Minimalism is a style that appears to have grown in popularity in the modern era. Space can be incredibly freeing and oddly calming, with cluttered environments proven to lead to more stress. Less clutter means less to clean and less to worry about. Minimalist interior design is an antithesis to the busy lives we all lead. Our work lives (and even our social lives) can be chaos and chaos is exhausting. So, coming home to the complete opposite of chaos might help your regain a little sense of calm and will make you truly appreciate your home.
Functionality – One of the key pillars of minimalism is cutting design back to its essentials. This means designing around functionality. Start by analyzing each room and making a note of exactly what is 100% necessary. Remove everything else and you have the perfect foundation ready for a minimalist design. This principle of “doing more with less” is a cornerstone of the minimalist design strategy.
Shapes – Basic shapes are another key component of minimalist design. Try to remove anything that have more than 4 sides and replace them with squares and rectangles. This is particularly important in the bedroom, where we need to feel our most relaxed. Consider swapping your bedroom curtains for bedroom blinds and make sure your bed frame eschews extravagant patterns and shapes. The mattress is the only really important part of the bed; the frame is just dressing. Indeed, consider removing the bed frame completely if you can stand to live without it.
Colours – Clean, bright and white; these are the words we generally associate with minimalism. That doesn’t have to be the case, of course. In fact the actual colour is less important than the colour scheme. Minimalism in colour means sticking to two or three shades. Uncomplicated colour schemes generally make people feel more at ease, so think plain, think bold and think “blank slate.”
Declutter – The average home is surrounded by clutter. Un-read books and magazines, un-paid bills, un-washed dishes; we are all guilty of filling our homes with unwanted clutter if we don’t watch ourselves. Throw away anything that isn’t necessary and make sure there is enough storage space to keep the clutter that you do want to keep out of sight and out of mind. This also goes for accessories and utensils. A young, childless couple, for example, does not need 20 knives and 20 forks!
Furniture – The final (and perhaps most crucial and potentially costly) element of a minimalist interior design makeover should be your furniture. Furniture might factor into functionality, but it’s so much more than that; it takes up most of the space in our homes. Essentially, make sure your furniture adheres to the rules above and you should be half way there already. Functional, clean colours, simple shapes and uncluttered; that’s what makes a messy and chaotic house into a minimalist home.