What is Minimalism ? 5 fundamental ways to achieve the Minimalistic look for your home
“There is enough in this world for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed” is a popular quote by MK Gandhi. This quote is a good entry point to understand minimalism and its significance.
Minimalism started gaining popularity as a lifestyle in the 1950’s and 60’s in New York, USA. It’s typical characteristics are extreme simplicity in aesthetics, form and function. The requirements of a space are brought down to the bare minimum and elements are used in their most natural form.
However, in today’s times consumerism has changed the scenario of this lifestyle on a global level. The definition has also changed over the last 50 plus years and is now associated with the super-rich. Simplicity in form, function and devoid of any decorations has made them to invest in elegant and long lasting pieces of furniture or materials. This has stirred a lot of debates due to its subjective nature because of how the world has become a melting pot of various cultures, faiths and lifestyles . Where do you draw the line? This is where personal choices and preferences come in to play.
Nevertheless, if you are looking at turning your home into a minimalistic abode, here are 5 characteristic ways to achieve it.
1. Declutter
Decluttering is removing things you do not need in your room, house or any particular space. Some of the popular methods to do this are The Konmari method, Packing party method, The One-for-One method etc. Each of these methods serve the same purpose but work differently. Identify the ones which suits your sensibilities and go ahead with it. This can also be a great bonding exercise for your family during this ongoing pandemic.
2. Clean lines and forms
If you are amidst the process of designing your new home or a space in your home, use well defined lines, curves and flat planes to balance the visual and functional aspects of your space. This can be done by having geometrical or pattern wallpapers, well defined furniture pieces with flat handles, smooth finishes and so on. Visual balance is what needs to be achieved as you want the space to look and feel light on your senses.
3. Less is more
Buy only necessary pieces of furniture, lights, décor materials etc. and use those as highlights of each room. The idea is to feel the openness of the space and achieve balance by having a focal point. Avoid the urge to fill up every nook and corner of a room. Accents make your space look more inviting. It could be artwork, artifacts or even furniture pieces like crockery cabinets, center tables and so on.
4. Light
Think out of the box to use lights in an efficient way. They need to be aesthetically beautiful and do their job. Use simple, contemporary fixtures which do not disturb the visual harmony or get in the way of your daily routine. Let natural light flow into your home as it would truly reflect the colours of your walls, furniture, textures etc. For uniform lights, use linear lights while track lights will focus on certain spaces of your room. Similarly for aesthetics, a square or a rectangular dining table can be visually tied together with a beautiful pendant light fixture which has a curved or an oblong body.
5. Use of the Colour palette
Colour palettes communicate a lot about the home owner’s identity. For the minimalistic feel, grey is your go to colour. Various shades of greys like ash, cashmere, matcha etc. give you the perfect canvas for adding accents, lights, furniture and so on. However you can always opt for blush, nudes, off white, ivory to achieve the same look if you are too tired of the greys. Limit your colour palette and break the monotony by adding accents in primary colours or accentuated monochromes.
Minimalist spaces provide a sense of calmness and visual beauty through simplicity. In my opinion, we can all benefit from this and have a more serene atmosphere in our homes. Being peaceful only means more productivity in your work. Who wouldn’t want that during this global pandemic?
