Living spaces are getting smaller, and unless you have tons of money to spare for home building, purchasing or renovating you will have to make the most out of what you get. In this day and age, it makes absolute sense that you would want a decent-sized apartment with minimalist features and decor. Even if you do own a large apartment, a minimalist aesthetic can help improve your lifestyle and state of mind.
There is something inarguably calming about returning home to your softly lit, uncluttered living space in the evenings. You know exactly where everything is, and it’s easy to sit down and relax without worrying about moving things around or making space. Your house is always ready for visitors, and you never have to go on a cleaning spree every time a friend is in town. The internet is filled with pictures and videos you could draw inspiration from, but you might be a bit concerned about where to start. This article will help you understand everything you need to know about making your living space minimalistic.
The benefits of living in a minimalist apartment
Minimalism does not have to be restricted to smaller apartments. Whether your living space is large or relatively small, minimalism can do wonders in transforming the way you live.
Firstly, a minimalist apartment naturally implies that you have a lesser number of objects lying around. This means no extra unused furniture or things you might have bought on a whim but do not really need. Fewer items in your rooms naturally lead to better organization and less cluttering.
Since your furniture and other items stay in their particular positions, leaving you with ample space to move around, you no longer have to shift things to make room for an activity. It is not easy to relax when your house is seemingly covered in objects, and you feel like you’re experiencing a lack of control in your life. But, with minimalism, there is basically zero clutter, and it is extremely easy to sit down, light your favourite scented candle and calm your nerves.
As the amount of furniture in your room reduces, you have much easier access to various parts of your floor, and fewer objects will be littered around on the ground. This naturally simplifies your regular cleaning tasks. You will be moving fewer items and furniture every time you vacuum the floor, and it is much easier to get to hard-to-reach areas and corners when your room isn’t overflowing with various items.
Minimalist apartments often follow a specific colour palette when it comes to the walls, the furniture and the decor. It makes your place look interesting and modern to any beholder.
Now let us see how you can either create a minimalist apartment from scratch or turn your current living space into one.
Determine a colour palette
A colour palette might not be the most essential thing to consider when setting up your home. But it can significantly impact the way you feel about your personal space and make it look incredibly appealing to residents and visitors alike.
Minimalist homeowners often lean towards muted or light colours. Greys, whites and creams have been found to be favourites among them, but you can also choose colours such as tan, olive, marine, etc. Sticking to a colour palette does not mean that your apartment looks monotonous and dreary. You can always choose varying tones of the same colour to give your space some depth and do not forget to include statement pieces of a dark or contrasting colour in each room. These stand out pieces can come in the form of your furniture, a rug, a decorative item and basically anything you believe can add that pop of colour to your home.
Photo by Jean van der Meulen from Pexels
Though you might have always loved wallpapers, you might have to consider staying away from them when setting up your minimalistic room. Stick to light coloured walls on every side and do not disrupt the harmony with a single wall that is entirely different from the rest. The colour of your walls will prove essential in tying together the rooms, the furniture and the whole aesthetic.
If you are transforming your pre-existing space, you might want to consider the colour of your furniture before you paint your walls. If you like the state of your furniture pieces, choose a wall paint that could seamlessly act as a beautiful nondescript background. If you are not severely attached to the colour of your furniture, you can always repaint them in lighter shades while you repaint your walls.
Pick the right furniture.
Re-evaluating the necessity of your current furniture can be a good place to start if you are embarking on this minimalistic journey. You might have accumulated a ton of furniture over the years, most of which you rarely use and are collecting dust in various corners. Besides being an eyesore, they are difficult to clean and take up valuable space you could have utilized for other purposes.
Carefully consider how you use each of your furniture pieces. Better yet, clear them out, clean them and position them in a way that lets you analyze everything they offer. Now divide them into different categories. If they are too heavy to move, just take down notes.
First, determine the ones that are essential to your daily life, the ones you use regularly. Move them to the “keep” section. Next, find items you believe could give you profits if you sell them. You can easily take good pictures, post them online and send them to their new owners who have offered you a fair price. The money you make off these sales can be utilized to make your minimalist space even more appealing and inviting. The rest of the furniture can be donated to charity or recycled.
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
Not everyone will have the right furniture at home to get started on the minimalist journey. A great option, if you have enough time and DIY experience is to repaint the furniture you will be keeping. Once you have determined the most prominent shades you desire in your house, you can repaint your objects to make them look good in your living space.
