The Queen of Junk
With several books dedicated to the subject and another just released, author and Ralph Lauren exec Mary Randolph Carter is living proof that one man’s trash…
It’s telling that longtime collector Mary Randolph Carter uses seven words (compounded into two—she is a writer, after all) when asked to describe her style: “Eclectic-Mixed-Up-Country-Junky-Mostly Personal,” she says. Her more-is-more approach to vintage shopping and decorating is one she’s chronicled over many books, and she’s not finished: Collaborating again with her photographer son, Carter Berg, she’s got a new one, Live With the Things You Love: And You'll Live Happily Ever After. “Occasionally, I share snippets of it on my Instagram,” she says, adding, “and my other son, Sam, keeps pushing me to create a website and podcast.” Until that time comes, we’re glad to have been able to chat with this icon about how she came to love junk and what keeps the love alive.
Lived-in Style: When did you start your quest for the old and often forgotten?Carter: Different times: When I was sixteen, the summer after our house burned to the ground—everything gone, I lived in a little tent with my sister Car. The only personal decoration was a vintage copy of Anna Karenina. Later in the fall of my senior year in high school at boarding school, I draped the walls of my room with salty fishnets. I used them as a bulletin board for snippets of poetry, artwork, things that a young romantic would want to surround herself with. After college when I moved into my first studio apartment in New York City, my roommate and I filled our long narrow room with things picked up from flea markets and thrift shops. I remember an old dropleaf table that my mother gave us. It had been stored in our barn in Virginia with other leftovers. That table followed me to several other apartments before I was married. Once I discovered the 26thStreet Flea Market, I was there every weekend hunting for the treasures that made my heart beat and our apartment one-of-a-kind.
LIS: At what point in your life did you realize it was more than just a hobby?
C: I don’t think I ever thought of as a “hobby!” It was always a passion and part of who I am.
LIS: Most of us know you as the Queen of Junk and the author of some of our favorite books. What don't we know about you that might surprise us?
C: You are so kind! I love wearing that dented crown and sitting on an old rusty garden chair throne! I love writing my books. On my mind, among other things, is what to do with all my stuff. I don’t know if there’s much mystery around me. I’m pretty open about who I am and what I love.
LIS: In what ways has your career with Ralph Lauren influenced your style and collecting habits?
C: I think working for Ralph (over 3 decades now!) has inspired me to continue my joyful journey of collecting special things. My love of vintage clothing was definitely influenced by his. I published my first book—American Family Style—after I began my career with him in 1988. He wrote the foreword and since then we’ve collaborated on several books including his 40th and 50th Anniversary books.
LIS: After years of junking, is the thrill of the hunt still as powerful? Has anything changed in your junking strategy?
C: The thrill of the hunt is stronger than ever, but the fields of junk have certainly diminished. Thank goodness there are still those iconic markets at Brimfield and the Rose Bowl, but so many of those little junky shops I use to frequent and loved discovering are shuttered and just not there. Though I do occasionally hunt on Etsy and eBay, it’s not just the same prowling through a flea market and digging for treasure in person!
LIS: Do you shop online for antiques and vintage?
C: Etsy and eBay for sure are my favorite online sources, particularly when I’m hunting for something in particular, like vintage brass candlestick holders for my son Sam’s wedding reception. I found amazing lots of them! Now, I have to sell them back!
LIS: What is it about an item that says to you, "Take me home?”
C: Oh boy, that’s a hard one! Well, first if it’s something that I’m already collecting like what I call “Junk Masters” paintings—original portraits and landscapes painted by amateur artists—can’t live without and once the rooms were filled up there was always another space on a wall! I love primitive objects—furniture, sculpture, any kind of accessory that has some originality to it. I seem to have a fondness for birds, especially owls, carved out of wood or ceramic, normally nothing plastic! The last thing I bought was a concrete mushroom (red with white polka dots), probably a garden ornament that is now a centerpiece for our wicker dining table on our summer porch. Anything that makes me smile!
LIS: Are you still always able to "have a place for that?” And what do you think about the Marie Kondo approach?
C: You know that’s my motto—“Never stop to think, ‘Do I have a place for this?’”—I always have and probably always will. The only thing I can agree with Marie Kondo about is her little test to see if you really love something. I think you’re supposed to hold it in your hand and if you get that “spark of joy” then don’t let it go. My problem is everything sparks JOY for me!!!
LIS: Do you ever give things away?
C: I love to give things away to people who I know will cherish and love them the way I have. Other than that, I do occasionally do a “junk cleaning” and drag bags of things to my favorite thrift shop, Goodwill or books to our community library.
LIS: Have you ever "fallen out of love" with a collection?
C: Not my problem!
LIS: What won't we find on your shelves and walls in your home?
C: Not into 50s or 60s kitsch. Nothing plastic, though there was an amazing set of plastic picnic dishes I collected for my Kitchen Junk book. And I do have some faded plastic geraniums on the porch! “Not enough color,” my husband Howard complains. I do seem to have a lot of “dark” paintings. But to offset that I did paint our kitchen floor bright school bus yellow! I don’t really have any rules when it comes to what I collect and fall in love with… I don’t really think about color or era or categories of things. I believe you have to be open to all those categories because it’s that unexpected mix of all those things that builds the personality of a home! That gives it character—yours!
LIS: What’s on your junking radar these days?
C: When I was writing my junk book series (American Junk, Garden Junk, Kitchen Junk, Big City Junk), I was always focused on things that fit into those volumes. Now that I’m a grandmother, I must admit to looking for special books and toys for them. But then, of course, parents are so picky about dusty things, so I have my boundaries!
LIS: Regrets? Any items you can recall that you passed by and still dream about today?
C: Sinatra said it best—“Regrets I’ve had a few…” Well, so have I, but truth to tell I don’t focus on what I left behind. That’s one of the joys of junking—there’s always another incredible thing just around the corner!
PHOTOS Carter Berg
RESOURCES Purchase Mary's book, The Joy of Junk, here. Or check out her newest book, Live With the Things You Love: And You'll Live Happily Ever After, here.
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