It was the famous 19th century French painter, interior designer, and furniture maker Francis Jourdain who remarked how “you can furnish a room very luxuriously by taking out the furniture than putting it in.” Now, more than ever, the concept of minimal home design is taking roots in the consciousness of more and more people. Too many people have spent their lives living in a cluttered house, with closets that are jam-packed with unnecessary clothing, drawers that wouldn’t shut, and a roomful of house decors that doesn’t necessarily look appealing to the eyes.
Adapting a minimal approach into your house, in contrast, offers you a home design that is less stressful and more relaxing to your senses. If you are considering of redesigning your home to fit a more minimal arrangement but don’t know where to start, here is a brief guide that just might get you started –
Assess the Situation, De-Clutter, and Find a Place for Everything
- Before you start rearranging and redesigning your house into its new minimalist setup, find a spot that offers a good vantage point of your entire place. Take a good hard look around and take note of what you see. Take note of the things you see. Why are those items in there in the first place? Do those things serve a functional purpose to your place? Do those things hold special meaning to you? These are some of the essential questions you have to ask before you start to de-clutter your place.
- When de-cluttering, visualize your new minimalist living space. Imagine it as a place that is fully functional and without excess. It is perfectly normal to feel a little emotionally overwhelmed when de-cluttering your house. More often than not, we get attached to the little things. Just remember that this attachment happens over and over again until the little things accumulate to a mountain of clutter that serves no purpose but to consume space.
De-clutter one room at a time. Start with your bathroom or home office until you make your way to the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the living room. Place into a box all the things that you have no use for. If you are taking out pieces of furniture, put them away in a single location that is out of sight. If an item has gone unused for at least three months, then chances are these things have to be de-cluttered.
- After you have de-cluttered the things that do not belong to you new minimalist home, it’s time to find a place for everything that remains. Find a functional space for everything – newly uncluttered surfaces for your family photos, appropriate spots for your computer and other gadgets. In doing so, always remember that every item should have a place that is appropriate to its purpose. Remember that a truly minimalist home design requires that nothing is randomly shoved into drawers and cupboards.
Minimalist Redesign
If you are keen on taking your house makeover to another level by redesigning your place inside and out, here are a few things that you might want to know –
- Use simple flooring. This means no ornate floor as these tend to look too heavy on the eyes. You want to create a simpler environment so it’s a good idea to stick simple designs with classic neutrals like black and white, or nice solid colours like beige or cream.
- Accent with subdued and earthy colours. Earthy hues like tans, brown, and greens give a calming effect that distresses the eyes.
- Only install functional and essential pieces of furniture. To fully attain a minimalist setup, only install essential pieces of furniture like the couch in your living, the dinner table in your kitchen, and the you bed in your bedroom. It also helps if you go for pieces of furniture that are not too bulky. Reduce the unnecessary use of tables and stands by installing wall mounted televisions and light bulbs.
Author Bio: Joel Mayer is a property specialist writing about companies like Taylors Estate Agents