Elle UPFRONT
Words: Katie O’Malley. Photography: Instagram/@cleashearer.62 ELLE.COM/UK^ April 2020
Home st yle...DECO CURATORS
THESE PROFESSIONAL ORGANISERS TRANSFORM THE A- LIST’S STOR AGE SPACES
INTO WORKS OF ART. CAN THE Y COME TO OURS, PLEASE?Co-ordinated finish
FAR LEFT: THE HOME EDIT
EFFECT. BELOW LEFT:
SPACE DESIGNER MELANIE
CHARLTON. LEFT AND BELOW:
BOOKS RECOVERED BY
THATCHER WINE”WE WANT TO
SHOWCASE THE
sweet spot that^
exists WHEN
SPACES ARE
EFFICIENT AND
AESTHETICALLY
PLEASING“GW YNETH PALTROW’S PLAYROOMJOANNA TEPLIN, MOLLY SIMS AND CLEA SHEARERA WARDROBE ORGANISED BYMELANIE CHARLTONFor most of us, spring is the time to clean the kitchen cupboards and
bang out the rugs. For others, however, decluttering is an elevated
art form, one that requires the services of a professional. Meet the
deco curators – experts whose job it is to create bespoke
Instagram-worthy spaces, in which immaculate fridges are filled
with labelled Tupperware, book jackets are given an arty
makeover and wardrobes look like a designer boutique.
Thatcher Wine (yes, his actual name) is a book curator
and founder of custom book jacket design company Juniper Books,
who has spent years working in the homes of the Hollywood elite,
including Gwyneth Paltrow. His job: to replace original book
jackets with a painting, turning shelves into a bespoke work of art.
Wine’s philosophy is that books should not only
look good on the shelf, but reflect who you are.
Meanwhile, ‘polished and functional’ is the
design aesthetic shared by Joanna Teplin and
Clea Shearer, founders of organising company,
The Home Edit. This Nashville-based duo,
who have worked with Reese Witherspoon
and Mandy Moore, are the pioneers of
#pantryporn on Instagram. Whether it’s shoes
or cereal packets, everything has its dedicated,
colour-coded place. ‘We want to showcase the
magical sweet spot that exists when spaces are
efficient, user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing,’
they say. Then there’s ‘functional space designer’ Melanie
Charlton, whose company Clos-ette creates wardrobes for
Beyoncé and Liv Tyler. Charlton suggests organising your
wardrobe by folding, rather than rolling, clothes (sorry, Marie
Kondo) and organising them by type (so all jumpers are together)
and then by shade, with the lightest colours on the left and darkest
on the right. We know what we’ll be doing this weekend.