Everyone has their own style. This also translates to the fact that everyone has their own tastes for decors and decorating. It’s important to know that whatever you love the most, and however you and your partner’s tastes can meet is often the best way to move forward. However, sometimes, our tastes aren’t that good. We might invest effort to make a home just how we like it, and then realize it looks cluttered, cramped, strange, conflicted or uncomfortable.
This isn’t to immediately paint you with a brush and tell you to reconsider your confidence in decorating. Quite the opposite. Sometimes, finding inspiration in that around us can help us find a home-style we actually really enjoy, that can help you refine your tastes and in the end, enjoy a home you are absolutely beaming to come home to each day. If you’re struggling for inspiration, you might look to some of the most popular styles. A great place to start is with minimalism. Minimalism is one of the most popular styles in Japan, and for good reason. Practically, function and form all coalesce to give you a space you feel free in and still affords you many options.
Consider the following benefits of minimalism:
Flow
The flow that your home enjoys can be greatly improved when each room follows a similar design principle. What does flow mean? Well, consider that you have an open-plan space. In order for each area to feel distinct and yet part of a cohesive whole, you must take flow into account. This is how naturally the transition from each space to another will feel. Minimalism helps you with this, because not only do small features feel more significant, but they can help you distinguish a space. For example, let’s say that your kitchen and living room are perfectly visible in an open plan space.
Might it be that bordering the living room on either surrounding wall with a tasteful green plant fixture can help that feel as if the natural gateway to that area? This can help you divide a space stylistically, without impeding on usable space. The colours involved here will complete the task for you, and this will be slightly noticeable thanks to the minimalism used elsewhere. This is just one example, flow can come from many other means too. It might be using a similar painted pattern on a wall to help the room feel brought together or divided. For example, a tasteful whisp decoration painted on one length of wall encompassing two spaces, one half one colour slowly fading into the new space that becomes a different shade can also help with this example previously described. The subtle possibilities are endless, and they can have plenty of creative impact. The best part? This is very cheap to do, because in minimalism less is always more.
Uniformity Of Style
The uniformity of style can help your entire home feel more cohesive and as if they’re working together. We’ve all seen houses in which one room might as well be in a different country to the entrance room we came from. For some people this is ideal, many different moods, colours and themes might be considered the best way to decorate.
However, with this option, there are many things that can go wrong, and it will take a diligent eye to ensure everything works, and doesn’t add to a sense of design conflict. Minimalism helps with this, because past simple colours and tasteful shapes of features, there is little to conflict with one another. This helps each room stand on its own while also complimenting the room around it. Picking one material and sticking with it can work really well, for example using a stylish glass basin in a bathroom with a glass shower screen can help with a simple, uniform style in the bathroom.
Ease Of Maintenance
Ease of maintenance can also be quite a positive thing to consider. We all know how hard it can be to clean a cluttered home, or a home with plenty of furniture and belongings. Not only must you sweep all items for dust but you must lift them up, re-situate them often, and ensure everything is maintained well. This is the most indulgent and labour-saving benefit on this list. Sometimes, cutting an hour from your cleaning schedule can be great. You might save money on hiring a cleaner.
However, it’s not just cleaning that can benefit. Sometimes, installing high quality and minimal features can help you maintain them for longer. For example, a range of anthracite grey radiators can compliment a bathroom perfectly, while also serving as a very easy to clean and repair home item. Minimalism reduces the hassle your home forces you to consider, and instead functions as a beautiful, open and comfortable space for the longest amount of time possible.
Mental Space
We are our environment. We can tell this is true because of how connected we are to it. Without an environment to help us survive, we’d be in big trouble. This means our physical and mental space is intimately tied to our surroundings. Furthermore, that suggests our mood, emotional and mental state and focus are all tied to our surroundings.
Think of yourself working in an office with many decorations, many desk ornaments, many pictures and light fixtures. Now imagine yourself working in one clean, spacious, with only two or three-tone colour schemes, well lit with only one or two lights. Which one will help your focus? Obviously the latter.
Your mental space is sure to feel refreshed, comfortable and spacious when you reduce some of the clutter in your home and enjoy a minimalist home. This doesn’t mean you cannot place down your favourite decorations, just that you may hold back in how many you place down. Minimalism also means considering the navigability of your room, from the placement of furniture to the orientation of said items. This will all help you utilise, consider and think differently when occupying a room, and many times this can be for the better.
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