I've been working on a number of minimalism posts having to do with food, and house size, and money. They are turning into giant unwieldy tomes that need editing and and breaking up into smaller topics and blah blah blah they are taking too long. So I thought I'd throw a quick little topic I've been thinking about out there in the meantime. Can you adopt minimalism at the same time as being a decor enthusiast?
Minimalism starts with the concept that the "having of stuff" is not what defines your life. Your life should be built around people, not things.
The notion of decor is, on the other hand, essentially defined by the having of stuff. Pretty stuff. Stuff that will look nice on your mantel and in your bedroom. Stuff that will make people walk into your house and gasp in delight at your design chutzpah.
What's a girl who likes (and sort of used to write) design blogs to do? Can you be minimalist AND own pretty things and decorate your house and oh, say, RE-decorate your house again in a year or two just because you like to?
I feel uncomfortable with the question, because I fear the answer is no.
There are minimalist decor blogs, and they seem to revolve around the Scandi-chic look. Paint all your rooms and the floors white, put up one black spider-arm sconce, a shabby vintage MCM sofa or leather sling chairs, a wooden trestle table, and the back wall of your house is floor to ceiling windows, and voila, minimalist decor.
But what if you like lots of color? You have some handmade quilts your grandmother made that you like to use in the bedroom? You prefer layered rugs so your feet don't get cold traversing the bare floors in your wintry Scandinavian house? Where does minimalism end and excess begin?
For a long time I've lived closer to the maximilist side. Only in the past few years have I thought about taking the minimalist plunge. I put away all our knick-knacks a while back, then brought a few back out. But other people in this house also want to display stuff, so the majority of the tchotckes are probably going to be donated soon.
I read design blogs where people buy lots of knick-knacks, and it doesn't bother me--I don't feel the need to accumulate these things. I can look at someone else's stuff and enjoy the beauty of it in someone else's house without feeling the need to own it.
Pillows, bedding and curtains, on the other hand, make me burn with envy. Expensive pillows? I need them. Bedding for every season? Guilty. To the trade fabrics that cost thousands of dollars? I WANT them. How do I justify spending thousands of dollars of fabric? (I don't, but I want to.)
I have more art than I have wall space.
I also read design blogs/magazines/books where a room has cost $50,000, or a $100,000, or more. If you can afford that, is it excessive?
Where does minimalism end and excess begin? On the fifth painting or the fifteenth or the fiftieth? When is your stuff too much?
Discuss amongst yourselves, please.
Minimalism starts with the concept that the "having of stuff" is not what defines your life. Your life should be built around people, not things.
The notion of decor is, on the other hand, essentially defined by the having of stuff. Pretty stuff. Stuff that will look nice on your mantel and in your bedroom. Stuff that will make people walk into your house and gasp in delight at your design chutzpah.
What's a girl who likes (and sort of used to write) design blogs to do? Can you be minimalist AND own pretty things and decorate your house and oh, say, RE-decorate your house again in a year or two just because you like to?
I feel uncomfortable with the question, because I fear the answer is no.
There are minimalist decor blogs, and they seem to revolve around the Scandi-chic look. Paint all your rooms and the floors white, put up one black spider-arm sconce, a shabby vintage MCM sofa or leather sling chairs, a wooden trestle table, and the back wall of your house is floor to ceiling windows, and voila, minimalist decor.
But what if you like lots of color? You have some handmade quilts your grandmother made that you like to use in the bedroom? You prefer layered rugs so your feet don't get cold traversing the bare floors in your wintry Scandinavian house? Where does minimalism end and excess begin?
For a long time I've lived closer to the maximilist side. Only in the past few years have I thought about taking the minimalist plunge. I put away all our knick-knacks a while back, then brought a few back out. But other people in this house also want to display stuff, so the majority of the tchotckes are probably going to be donated soon.
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Pillows, bedding and curtains, on the other hand, make me burn with envy. Expensive pillows? I need them. Bedding for every season? Guilty. To the trade fabrics that cost thousands of dollars? I WANT them. How do I justify spending thousands of dollars of fabric? (I don't, but I want to.)
I have more art than I have wall space.
I also read design blogs/magazines/books where a room has cost $50,000, or a $100,000, or more. If you can afford that, is it excessive?
Where does minimalism end and excess begin? On the fifth painting or the fifteenth or the fiftieth? When is your stuff too much?
Discuss amongst yourselves, please.
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