Objects Lesson : Rooms Decorated With Found Furniture and Bric-a-Brac Reveal the Occupant’s Nature

THERE ARE CERTAIN TIMES in your life when you don’t want to reveal very much about yourself, and minimal looks reveal very little,” says interior designer Van-Martin Rowe. Tired of the white walls, gray carpets and uncluttered coffee tables of minimalist decorating, Rowe began about two years ago to embrace a style--based on collecting assorted objects and furniture--that he calls “a richer environment.”

To wit, wherever Rowe goes, he shops. He’s returned to his Hollywood home carrying suitcases packed with Guatemalan fabrics, New England folk art, European crystal and a shell-covered picture frame from Maui. But Rowe’s favorite hunting grounds are antique and junk stores closer to home. “Southern California is wonderful because people have moved here from the Midwest, Europe, Latin America,” he says. “You never know what you’ll find.”

Rowe’s best example of decorating with “found objects” is his own living room. There, illuminated by multicolored windows, a ‘50s beatnik doll dances on an end table, and ‘20s rattan sofa and chairs evoke the sense of homeyness he felt when he turned 40. “People are attracted to objects because they speak of past lives and experiences,” he says. “When you start collecting, the most insignificant things--bottle caps, matchbooks--take on importance. But because collecting isn’t exactly socially approved--it’s not like hanging a Monet, after all--it takes a certain amount of self-assurance to show what you’ve got.”