But, if you want to replace most of your furniture or you are buying pieces for your new home, keep in mind the dimensions of your home and find pieces that can efficiently seat a suitable number of people while leaving out enough extra space around the room. Ensure you do not indulge in the purchase of furniture you do not need, or buy things worrying about an unexpected emergency. Laying out rugs and throw pillows on the floor is an easy way to accommodate more guests if the need ever arises.
When you’re out shopping for new furniture, keep your colour palette in mind. Look for pieces you can easily integrate with the colour of your walls and keep an eye for attention-grabbing pieces that can give your rooms a bit of a personality.
Another thing to consider while shopping for new furniture is to buy pieces with lots of storage spaces, hidden and otherwise. Having specific locations in your rooms where you can easily store and retrieve your items will help with decluttering. Multipurpose furniture is also an ideal choice when it comes to the pieces in a minimalistic home. If your apartment does not have enough extra bedrooms consider investing in a sofa that can be converted into a bed. This can be efficiently utilized if you have unannounced guests or your kids want to hold a slumber party. Today, you can also find coffee tables whose top section can be extended to reveal hidden storage space. You can use this to store games, magazines, laptop accessories and easily retrieve them.
Once you have chosen the right furniture, you are halfway done with the conversion of your house.
Be innovative with the lighting.
As an apartment owner, you typically concern yourself with outdoor landscape lighting only if you have a garden and outdoor areas to decorate and improvise. But, making the right decisions when it comes to the lighting within your home is imperative to a minimalist transformation.
Invest in a few good-looking lamps you can place around the living room, but make sure you never go overboard with the size or number. You do not want to bring back the clutter in your room with too many lights. In your dining room, fix the lights right above the table rather than around the room. Installing lights that can be dimmed as per your preference will help change the mood of the room and make it more romantic during your dinners.
Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels
In your bedroom, you can place tall lamps on either side of the bed, or have a unique statement piece right on the ceiling. Another great option is to set up hidden lights that make the atmosphere softer and more relaxing.
Besides artificial light sources, your windows play a pivotal role in lighting up your rooms. With the help of huge glass windows on one side of your room, you can ensure adequate indoor lighting during the daytime and even save a few bucks on your electricity bill. The right windows can also bring in heat during the winter, reducing the need for you to turn up the heater. Specialized glass windows with filters can prevent harmful rays from entering your room and fading the colours of your favourite objects. So, researching the available options when it comes to glass windows is an excellent way to go when installing or revamping your windows.
Decorate wisely
Less is always more when decorating your minimalist apartment. Do not cover your walls with old pictures and memorabilia you have collected over the years. If these objects hold a special place in your heart, assign them to a storage space and take them out whenever a wave of nostalgia hits you. But if there are objects you can easily part with without involving any tears, sell them and make some extra cash to invest in the right decor for your rooms.
For the most part, you must leave your walls to look as bare and as non-chaotic as possible. This means that you do not drape fairy lights all around your walls, hang up inspirational posters or small photos from your childhood. Choose one or two minimalist artworks for each room while ensuring that the colours in these works harmonize with your house’s colour palette.
If there are decorative objects that you desire to have in clear view all the time, place each of them in a relatively empty part of your room, so they look good as statement pieces but do not stand out like clutter that has been ignored for a while.
When choosing curtains, pick fabrics that can easily block out the light when necessary, and stick to colours from your palette. Having the same-coloured curtains in every room can help tie-up the whole house into one melodic entity.
Plants are also great for decorating your house without making it look messy. Big plants can look really good alongside bigger furniture like a sofa, but they are not the most practical unless you have sufficient space in your rooms. It is much wiser to stick with smaller plants in simple vases you can place in strategic locations around the room.
In your kitchen, try and find storage spaces for various appliances. Rather than keeping them scattered all over your countertops, invest in shelves that can hold these devices. If you do a bit of work, you can divert their cables through the shelves to the right plug points. This means that you can operate these appliances easily right from their storage space without having to pull them out and connect them to an electricity source every single time.
Summing up
Several nuances are associated with constructing a minimalist house or converting your current one. From choosing the appropriate furniture to the right paint on your walls, each little decision affects how minimalist the room can be. You can’t go wrong with light-coloured walls and furniture mixed in with a few bright accent pieces. Don’t feel shy about moving your favourite plants indoors and tending to them regularly. Your windows play a pivotal role in making each room feel open and inviting, so construct them accordingly. Lastly, keep the decorations to the minimum and utilize all the hidden storage spaces around your house.
cover photo by Maksim Goncharenok from Pexels
Comments are closed.