The past few years have seen an emergence of several “core” aesthetics in fashion and interior design, including cottagecore, barbiecore, gothcore and royalcore, just to name a few.

Now, we have clustercore: Artfully curating personal items to showcase your unique style. If you’re not current with this design trend and are curious about what it is, you’ve come to the correct place. This article will explain the style’s core tenets and how you can apply it in your home to create focal points throughout your space.

Getting to the Core of Clustercore

Clustercore is a curation and display of objects and memorabilia with sentimental value. It’s like turning your home into a museum or gallery focused on who you are and what you love. When designing a clustercore home, the most important concept to remember is curated vignettes: Small visual compositions made up of grouped together decorative objects.

This home design may remind you of cluttercore, but it’s not quite the same thing. Cluttercore is a far busier, almost chaotic fashion choice similar to maximalism, whereas clustercore is more intentional and organized with visual interest in mind.

It used to be trendy and even advised by professionals to stick rigidly to an interior design style’s principles, which left little room for incorporating your own personality into your home. Now, clustercore is popular for people wanting to highlight their charming and unique prized collections in clusters throughout their space. This allows you to have a set aesthetic while still maintaining your personal style — the best of both worlds. The visual interest also adds depth and richness to your home, making it feel loved.

You may feel like this design choice will make your house feel untidy, but really, it helps declutter your interior by giving important objects a designated place to live, freeing up your storage space for other items that need to be put away.

On top of being a cleaning method, placing your personal items in an intentional arrangement can also offer several benefits. Looking at them can evoke fond memories and give you a much-needed hit of dopamine. They’re also a great conversation starter and perfect for helping your guests feel more connected with you. Gain a sense of control over your space by organizing your belongings in a way that makes sense to you, and also get a chance to look through your possessions and determine what you want to hold onto and why.

Tips for Curating Your Trinkets

As you get ready to cluster your cherished belongings throughout your home, it’s vital to have some key considerations in mind. Don’t purchase mass-market goods just because they might look like they belong — that defeats the purpose of focusing on what has sentimental value. Good items to include are:

• Photos and frames.
• Candle holders.
• Books.
• Statuettes.
• Mugs.
• Magnets.
• Postage stamps.
• Keychains.
• Buttons.
• Jewelry.

Another worthy note: Refrain from including things just because they’re sentimental. A pile of receipts will look sloppy, whereas movie or travel ticket stubs have a natural uniformity that lends well to them being grouped together.

Balance and Symmetry

Combining elements that create overall cohesion is key. It’s not about matching things exactly but having different pieces work together as a unit. Mirrored images and design elements that generate harmony and order can help your clusters look purposeful rather than messy. But don’t get too hung up on symmetry; otherwise, you’ll create too much uniformity. Try mixing different textures, colors and shapes for the best result.

Tell a Story

Group your cherished belongings in an intentional arrangement that explains who you are. For example, you can have a few personal mementos from when you were a child and enjoyed a certain hobby. Or perhaps you like to travel and always make a habit of getting a pin from each destination. Put these in chronological order that shows when and where you went to these places. Maybe you lived in a lot of locations and kept a small item from each home. Group these family heirlooms together to highlight your past homes. Ultimately, it’s all about finding a unifying thread that ties all the pieces together.

Get a Professional Opinion: Decorating Den Interiors Is Here To Help

It can be a lot of fun to go through your stuff and create a thoughtful curation that speaks to who you are as a person and what you’ve been through in your life, but it can also be a daunting task. Our team at Decorating Den Interiors can help!

Find a store near you to get started with your dream clustercore home that lets your personality shine through.