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Curate this space : The empty Cado ‘Royal System’ wall unit -
Curate this space : Neil Stemmet's vintage earthen ware, a tortoise shell found in his home in De Kelders, a framed butterfly, living aloe and Spanish moss. He worked in a hint of colour with his signature National Geographic's from Matt's year of birth. -
Curate this space : Lucas R Adams went all out to create a custom 360 degree wall mounted lamp out of laser cut plywood featuring a remote controlled LED lamp that allows one to choose between 16 colour modes/moods. -
Curate this space : Lauren Fowler included on of her cross stitch hoops titled 'Alphabet Pony' -
Curate this space : Lauren Fowler's centerpiece was a vintage camera encased in a glass apothecary jar. Her display was adorned with an illustrated work titled 'A study of owl jugs', she also incorporated Matt's 60s Lucia Ware 'Deer & Fawn' and collections vase by Lisa Firer -
Curate this space : Matt's new curated space -
Curate this space : The final product
WORDS Remy Raitt PHOTOS Talya Goldberg
“Self editing can be a ruthless task, but I think that is where we are finding new meanings in our homes and places of solitude,” says Matt Allison, who recently invited designers into his home to help him curate his space.
Matt, who describes himself as a “husband, stay at home father, urban farmer, eco advocate, closet designer, photographer, mid-century modern lover, designated household cook and blogger” says the idea to hold this ‘exhibition’ struck when he was cleaning his home.
“I was in need of some personal life editing and decided rather than go it alone, to offer up my home, or at least part of it, to others to express their own creativity around the table with wholesome home cooked food and great wine.”
Matt settled on his Cado ‘Royal System’ wall unit as the canvas for four curated displays, each on a separate shelf. “I really wanted to push the envelope further by choosing creatives who work in different creative fields and mediums, partly to see what would happen in the context of a greater creative consortium,” he says. Neil Stemmet, Lucas R. Adams, Lauren Fowler, and Thaya Beford and Nicole Ravenscroft of the Wild Creative were each invited to take on the challenge.
When asked why he didn’t just hire an interior designer to get the job done Matt responds: “I believe the future is in collaboration, hiring a single designer allows their input and their input alone, where as in a community you find ideas and answers that no one individual could bring to the table themselves.”
The only brief the four designers were given was the size of each shelf (80cm x 20cm x 25cm) and a budget of R600. Matt posted a few shots of his home on a blog he created for this event and the rest was left up to the designers and their imaginations.
Matt says the uniformity across all four curations was a bit uncanny. “None of the curators had any dealings with one another prior to the event and yet cohesively the palettes and textures all shared a resounding call of a return to nature.”
Once the curation came to an end, the designers sat down to a meal prepared by celebrity chef Neill Anthony made from produce from Matt’s own garden.
‘Curate this space’ will become an ongoing endevour but Matt says his main hope is that the idea provides inspiration for others to do he same. “In the same way you share a meal in the company of others, why not share parts of your home?”
More information curatethisspace.tumblr.com and www.curatethisspace.com
