around a sink full of dishes. It just feels like a functional, living home to me.
One of the first things I do if I'm in a hotel room or even a guest room at a friends place is rumple up the bed and even scatter some of my stuff around so it's more messy and comfy for me.
Hear, hear. I hate a creepy, empty, clean home like it's a hotel room that no humans live in.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:17 PM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
One of the first things I do if I'm in a hotel room or even a guest room at a friends place is rumple up the bed and even scatter some of my stuff around so it's more messy and comfy for me.
Hear, hear. I hate a creepy, empty, clean home like it's a hotel room that no humans live in.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:17 PM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
where the hell do they keep the charging cables, tissue box, books they are reading right now, mail, extra pens, coupons, grocery bags, etc.? Where are all the craft supplies?
The charging cables plug into the desk, which has a little compartment just for them. mail gets sorted and filed or shredded. pens have a pen holder on the desk. wtf is a coupon? grocery bags have their own container under the sink. If I'm reading a book, which isn't typical, it might live on the coffee table until I'm done, but also...it has a shelf to go on. I can't speak to craft supplies, as I don't do any crafts.
My point is, sure, nobody's putting pictures of their lint rollers in Architectural Digest but that doesn't mean they're somehow lying and the TRUTH is a house filled with chaos...maybe they just have a really organized laundry cabinet.
like I said above, I'm a half-assed minimalist at best; my apartment isn't empty, it's far too small to conceal everything one needs. I have art on the walls, books on shelves. But my home isn't a labyrinth, it's more like a...well, actually it's more like a therapist's office if anything, lol. If therapists had bar carts. (Why DON'T therapists have bar carts?!?) There's enough around that a visitor knows who lives here, sure, but I like to think that anyone could feel at home in the space, could easily find what they need, and not feel like they have to watch their elbows all the time.
tissue box,
OK so as a purveyor of what is apparently Psychiacore, I do actually have kleenex boxes in all strategic locations, though.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:23 PM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
The charging cables plug into the desk, which has a little compartment just for them. mail gets sorted and filed or shredded. pens have a pen holder on the desk. wtf is a coupon? grocery bags have their own container under the sink. If I'm reading a book, which isn't typical, it might live on the coffee table until I'm done, but also...it has a shelf to go on. I can't speak to craft supplies, as I don't do any crafts.
My point is, sure, nobody's putting pictures of their lint rollers in Architectural Digest but that doesn't mean they're somehow lying and the TRUTH is a house filled with chaos...maybe they just have a really organized laundry cabinet.
like I said above, I'm a half-assed minimalist at best; my apartment isn't empty, it's far too small to conceal everything one needs. I have art on the walls, books on shelves. But my home isn't a labyrinth, it's more like a...well, actually it's more like a therapist's office if anything, lol. If therapists had bar carts. (Why DON'T therapists have bar carts?!?) There's enough around that a visitor knows who lives here, sure, but I like to think that anyone could feel at home in the space, could easily find what they need, and not feel like they have to watch their elbows all the time.
tissue box,
OK so as a purveyor of what is apparently Psychiacore, I do actually have kleenex boxes in all strategic locations, though.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:23 PM on May 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
This is really interesting! I have been doing this my whole life and it never occurred to me that it might be a thing (I thought I was just weird) I spend a lot of time “arranging the chaos” in my living and working spaces, and a big chunk of that effort is specifically focused on the self-expression aspects. I’m not a woman (and also not on tik-tok), but I do have ADHD and this makes a lot of sense now.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:10 AM on May 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:10 AM on May 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Ah, excellent. My house is (supposed to be) like this; my parents' house is like this; my grandparents' house was like this. The underlying concept is that a house isn't a home unless there are interesting things to look at (or pick up and play with) no matter where your gaze falls. In all three cases, our starting point is walls lined with very full bookshelves.
My house happens also to be a mess, and I'm extremely bad at keeping clear the surfaces that need to be clear, which irritates me. But if I devoted a fortnight or a month to organising and tidying up, the desired outcome would be a house full of colour and interest, in which I also conveniently knew where to find an A4 envelope or a micro-USB cable or a pack of origami paper when I wanted one, and had a clear surface on which to use it.
I don't know many people I'm *not* related to who favour this particular nesting style. It's nice to see that there are more of us out there.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:52 AM on May 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
My house happens also to be a mess, and I'm extremely bad at keeping clear the surfaces that need to be clear, which irritates me. But if I devoted a fortnight or a month to organising and tidying up, the desired outcome would be a house full of colour and interest, in which I also conveniently knew where to find an A4 envelope or a micro-USB cable or a pack of origami paper when I wanted one, and had a clear surface on which to use it.
