Overwhelmed with too many décor choices for your new custom home? Consider minimalism.
The minimalist decorating style is an exercise in restraint, where space, lighting and objects play equally important roles. This style inspires you to pare down your furnishings to the bare essentials so that you’re left with a set of curated objects that deliver maximum impact. Far from being boring, this style is bold, functional and highly memorable.
In a recent Harvard Business Review interview with successful businesswoman and organizational guru Marie Kondo, you can implement these seven tips if you are planning on experimenting with simple, sophisticated interiors.
- Use a strained color palette. Light colors such as white along with understated neutrals, barely-there greys, and pastels are intrinsic to minimalist interiors.
- Build Empty spaces and focal points. Empty space is considered an important element in minimalist room décor since space interacts with the objects and defines the look. Visual balance is just as important and can be achieved only by having a focal point.
- Declutter and edit. Having a minimalist interior design means you need to say goodbye to clutter. And to do that, you’ll have to edit what you display on shelves and tables. Stick to essentials only and store the rest in cabinets.
- Use Accent Decorations. Designing a minimalist home doesn’t mean you need to avoid decorations and bright colors. The rule is to simply use decorative elements as accents and not overwhelm your home with a lot of things. Similarly, for art, choose one focal piece instead of a group of small ones.
- Feature clean lines and flat surfaces. Furniture and objects in a minimalist design feature clean, defined lines and curves as well as flat surfaces.
- Let in the light. Bare windows are your friend. If you can leave your windows unadorned and let the light pour in, it would significantly add to the minimalist style. If privacy is an issue, use the thinnest materials for your curtains. Sheer curtains bring in a lot of sunlight, brightening everything it falls on.
- Focus on simple objects. Minimalist interiors can make you rethink the quantity of ordinary objects you want around you like a striking painting on the wall or colorful statue in the corner.
Channel your inner Marie Kondo by making your spaces breathable and using only the objects that “spark joy.”
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