The other unboxing

The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 1 of 13, W24 *
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Happy New Year!

The word "new" gets applied to anything and everything this month. Thankfully for all of us, in many cases it really does fit. Even the laptop I'm writing this on qualifies.

Over the holidays, in a fit of absentmindedness, I spilled cold brew coffee all over the keyboard of my MacBook Air. Soon, I found out that the cost of repairing it would be half the price of a new one. I decided that with six years of mileage on my existing device, it was reasonable to replace it.

So, once again I got to experience Apple's masterful command of newness, as I unboxed the pristine object from its sleek encasement. It reminded me of why people are willing to film such moments – and willing to watch them in great numbers. There's a distinct magic in the unveiling of the desired thing, whatever it may be.

Can old things compete with the lure of the new? For lovers of vintage design like me, it's a pressing question. New is so powerful that it even morphs into a new word in Apple's current iPhone campaign:

What would the opposite of newphoria be? I'll propose another term to counter it: oldcitement. That's the excitement you feel when you see something old with fresh eyes. It's the thrill of rediscovering something you've had all along.

I felt oldcitement when I went through a storage bin of papers last week and came across a birthday card from my Aunt Lenny dated 2008. It still had the neatly folded twenty dollar bill in it that she's included since I was a little kid. Suddenly, the hassle of sorting through old stuff was redeemed.

While I won't swear off acquiring new things this year – I'm human, after all – I will go chasing oldcitement as well. There are other lids to open and I'm curious what this other unboxing will reveal.

Where will you seek oldcitement this year? What unboxing awaits you?

Elsewhere

Remember the "Netflix decorating secret"? It's an article I wrote last year about how you can adapt their marketing ploy – a trio of descriptive terms for each movie – to come up with a personal style code for your home.

Well, guess what. Earlier this month, the New York Times exposed how this Netflix tactic is absolutely critical in getting you to watch:

As it turns out, there are more than three thousand terms in their inventory, the most-used being "romantic," "exciting" and "suspenseful." You may not need as many words to choose from in styling your interior, but the principal still applies: find the three that matter most, and you're on your way to creating a space that's as compelling as your favourite film.

Get reacquainted with the Netflix decorating secret, and if you're feeling bold, share your chosen words in the Comments section below.

Thank you for reading.