Minimalist living: this is how simple the trend goes at home

What is behind the minimalist living trend?? We dispel cliches like strelies living and radical decluttering

What does minimalist living mean?

living means to limit oneself to clear shapes, colors and the essentials
• The minimalist home can help bring more mental clarity, mindfulness and gratitude
• Minimalism is not about radical clearing out, but about conscious living

The topic of minimalism has long since moved from the unknown niche to the mainstream. Millions of people enjoy living without unnecessary clutter, limiting themselves to the essentials and having only a few select possessions.

The minimalism lifestyle

Minimalism is a lifestyle that is limited to the essentials by reducing what is unnecessary. Minimalism refers, for example, to the wardrobe, when only a few, high-quality and timeless pieces of clothing hang in the closet instead of chasing constantly changing trends.

However, minimalism, which refers to the living space, is also becoming more and more popular. The apartment or. the house is then equipped only with the things that are really necessary for life. Decoration is used very consciously and purposefully, also forms and colors are clear and unexcited.

Banishing material and spiritual ballast

Those who live a minimalist life want to banish material and mental ballast and create space for things, people and experiences that are really meaningful. Many minimalists are also adventurous travelers, so it's beneficial for them to limit their possessions to just a few items.

Many convinced minimalists report that a completely decluttered home gives them mental clarity, which promotes mindfulness and gratitude. They are convinced that true happiness has absolutely nothing to do with possessions. Last but not least, a minimalist lifestyle can also save a lot of money. Money that can be invested in experiences instead of objects, in gifts to loved ones or in donations to organizations that do good.

What is minimalism not?

To start off by clearing up a much talked about cliche: living minimalist does not mean that the home looks sterile, cold and uncomfortable. Minimalism also has no rigid rules that everyone who is interested in minimalism has to follow. Minimalism stands for only one word: less.

Less clothes, less furniture, less knickknacks. It gives you more time (because, for example, tidying up is quicker), more money (because you no longer buy unnecessary nonsense) and more joie de vivre (because you don't hold on to the old, but make room for the new).

5 tips for a minimalist apartment

Everyone should deal with the topic of minimalism in the way that feels right for them. This means that the following tips for a minimalist home should not be followed blindly. They only serve as inspiration and are not rules.

1. Clean out

Clearing out is the first step towards a minimalist life. Living minimalist first requires an examination of the things you already own. Many furniture and decorative objects simply accumulate over the years, some were taken over from the children's room or were a gift. Are so many sofa cushions really necessary? Do you really need not two, not three, but four different side tables in the living room?

Tip: Think objectively about which furniture is really necessary to feel comfortable in your own four walls. What is actually used? For this you can use the Marie Kondo method well.

2. Stow away

In a minimalist apartment everything has its place. Small things disappear in drawers and boxes, textiles in cupboards and chests of drawers. Example desk: For most people, the desk resembles a colorful hodgepodge of all kinds of things. This distracts and in the worst case blocks creative thoughts. The minimalist, on the other hand, relies on tidy clarity in order to concentrate better.

Tip: Everything gets a fixed place. Only selected objects, with which special feelings are connected, receive a visible place of honor.

3. Do not forget coziness

Minimalism does not mean that everything has to be clinically clean. On the contrary. Consciously placed comfort accents are much cozier than exuberant feelings of coziness.

Tip: You can play well with textiles for this purpose. For example, with (art) furs, discreet throws and selected decorative pillows. Plants also create a wonderful feel-good atmosphere.

4. Prefer clear shapes

Clear forms should be preferred to squiggly absolutely. They bring a relaxed calm and allow a visual breathing space. It also creates a distinctive style that looks orderly yet homey at the same time.

Tip: Scandinavian furniture design is known for focusing on clear shapes and breaking them up a bit with color and shape accents.

5. Go for a uniform color palette

Too many different colors and patterns look chaotic very quickly and make a room look restless. It's better to go for colors like white, gray and beige. Colorful highlights are good, but they should be well dosed.

Tip: The advantage of a bright color palette is that it makes a room seem much larger than it actually is. Ideal for small apartments is, for example, if all the furniture and walls are white.

What to do about furniture that you do not want to part with

Almost everyone has a piece of furniture that they would like to part with, but can't bring themselves to do so. Maybe it's your grandmother's closet, or the nightstand you bought with your first money. Maybe it's the lamp your partner gave you for your birthday, or the rug your mother gave you when you moved in. In such situations, it's not a matter of getting rid of the piece of furniture in question come hell or high water.

Rather, you should ask yourself what memories are associated with it. Is it the memory of a dear person, of a great vacation, of a fantastic WG? Marie Kondo would say in this case: "This sparks joy". Instead of cleaning out the piece of furniture, it could be placed in another room, for example, or even repurposed. For example, an old picture frame can be turned into an adorable key board or an old vase into a pretty plant container.

Sometimes, however, there are no positive memories associated with a piece of furniture in particular, but rather a sense of obligation. For example, if you inherited the piece, if a former roommate left it behind when he moved or because it was a gift. In this case, it helps to realize that the relationship with the person who left you the piece of furniture is not affected by whether or not the item continues to remain in your home. This way it might be easier to part with it.

Conclusion: minimalism is not a dogma

Cleaning out, making room for the really important things, everyone can benefit from this. However, that doesn't mean you have to part with things you love in order to emulate the trendy minimalism style. Rather, minimalism is about becoming aware of the value of items, perceiving them as significant (or not), and weeding out the unused in order to rid body and mind of ballast.