In a busy world, your home is a peaceful refuge where you can decompress and realign with what matters. Choosing a minimalist design is one way to slow life down and simplify to the bare essentials, which gives you a comfortable residence and peace of mind. You can change your interior spaces to reflect a clean and simplified way of life with neutral colours and sustainable practices.
1. Start With a Neutral Color Palette
When applying a neutral base colour, following the 60-30-10 rule for colour balance is wise. Use 60% of your main colour — a neutral colour for increased perceived space and tranquility — and 30% of your next choice to balance the space. Finally, add 10% of an accent colour to create vibrance.
While a white base colour will enhance your home’s sense of cleanliness and neatness, bright accents and pops of colour will incorporate your personality without overwhelming the space.
2. Enjoy Open Spaces With Archways
Archways feel more natural than square doorways, and they direct your attention upward — just think of cathedrals. You introduce an inviting and peaceful natural pattern by designing your house or apartment to use them instead of corners. Such a look defines a minimalist home, crucially without additional decorations or trimmings.
3. Brighten up With Natural Light and Large Windows
Save on energy costs while still being able to see with large windows. Natural light floods the space with cozy warmth while following eco-friendly design principles. It’s also essential for a healthy lifestyle, ensuring healthy circadian rhythms to improve your sleep.
4. Choose Multi-Functional Furniture
For authentic minimalism, choose multi-functional furniture such as sleeper couches and ottomans with in-built storage. By doubling up on uses, you limit how much furniture you need.
5. Go Green for Eco-Friendliness
Free up your mind and conscience with an eco-friendly makeover that favours natural materials. Upholster chairs and sofas in fabrics free from dyes and chemicals, and choose reclaimed wood to build floating shelves rather than buying new planks. Motion-activated lights ensure the fixtures only turn on when someone is in the room and needs them, cutting back on your energy usage.
6. Declutter and Donate
A fear of insufficiency may drive you to hoard, but becoming a pack rat can seriously damage the flow and space in your residence. When you feel like your home is a warehouse filled with things you no longer want or need, it’s time to declutter. Hoarding harms your health and safety, so throwing out old items and donating what’s still useful is a powerful cleanse for your home and your psyche.
7. Design Built-In Storage Spaces
Focus on in-built storage spaces like cupboards and shelves with monochrome containers. If you have quite a few items to store — like tax documents and childhood creations — keep these in opaque containers marked with a QR code for easy content tracking.
8. Follow Sleek Lines
Form follows function is the Holy Grail of minimalist design. Cut opulence and choose sleek lines in your furnishings. When designing your minimalist home, consider different functional zones, using lines and lighting to specify areas.
9. Season Sparingly With Art
Artwork can dominate a space quickly, especially when your gallery has a lot of small pieces. Instead, focus on one meaningful piece per room. Something larger can be a conversation starter and set the palette for your room. Double functionality by hiding the TV behind the artwork, simplifying the space when the device is not in use
10. Create a Calm Creation Space
Create spaces that speak to their function. For example, keep the office calm and appropriately colored for work and contemplation. Your bedroom may feature a warmer-hued palette, while the living room can bring in cooler tones. Using variations is a fantastic method for defining spaces without needing to change much.
11. Favor A Minimalist Cleaning Routine
While cleaning may not seem to contribute to your home’s style, it’s essential to a functioning minimalist space. When you plan your cleaning routine for efficiency and sustainability, you save time and energy, which is what such means of living is all about.
Choose one eco-friendly cleaning solution that allows you to wash floors, windows, and more so you can avoid buying products that contribute to methane production in the local landfill. A sustainable, charging robotic cleaner can help reduce the time necessary to clean. A floor like natural wood floors or ceramic tiles is easier to clean than a synthetic fiber carpet or area rug.
12. Hide Electronics and Use Cable Management
Wires detract from the simple elegance of your home, so hide them away using cable management systems. If you’re still designing your dream minimalist space, now’s a good time plan your electrical layout. You can ensure you require fewer or shorter wires.
Try to find a tucked-away home for electronic devices that aren’t part of your aesthetic. For example, place remote controls in hidden storage or choose a universal one to control multiple devices. If you can afford it, switching to a smart home is one of the most efficient ways to reduce the number of wires and devices in your residence.
13. Add a Mirror to the Wall
Adding a minimalist mirror on the wall helps bounce more light around and can increase the size you perceive the room to be. With an invisible-edge mirror, there’s no frame to limit the glass, and you can reflect light and color with a sensible, limited color palette.
Make Minimalist Your Style Today
Minimalist home design is about making your space unique and simplistic without needless elaboration. It speaks of confidence and wisdom in life and how you perceive the world.
Consider each addition to your space carefully to achieve a minimalist style. Doing so is about clean lines, open spaces and decluttering your life.
Author bio: Cora Gold is a home decor writer and the editor of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist. She writes about minimalist home design, home decor trends and eco-friendly living. Connect with Cora on LinkedIn, X and Pinterest.