Minimalist Interiors: Maybe not perfect for you – but still inspiring
April 14, 2008 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Home & Living
Today we went to the library and as usual I hit the architect books first, and by luck someone left this design book sitting in the architect section.
Minimalist Interiors by Quim Rossel.
I like minimalist design a lot, not necessarily because my goal is to live this way, or because I think I’ll design my own house in a minimalist style, but because it shows what’s possible, what’s livable, and uncluttered at the same time.
I like that you can work with the minimalist design and tweak it upwards if you like. By upwards, I suppose I mean add more stuff. Some minimalist homes are a little too bare for me. I like the non-mess, but with a 7 year old, I’m not really going to live like this, not even if I wanted to. I mean could you see a bin of Legos spread out in this room:
Um no. But if you’d like to clear some space I do suggest a good minimalist book or two. I liked this book a lot. My favorite part was that there were plenty of exterior shots to go along with the interior photos. Also some of the rooms were closer to typical livable than other minimalist home rooms I’ve seen. I.E more than one vase in a room. The book has 20 plus nice home examples. Take a look at your local library for this book. Another nice minimalist book is Inside MNM: Minimalist Interiors.
You don’t have to go whole hog, but seeing these uncluttered spaces can inspire you to at least clean out the junk drawer.
[photos via Amazon]
There are upsides and down to space like these.
On one hand, they make me feel like I’ve got everything on my to-do list done. You know? Just seeing a cleared space makes me feel like I don’t have to clean something out or make dinner or even blog!
On the other hand, when I think about realistically relaxing in a space like this, I know I’d need some pillows, a coffee table to put my feet up on, and a pile of books sitting in front of me before I truly felt comfortable.
I know, when I see a space like this I feel nice and calm and then I think, where are their book? Where!
I love spaces like this, and I have a few in my house but they do take a lot of maintenance. For example I like my kitchen counter to be empty. I use my coffee grinder twice day to grind vitamins for the dogs (health issues), so twice a day I take it out, use it, re-wrap the cord and put it away. Ditto for my blender and coffee maker which get used once day. It’s a trade off, and the extra work is worth it to me to get the soothing effect of an empty counter. Also, I save some work when it comes to cleaning up – one swipe and the counter is clean without moving things or cleaning around them.