Benefits of a Minimalist Home
1. Less stressful. Looking at clutter makes us stress. The less clutter, the less visual stress we have.
2. More appealing. It's more pleasing to the eyes when a space is less cluttered. With just a few essential furniture pieces, intentionally placed art pieces and a few decorations.
3. Easier to clean. Generally, the more stuff you have, the more you have to keep clean.
Tips to create a minimalistic home
1. One room at a time.
Unless it's a new place, it’s hard to simplify an entire house at once. Focus on one room, and let that be your center of calm. Use it to inspire you to simplify the next room, and the next. Then do the same outside!
2. Minimalist furniture
The fewer pieces of furniture, the better. Pick only essential furniture that has the most usability like bed, side table, wardrobe and chair. You should still feel comfortable in the space yet have as little furniture as possible without sacrificing that comfort. To fit into the minimalistic theme, choose pieces that are plain and simple with solid and subdued colours.
3. Keep a clear pathway
A minimalist room has a cleared floor. Except for the furniture, there should be nothing on the floor. This means that there is nothing cluttering the floor, nothing stacked and stored on the floor. With that said, clear everything on the floor, be intentional of what to keep and what to donate or find a place to keep it behind doors.
4. Keep things away
Usually there are minimal things seen laying around other than a few simple pretty decorations. Keep things away from table tops, dining table, island tops, and other kinds of flat surfaces or hide them out of plain sight. If you have too many items in the room, consider trashing it in a bin or donating it if still serviceable.
5. Store things out of sight
Things shouldn’t be hanging around in a minimalist home. Store them out of sight behind closed doors like in drawers and cupboards. Choose furniture that has multiple purposes - look pretty outside, can be used for its purpose and act as a hidden storage area as well.
6. Declutter often
As mentioned in the above tips, you should also declutter every now and then. The mistake most people make is purchasing but never decluttering. This will make more and more things pile up. Remember to declutter every few months.
7. Keep walls simple with simple artworks
Keep your walls clear. A minimalist home has a simple wall. To keep it from looking boring, you can put up a drawing or photo, framed up. Do not hang up too many of them. But you can have an accent wall in the room. With most of the drawing and photos clustered together to make it look like one piece of artwork. The bottom line is to keep it simple and leave some walls empty if possible.
8. Let’s talk about decorations
Simple decorations can be accents for a minimalist room. A vase of flowers or a green plant or a candle light lamp are popular choices. These are usually placed on the side table, or coffee table to make the room less dull.
9. Keep things plain
Choose plain, solid and simple coloured items to redecorate the house. From window curtains to pillow covers to bed sheets, avoid complex patterns such as flowered designs. Most items should have a subdued colour, like white. Apart from the accent decoration, everything else should be toned down. This will make the room look like a classic minimalist room.
10. 54 day rule
Look at the room again after 54 days. Are there any objects under-utilised? Those should be promptly stored away or given away. Are there any inconveniences that are jarring? For example, it is way too ‘mafan’ (troublesome) to go to the drawer and dig behind multiple items for a hair dryer everyday. You probably want to simplify the steps to everyday use items. Look for other spaces that can store this item away yet easily accessible. You will discover that you can simplify more things than you expected.
Yay to a new and less cluttered space!
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