There’s more to minimalist interior design than meets the eye. Understated, pared-back, minimalist interior design is not solely an aesthetic choice, it’s a practice that demonstrates incredible rigour and focus in decoration decisions.
What is Minimalist Interior Design?
Minimalist decor is, unsurprisingly, the antithesis to maximalist design where every element of your scheme is loud and bright in colour, awash with statement prints, and full to the rafters with dominant furniture forms and attention-grabbing accessories.
Minimalist style is its far quieter, laconic and sparse sibling. But that doesn’t mean to say it’s lacking in confidence. To the contrary, a minimalist interior is a self-assured depiction of design and personal preference. Its very essence is about focusing on a few, specifically selected items in a room—pieces chosen with deep consideration and conviction.
Minimalist in name, minimalist in nature, minimalistic design involves just one or two colours in the room, a strong leaning towards geometric shaped furniture and motifs, and multifunctional furniture—fewer pieces in the room mean that those which make the cut, need to work harder.
How to Create Minimalist Style: Room by Room
Minimalist design can be applied to various types of interior style, such as Japanese, modern and Scandinavian. Regardless of which aesthetic is your end goal, there are aspects that remain relevant across the board, as these minimalist room ideas show.
Minimalist Bedroom
A minimalist bedroom favours a low-lying bed frame without a headboard; it might be upholstered or timber, but it must be clean-lined and have no obvious ornamentation.
An understated seam detail, display of inlay or multi-total wood grain are examples of restrained decoration that may come through, however. Bedside furniture in minimalist bedroom design, be it cube cabinets or a floating shelf, is best at the same height as the bed—the fewer changes in height around the room, the better.
And lamp light could be in the form of integrated wall light or a single lamp. Wardrobes may be built-in, or instead, a single piece of storage furniture, such as a chest of drawers, won’t disrupt the minimalist room decor too greatly.
Minimalist Living Room
Minimalist living room ideas involve repeating the same furniture form around the room. A modern minimalist living room for example may feature a pair of cube armchairs that sit alongside an elongated, elegant sofa that shares the same arm height, low back and sharp contours. Talk of sharp angles doesn’t equate to lack of comfort.
Mirror that low-to-the-ground height and squared shape in the coffee table too—a lower height means it doesn’t demand attention and lets the eye find it in its own time. Any depictions of quiet confidence will cement a minimalist living room.
Minimalist Kitchen
Kitchen design is fundamental in creating a minimalist house interior, because it’s the room still regarded as the heart of the home. Achieve the desired moderation in your decorative choices in here, and it will serve to anchor your entire home.
A kitchen is the room where you’re most likely to see a combination of colours and materials, because of the melding of cabinets, flooring, tiles and appliances.