Decorating your home can be as personal, stylish or colorful as you want it to be, but for today’s post, I thought I’d share some tips on this subject from a perspective that’s more minimal/practical. What I’ve found is that when you combine the minimalist lifestyle with whatever aesthetic you choose, you can have a home that feels comfortable, inviting and clutter-free.
A lot of what you see in a minimalist aesthetic is barren walls (or one, singular painting hanging up), a couple plants, maybe a side table that’s white and that’s it. However, the first thing I’d say is that this DOES NOT have to be your ideal version of a minimalist living space. We all have our own personal preferences in style, whether that's utilitarian, bright and cheerful, muted colors, neutral tones, mid century, farmhouse, and the list goes on. Now if you’re someone who doesn’t know your style/aesthetic, I’d recommend you explore that first and declutter anything else that distracts from that. This is where minimalism is really being put into practice as a lifestyle, but once you’ve defined your style, you can start to have fun with the decorating process.
So truth be told, I feel like my style is a mix of farmhouse, minimalist and vintage. I enjoy playing around with different types of wood while adding in bronze, gold or black elements, and I’d say those are what make up the core of my color palette. The idea of finding a color palette will help you a lot when deciding which pieces to bring in. I’d also recommend finding at least one or two accent colors to help tie in the rest of your space. In my bedroom, I have little splashes of a soft, pastel pink and green. I also have white as a secondary base color, but with the way I have these colors mixed in is with accessories rather than paint.
As someone who lives a more moderate lifestyle in terms of minimalism, I like to keep my shelves and surfaces as clutter-free as possible. I personally don’t like visual clutter when it comes to decorative accessories, so you wouldn’t see any cliche word signs, piles of paper or books stacked up on my desk or bookshelf. I’m also not a fan of knick knacks as they tend to be an enabler for the accumulation of dust. However, what I have noticed as I’ve decluttered my belongings is that I value items that represent a memory or have some sort of story behind it. I have one lucky cat sitting on my bedside table that my sister gave me, and every time I look at it, I’m reminded of the time I spent with her on our family vacation to the Bahamas. It’s honestly the only knick knack I own, and I know I won’t be getting rid of it any time soon.
One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to decorate your space is by using what you already have. If you have a lot of shoes or handbags and limited storage space, try displaying them on a shelf that’s not being used. If you have an extensive trophy or stuffed animal collection, you could either display them or get creative and put them inside a shadow box. Whatever type of collections you have (and I’d make sure these collections have great value to you before doing anything with them), there are a lot of unique ways of storing or organizing them in a way that’s more cohesive.
To wrap up this post, I’d say never underestimate the power of a do-it-yourself project. It’s easy these days to just buy a bunch of home goods at Ikea, Pottery Barn or TJ Maxx, but don’t forget to check your local vintage/thrift stores. I myself have found a frame from Goodwill (I have a DIY project planned for that), and an item that was brand new from Pier 1 Imports secondhand on Poshmark. I hope this post is helpful or has given you some inspiration for your next project!