Filtered.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped trying to add more to it all and began asking what deserves to stay.

As summer rolls to a close (happy and sad all at the same time), here’s what I’m noticing: I love a good spark. Something that lights me up and leads me down a path, or thought, I wouldn’t have previously considered. And, I’m leaning into the idea of not really assembling moments, but curating them. Embracing the idea that it isn’t about collecting better things. It’s deciding what earns space in your life…your work…your home, and then doing something about it.

I’ve turned on my filter.

Why are we (yes, me) so easily wrapped up in the scroll, the fix, the new have-to-have? What if we slowed down a sec, filtered our input–and our responses–and decided what we truly want?

Knowing what to keep.
What to ignore.
What’s worth paying for.
What’s worth waiting for.
What’s worth flying across the world to experience (always).

Just writing this list makes my heart skip a beat…ignore something? Amazing. Fly across the world? Yes, please. Buy that piece of art because it makes me smile? Every, single, time.

In our design firm, filtering the result looks something like a client who has 17 stone samples in hand. The answer isn’t sample #18 (I promise). Or, maybe it’s a floorplan that has too much happening. You don’t need another architectural feature; you need to decide which moment matters….then do something about it.

The internet doesn’t just need a volume knob. It needs a crap filter.

The best rooms and homes aren’t the ones where we found everything. They’re the ones where we edited what came in the door, and knew when to stop.

And because a business is a room too, it also needs a filter.

Same instinct, different room. A founder has 14 ideas, three offers, and six things she’s convinced she should be doing because everyone on Instagram apparently woke up with a podcast, a paid Substack, and a funnel before breakfast.

The instinct (and the lie) is that you’re always just one strategy away from the thing that finally works. Stop. How about we look at what’s actually loud, what’s actually working, and lean into that — not the thing that looks like it should. The internet doesn’t just need a volume knob. It needs a crap filter.

Enter Exhibit A: me. Recently, my filter has been turned all the way up.

Not every advertising opportunity deserves the money.
Not every software platform deserves implementation.
Not every service deserves to remain. Not every invitation deserves a yes.
And maybe, most importantly: not every spark needs to become a business.

As a creative, I definitely have shiny object syndrome. The struggle is always to keep those sparks just as they are: as sparks. Not give the things I love a job….and listen when the actual work wants to breathe.

My response isn’t to filter out those sparks. It’s to filter out the obligation attached to them.

A spark can send you to Florence for a long weekend.

A spark can change the feel of a room.

A spark can switch up a business practice into something new.

And a spark can also be a thing you enjoy for fifteen minutes and never think about again.

This isn’t minimalism. It’s discernment…and a strong filter. So what does “yes” look like in a space…an idea…a calendar? In design, it’s sample #4, not #18.

And for the rest of it? A filter strong enough to hear the yes.

Recently I had a few hours to wander NYC and, no surprise, found myself mulling over spaces and places that lit a spark. Here are a handful of things that made my filter…and the ones I can’t stop thinking about…

• Lighting: Always a great pick-me-up. I found a pair of bright marigold ceramic lamps at The Gallery at 200 Lex with enough personality to brighten any spot. So even though they didn’t make it into my suitcase, I’m still planning around the idea of something bold, shiny, and unexpected for a current project.

• Iron Candlesticks: I’ve been on a small mission to find two, maybe three, vintage iron candlesticks to layer on a marble fireplace. They’re the perfect complement to round out a room filled with art and texture. I found these at Nickey Kehoe…then saw these at Il Buco Vita….I love my options. Stay tuned…

• Textiles: I happened upon these, then these…then promptly fell into a trance (the pics do not do them justice). I *may* have a self-proclaimed fabric fetish, but the patterns, the palette, the feel of these are a chef’s kiss…maybe I’ll just frame a few? I need at least one in my life.

• A petite vase: I may have been in more of a what-will-fit-in-my-suitcase mode, but a handcrafted petite vase with a long, leggy branch of something styled-just-so, placed on a low slung cocktail table is an easy style win.

• Tramp art anything: I’ve been more than a little obsessed with tramp art frames and boxes lately. It’s a style of folk art woodworking that uses notched and layered pieces of wood. So even though I recently purchased an antique mirror in a tramp art frame, I still have a spot for the luscious detail and cool factor of a box, right? ;)