Minimalist Design – A Popular Style of Decorating
Do not confuse a Minimalist Design Style of Decorating with the style of someone with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sometimes the difference can be subtle; however, there are ways to detect a true decorating style versus a desire to be a neat freak or a person with a germ phobia. This style is for the person who loves tidy, clean spaces free from unnecessary decorations and frills. While there are those who prefer a fussier lifestyle, the Minimalist Design Style of Decorating can give the owner a sense of peace, quiet, harmony and beauty.
Another aside: you may visit a bachelor’s apartment who has just graduated from college. He may have the basics like a sofa and large screen TV in the living room, small table and two chairs in the dining room, and a no-headboard bed and chest of drawers in his bedroom. This is not an intentional Minimalist Design Style of Decorating. It is what it is – a bachelor apartment of a young man without a great deal of money working at his first full-time job.
Your paint choice in a Minimalist Design Style will be monochromatic but is does not have to be boring. Most decorators will advise the novice decorator to select one neutral color for the walls. This gives you a blank canvas on which to build your design. However, if you want to add some flavor to the room with a dramatic color, use it on just one wall. This color should be in a shade of your one color schematic. For instance, if your Minimalist Style of Decorating is to be beige and blue, you can paint your accent wall navy and have the other blue shades compliment it.
Choice of furniture should be kept to pieces with clean, neat lines with no scrolls or etchings. In the living room you would not want a large, over-stuffed sofa with big rolled arms. You could bring in some ideas from the mid-century modern era like the boxy sofa with straight wooden legs. If you have chosen the beige and blue color palette for example, you would not want your sofa in beige for one very good reason. If you have company, children or a spouse who likes to eat while watching television, beige is going to show dirt and wear rather quickly. It would be safer to pick a navy couch and then bring in some diversion with several thrown pillows in complimenting light blue stripes or solids.
In the Minimalist Design Style everything is balanced. If you have a lamp on one side of the sofa or bed, you want a matching lamp on the other side. If you place a pillow at one end of the sofa, you would want to place one of the same size at the other end of the sofa. Balance is important. Also, each room should have one major focal point and everything else takes a back seat in importance. You use the focal point as your center of balance and decorate outward from it.
In the bedroom stay away from the matching curtain and comforter sets. To achieve an authentic minimalistic design style you want very simple bedding with a very simple cover. To get a good idea, look on line for some contemporary bedding ideas and see how the bed is made. You will not want shams or anything frilly. You can never go wrong with white or beige sheets and pick up your shade of blue with the cover.
Now we come to the real heart of Minimalist Design. You should have everything in its place, and that place is generally out of site. If you have a vase of fresh flowers, the vase must have simple lines and your flowers should not be an over-stuffed bouquet. If you use ceramic bowls as accent pieces, they should not be holding junk. Counters should be clear and clean at all times. You would be surprised how this minimalistic style can make housekeeping and cleaning so much faster and simpler.
Also, stay away from framed wall art that is busy. If you have the blue couch, a large sofa-sized painting that is an abstract in blues would be perfect. Instead of a formal cocktail table, try using an old trunk. The dark brown will blend with both the blue and the beige. You can go for modern track lighting or you can use tall standing lamps where the lights are directed upward.
If you are a fan of Minimalist Design, you have picked a look that is relatively inexpensive and very easy to maintain. You will not have to worry about unexpected company because your home always looks in perfect order.
More information on Styles and Periods of Interior Decorating
Styles and Periods
Furniture History
Decorating Styles
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