minimalist living room decor, The first time I tried to transform my messy living room into a minimalistic room, I committed every single mistake. I had stripped it down so savagely that it was cold and chilly in the room–more of an exhibition-room than any one where any one would care to remain long. A number of rearrangements and sincere talks with friends who were not afraid to comment that my living room was sterile before I realized what minimalist decor actually should be.
Minimalism does not mean bare rooms and agony at sitting on those pathetic chairs because they are beautiful. It’s about intentionality. It is picking what you would like to add value to your space and your life and getting rid of the rest. I will tell you what I have learned after trial and error and lots of rearranging.
Beginning With What you really need.
The greatest pitfall that individuals can get into is to believe that minimalism is having as little as possible. I gained this lesson when I gave away my comfortable reading chair since it was a clutter in the room. Then, two weeks after, I sat on the couch clumsily trying to read and found that I had lost something I needed to use on a daily basis.
The first thing is to pay attention to your actual use of your living room over a period of one week. Do you watch TV? Read? Work on your laptop? Have friends over? These are the real things that your furniture must accommodate and not some fantasy where you sit upright in a bench and cogitate on the nothingness.
Mistake with Color Palette that I made.
The inaugural attempt at minimalism was a complete white on white on walls, sofa and curtains. It captured very well but was like being in a blank canvas. The thing I have learned is that minimalism does not mean colorless.
The trick lays in selecting an integrated color palette and following it. I finally narrowed down to warm whites and creams with natural wood colors and shadows of deep green with plants. Other individuals would want the grays and blacks because of the dramatic appearance. There are also other ones, which use earthy colors, like terrazzo, warmed brown, sage green.
The rule that I now abide by: choose three primary colors and apply them in their different tones all over the space. This makes it have visual harmony but not monotonous. And here is one thing that surprised me–when you are restricted in the variety of your colors, texture takes on importance of an unbelievable height. There is a layer of neutral colours with a chunky knit throw, a jute rug, linen curtains and a leather ottoman that make me far more interesting than I had imagined.
Furniture Choice: Quality More than Quantity.
When 6 months later I was forced to sit on an ugly yet aesthetically pleasing modern seat due to its minimalism, I eventually acknowledged the truth that beautiful furniture that you hate to use is nothing more than a costly thing that has to be cluttered.
Seek out work, and look out after simple forms and clean lines, absolutely. But test them first. There, ten minutes on that sofa in the store. Imagine reading on it. Imagine your Sunday morning coffee habit. A piece that has no purpose or form has no right to exist in a really minimalist space.
I have also come to understand that costly items that are of high quality and few are better in terms of long-term budgeting. The cheap side table that I had purchased and changed three times would have cost more than a single good table. Furniture is good when it lasts decades and not years.
The Art of Strategic Display
Open shelving almost ruined my minimalistic living room. I expected it to be clean and purposeful but without serious curation, it fell into the possession of random items within weeks.
I have learned to apply the rule of three times editing to anything on display. First draft: eliminate all the stuff that is broken, uglies or useless to you. Second edit: put similar things together and retain only the best. Third revision: cut 50% of the remaining. It is radical, but it is at this point when the rest of the items are able to breathe and make their impression.
I have approximately five very well selected items on display in my living room: a small plant, 2 books that I am reading, a ceramic bowl that was made by my sister and a framed photo. That’s it. All the other things are stored in closed storage.
Plants: The Secret Ingredient.
There is nothing that makes a minimalist space so soft as the living plants. I had been opposed,–pillaged on first sight. But there was a fiddle leaf fig in one corner that made the room change to oily calm.
You don’t need a jungle. The visual chaos is avoided by having two or three properly placed plants in simple pots. Against one wall I have a big floor plant and on the side table a small potted plant. They give the natural, rough touch that renders the space a place inhabited by people.
Making It Work Long-Term
The most difficult thing about the minimalist decoration of the living room is not the first time of the purge, but the sustainability. I have come up with a one out one in policy. New book? One of these oldsters to the donation box. New throw pillow? Time to retire the worn one.
I also perform a quick clean up by doing a reset at the end of each day which is perhaps 5 minutes of putting things back in place. It is a little routine that helps to avoid the slow invasion of stuff that destroys minimalist spaces.
Minimalist decor in a living room is not about denial and strict rules. It is making a functional space cozy, and conducive to the way you really live. Yours will be different to mine and that is how it ought to be.
FAQs
The number of a minimalist living room pieces of furniture depends on the size of the room.
No magic number-emphasize function more than counting. Majority require a seating table, storage and lighting. Five to eight pieces of furniture should suffice.
Is it possible to have a minimalist living room, which is comfortable?
Absolutely. Apply warm materials, low-key lighting, comfortable pieces of furniture, warm colors. Minimalism is not supposed to be chilly.
Which is the most appropriate color of minimalist living rooms?
Neutral bases (white, beige, gray) would be good, but it would be also warm with wood colors, fabrics, or other accent colors that would reflect your own taste.
What is the best way of concealing daily things in a sparse living room?
Store in closed storage such as storage ottomans, cabinets or baskets. Only the things that must be used on a daily basis should be left close and all the other things should be stored somewhere off the sight.
Is it costly to have a minimalist decoration?
It might be when you purchase expensive objects, yet minimalism is, in fact, a cost-effective strategy in the long-term as it emphasizes quality instead of quantity and limits impulse buying.
