A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home

The origin and development of the minimalist style is a historical process closely tied to modernism and functionalism. Emerging in the early 20th-century Western modernist movement, minimalism was profoundly influenced by the Bauhaus school. In 1919, Walter Gropius introduced functionalism, emphasizing design simplicity and eliminating excessive decoration. These principles later became the core tenets of the minimalist style.

After World War II, minimalism rose as an art movement, advocating for art expression in its most basic form and through the simplest means. During this period, minimalism flourished in design movements in the United States and Japan. Designers sought clean visual effects, employing simplified shapes and monochromatic palettes to highlight the essence of their work.

From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, minimalism began to permeate the field of interior design. Its hallmark lay in reducing design elements, colors, lighting, and materials to the bare minimum while demanding high standards for the texture and quality of colors and materials.

The development of minimalist interior design is not just a transformation of a design style but also a response to the needs of modern life. In the fast-paced, high-pressure modern world, people yearn for spaces that offer complete relaxation and mental rejuvenation through simplicity and purity. Minimalism provides a refreshing visual experience and psychological tranquility by eliminating unnecessary ornamentation. It has become an integral part of contemporary art, representing an aesthetic pursuit and a lifestyle choice, reflecting people's desire for a simple and pure way of living.

Color Palette

In terms of spatial color coordination, minimalism has its own commonly used color system. Unlike other styles, minimalist design predominantly uses neutral tones such as white, gray, and black as the primary color scheme. These colors provide a bright and refreshing visual effect while being versatile and easy to pair with other hues.

Monochromaticism is another characteristic of this style. It involves using a single color tone while creating depth and layering through varying levels of brightness and saturation, such as incorporating different shades of gray.

In addition to achromatic tones, the minimalist style often incorporates soft hues such as light wood tones and beige. These colors help create a warm and tranquil ambiance.

In a minimalist space dominated by neutral tones, one or two vibrant colors, such as green, orange, or red, can be used as small accents to create visual focal points and add a touch of energy.

In minimalist style, the choice of materials also influences the presentation of colors. Materials like metal and glass can enhance the modern feel of a space, while wood and stone can add a sense of natural warmth.

Minimalist Design

The essence of minimalism lies in eliminating excess and pursuing purity and simplicity in design. It emphasizes reducing decorative elements and retaining only the most essential functional furniture and decor to achieve a clean visual effect and efficient use of space.

Using straight lines and clean, well-defined geometric shapes emphasizes clarity in structure and simplicity in form. This design approach makes spaces appear more organized and modern, reducing visual clutter.

Decorations are minimal, focusing only on functional items or those serving as visual focal points, maintaining a tidy, focused space without excessive visual clutter or stimulation.

Minimalist style tends to favor open-plan layouts, reducing partitions to enhance spatial flow and a sense of openness. This arrangement makes small spaces appear larger and large spaces feel more spacious and free.

Leaving space empty allows for the use of minimal design to give the space endless possibilities, offering greater capacity and more potential.

Ceiling

A flat ceiling requires no intricate shapes or layers and does not need to include chandeliers or ceiling fans, offering a clean and streamlined visual effect. If there is a height difference in the ceiling space, a curved ceiling transition can be used to maintain the overall unity and smoothness of the ceiling design.

Walls

Neutral tones like white or light gray create a bright, spacious feel, while vibrant colors can be used as accents in small areas. The overall design should remain simple and uncluttered.

Matte wall paint is preferred, with imported matte paint or micro-cement on the walls being the top choices to enhance texture. For those seeking the ultimate in minimalism, micro-cement can be considered, but its suitability and maintenance requirements should be taken into account.

Wall decorations should be simple, avoiding complex lines and maintaining clean edges. If cabinets are used, light colors or matching tones should be chosen to maintain visual unity.

Flooring

The minimalist style emphasizes spatial continuity, so it is recommended to use the same flooring material throughout the entire space, such as wood flooring or tiles, and avoid door thresholds to achieve visual flow and unity. Seamless or minimally jointed options, such as micro-cement, are preferred to enhance the aesthetic of the minimalist style, although careful consideration is needed when using it on the floor.

At the junction of the walls and the floor, it is recommended to use either no baseboard or an integrated baseboard design to reduce visual distraction and maintain clean lines.

Furniture

Natural and eco-friendly materials, such as solid wood, bamboo, high-quality metals, and glass, should be prioritized. These materials showcase natural textures and ensure the furniture exudes refinement and a sense of luxury. The focus should be on the quality and functionality of each piece. Furniture should be kept to a minimum, leaving empty spaces to enhance the sense of space.

Furniture colors should coordinate with the walls and floors, using neutral tones like white, gray, and wood to ensure color consistency and harmony throughout the space.

Minimalist style requires ample storage, necessitating the use of large storage units to hide items, such as beds with drawers, wall-mounted TV cabinets, etc., to reduce visual clutter and keep the space tidy.

Avoid using protruding door handles to maintain the integrity of the facade space. In minimalist style, cabinet door handles typically feature press-to-open or recessed designs, replacing traditional protruding handles.

Lighting

In minimalist style, the selection of lighting should follow the principle of "less is more," ensuring that the lighting fixtures meet illumination needs without disrupting the space's clean aesthetic. Lighting fixtures can feature geometric shapes, being both functional and decorative, but overly complex designs should be avoided. High-quality materials, such as stainless steel, glass, or aluminum composite panels, should be chosen as they are not only durable but also align with the sophisticated feel of minimalist style.

A no-main-light design achieves even lighting through recessed downlights, spotlights, or track lighting, avoiding the use of highly decorative fixtures like crystal chandeliers.

In minimalist design, the sense of line is an important characteristic. When selecting lighting fixtures, the use of light fixtures with visible wiring can enhance the sense of line in the space, serving both as functional lighting and as ambient lighting.

For accent lighting, such as floor lamps and table lamps, choose designs that are simple and feature clean lines. These can serve as part of the soft decor, adding layers and an artistic touch to the space.

Soft Decor

The soft decor in the minimalist style emphasizes creating spacious interiors with a sense of openness, both internally and externally, pursuing freedom without the constraints of walls. It also seeks to make use of the space’s inherent elements as decoration, such as structure and lighting. Through the careful combination of these soft decor elements, minimalist style can showcase a clean and pure aesthetic.

For curtains, materials like cotton and linen are ideal, with colors such as light gray or white sheer fabric recommended.

For rugs, choose solid colors that are as close as possible to the sofa color. Suede rugs in earth tones, beige, or gray are recommended.

Cushions can feature simple lines, geometric patterns, or solid colors. The colors and materials should coordinate with the sofa and other furniture and decor. There's no need for an excessive number of cushions, as too many may make the space appear cluttered.

 

In minimalist style, decorations should be used sparingly—it's better to have fewer but meaningful pieces. Simple yet elegant ceramic pieces and metal crafts can be chosen while avoiding an excess of small ornaments.

Choose wall art that both aligns with the modern minimalist style and possesses artistic qualities.