4 practical pieces of advice on how to achieve perfect minimalism in design
The Internet sees the popularity of minimalism. The number of blogs, articles and book reviews devoted to minimalism is increasing. Once it was a style in art, music or literature – today, for many it is a life philosophy and a method to organize the space around them in order to achieve harmony and not to cover oneself in a maze of unnecessary objects of a “it’ll still come in handy” type. The trend otherwise great – as they all, as a matter of fact – which serves as a way to improve the comfort in life, however, not exactly explored in the area of arranging the space around oneself…
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As a leading ideologist of life minimalism, Fumio Sasaki, explains in her book “Goodbye, things”, minimalism means focusing only on objects which are truly important to us, which is possible only if we get rid of their excess and limit ourselves to owning only the ones really indispensable. The true fanatics of the minimalism movement add a perfect number of things one should limit his or her inventory, which is 100… In most cases it is impossible!
However, in order to strive for this harmony of surrounding oneself with an arranged, non-cluttered space, it is good to design it appropriately. A minimalist arrangement will be not only a perfect answer for true minimalists but also for all of those who like clean space which serves a man’s purpose and not the other way round: that a man is at his or her space’s service by a ceaseless necessity to clean and tidy it up.
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Simple furniture
When arranging our own flat in a minimalist style it is good to start with furniture which will help you define the nature of the rest of elements of the design, such as types of floor or the colour of walls. Minimalist furniture has a simple shape, without handles, created from materials of a uniform, smooth texture. There is a broad range of materials, starting from matt or laminated furniture boards, through planed, impregnated raw wood, to metal elements. The thing that is characteristic for minimalist furniture is lack of additional elements and details which would disturb the harmony of pure shapes.
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Subdued colours
Neither furniture nor spaces in a minimalist style dazzle with a distinctive colour. A perfect harmony in a minimalist style is achieved with soft, pastel or pure colours. Typically, interiors of this type combine shades of beige and white or grey – from the bright to graphite ones. In minimalist interiors, there is no intense colour palette such as red or turquoise, and the interesting thing is that such intense colours are not found even in accessories.
Additional elements
A minimalist style means also avoiding the excess of accessories. Utility items of all types such as drainers are hidden inside wall cupboards. It’s no use looking for an excess of decorations – cushions, rugs or knick-knacks such as vases, candles or a collection of family photos. If there are any decorative elements, as some of them must due to reasons of use (flowerpots, a knife-block) – they are also in subdued colours, in a plain form, made usually of materials easy to clean – metal or lacquered ceramics.
Sanitary facilities
As much as it may be troublesome to get rid of many decorative elements in living rooms and bedrooms to have only a pure, minimalist form left – space design of sanitary facilities such as bathrooms, toilets or even kitchens simply loves minimalism! Here, apart from everyday-use objects which can well be hidden inside cupboards (bath cosmetics, spice racks), there is actually no need for a special workload in order to obtain a clean, harmonious space.
However, it is worth paying attention to sanitary elements such as mixers or, in the case of a bathroom, shower accessories, by selecting them in such a way so that they can complement the minimalist nature of the space.
Marcin Szymke, Product Manager of Laveo mixers and hydrotherapy:
“For such an economical space design, based on a pure form, cubist mixers and showers will be the best. The most characteristic for this type of design are shapes with distinctive edges, without rounded elements and additional ornaments. Metal or chrome mixers and showers will be perfect in combination with minimalist furniture and subdued colours,” he adds.
Minimalist style is probably the only one which does not get old and which will never lose its fans. Why? Because in today’s restless times the space which we come back to is supposed to create an impression of a harmony, to relax and not generate the need to clean it everyday. Cleanliness in the interiors with a minimalist decor is very easy to maintain due to the economy of shapes, ornaments, furniture fittings or accessories which strongly attract dust. So.. why not stop being stressed about your own surroundings and start to appreciate more its comfort without a great load of every day work on its appearance?