I don't know many people I'm *not* related to who favour this particular nesting style. It's nice to see that there are more of us out there.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:52 AM on May 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
What is... "dusting"?
posted by bendy at 5:27 AM on May 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by bendy at 5:27 AM on May 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
That's like asking where are the half-eaten plates of food (as opposed to perfectly-plated just-served ones) or fitness models when they aren't perfectly cut.
I go into people's houses a lot for my work, and not everyone even has that stuff. Lots of people have daily full-time maid staff, others are militant about tidiness (not diagnosing -those people literally follow you around moving things back into their place), and others have 'clean rooms ' in the front for show [especially wealthy people - often 'white rooms-where all the furniture is white'] and the private rooms in the back are more normal, and finally most others have normal to messy homes.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:38 AM on May 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
I go into people's houses a lot for my work, and not everyone even has that stuff. Lots of people have daily full-time maid staff, others are militant about tidiness (not diagnosing -those people literally follow you around moving things back into their place), and others have 'clean rooms ' in the front for show [especially wealthy people - often 'white rooms-where all the furniture is white'] and the private rooms in the back are more normal, and finally most others have normal to messy homes.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:38 AM on May 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
Lots of people have daily full-time maid staff
This is not a milieu that I'm personally familiar with.
others have 'clean rooms ' in the front for show [especially wealthy people - often 'white rooms-where all the furniture is white'] and the private rooms in the back are more normal
That's a bit more like it. Growing up, even a lot of middle-class homes had the parlor up front for formally receiving guests, and then the TV room where the family did all of the intra-family socializing, plus socializing with friends whom they weren't trying to impress.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:44 AM on May 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is not a milieu that I'm personally familiar with.
others have 'clean rooms ' in the front for show [especially wealthy people - often 'white rooms-where all the furniture is white'] and the private rooms in the back are more normal
That's a bit more like it. Growing up, even a lot of middle-class homes had the parlor up front for formally receiving guests, and then the TV room where the family did all of the intra-family socializing, plus socializing with friends whom they weren't trying to impress.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:44 AM on May 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
That's a bit more like it. Growing up, even a lot of middle-class homes had the parlor up front for formally receiving guests, and then the TV room where the family did all of the intra-family socializing, plus socializing with friends whom they weren't trying to impress.
We definitely grew up with a Living Room which none of us was allowed to go into so it would stay nice, even though my family pretty much never had anyone over to entertain there. When they moved away to a smaller home a couple of decades later, they sold almost all of the furniture (or otherwise disposed of it), barely used.
posted by Mchelly at 12:37 PM on May 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
We definitely grew up with a Living Room which none of us was allowed to go into so it would stay nice, even though my family pretty much never had anyone over to entertain there. When they moved away to a smaller home a couple of decades later, they sold almost all of the furniture (or otherwise disposed of it), barely used.
posted by Mchelly at 12:37 PM on May 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sometimes I worry that I'm on the edge of being a hoarder. Thankfully, a comment somewhere above gave me hope that I'm merely a clutter collector—as my home environment puts no one in danger. Since I live alone, I need please no one but myself. All the bits of ephemera, art, seashells, handcrafted treasures, interesting stones, various small collections, books, crystals and more that surround me bring me joy. Surely there are people for whom it's excessive—though so far none have explicitly expressed displeasure. In fact, often first-time visitors are struck with wonder as they look around them, asking questions which elicit stories and spark interesting conversations.
posted by Scout405 at 9:11 PM on May 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Scout405 at 9:11 PM on May 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
I couldn't live like this (even though my home currently has more clutter than I want) but I always enjoy visiting homes like this. Variety is good.
posted by harriet vane at 6:59 AM on May 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by harriet vane at 6:59 AM on May 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I just realized after following the link from this comment [link is spoiler-y] in the post for Everything Everywhere All At Once, how "Cluttercore" is a perfect way to encapsulate the design aesthetic of so many of the gorgeous costumes one of the main characters wears. There's a power in much too much, when it's done intentionally with a great eye, that I hadn't thought about.
posted by Mchelly at 7:42 AM on May 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 7:42 AM on May 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by Halloween Jack at 7:22 AM on May 17, 2022 [18 favorites]