4 Tips for Creating a Minimalist Interior and 3 Reasons Why You Should Want One

We are not interior designers. However, minimalism and minimal interiors are a big part of selling mid-century furniture.

With this in mind, and because we believe that many of the people who visit us in-store and online are trying to create such a look in their homes, we have put together this handy guide to help you turn your interior design ideas into a reality.

What is a Minimalist Interior?

To us, this means an open, airy space that is free from clutter and design discontinuity.

To put it another way, a minimalist room features only the essentials and a consistent thread running through every item or feature in the room.

If you want our opinion, and lets’ face it, you’re here so you might, we think it is the very best way to go.  

4 ways to Achieve a Minimalist Interior

1 - Shop for Open Furniture

Unsurprisingly, this makes it to the top of our list.

Open furniture, or at least our interpretation of the term, means furniture with open sides or furniture that is suspended on slender legs.

To put it another way, it means furniture that allows light to pass through it to create a greater sense of space in a room.

If you didn’t know already, midmod furniture does this brilliantly. Have a look at our mid-century modern collection for yourself if you don’t believe us.

2 - Be Consistent

Competing tones, materials and shapes are almost always going to appear amateurish (and a bit stressful to look at).

It doesn’t really matter too much what thread you choose (avoid bright, garish colours in favour of natural hues if you can, though) so long as you choose one.

For example, angular furniture and fixtures will be no more or less effective than their rounded equivalent so long as you stick to the theme.

Where possible, try to avoid mixing pieces of furniture that are made using different materials.

For example, don’t try to pair a teak sofa with a metal coffee table. You might get lucky and it might look ok, but you will enjoy a much higher success rate if you keep it simple.

3 - Storage, Storage, Storage

Clever storage solutions are essential for the successful creation of a minimalist interior. Clutter is basically your enemy.

This doesn’t mean throw everything in the bin and survive only with things that will fit in your back pocket.

It just means find a way to keep ‘stuff’ out of sight (preferably in an organised fashion).

Where possible, look for furniture that has mixed storage — open shelves, closed compartments, drawers and storage built into the doors — so you can put a variety of items in the same piece.

Wall units are in their element here. Find one with open sides and you should probably snap it up.

4 - Plain and Simple

White walls are a staple of minimalist interiors. We can’t recommend them highly enough.

If you’re worried that they might leave your house looking a little sterile, then don’t.

You can always break up a wall with a decorator item, provided, of course, that it contains a colour or theme that is already present.

If you have been in our shop before, then you’ll probably know that we have done this by hanging rugs over a cross bar. Drop in if you want to see what it looks like.

Wooden floors are great for minimalist interior themes. Just don’t paint them and try to avoid multi-tone wooden flooring. Remember, less really is the name of the game here.

3 Reasons Why You Should Want a Minimalist Interior

1 - They’re Easier to Clean

The less complex the layout of your home, the easier it is to maintain.

Clear surfaces, for example, simply need wiped down. You don’t have to waste time moving everything out of the way first.

What is more, if you decide to use solid wood or mid-century furniture, you’ll actually find that it is very low maintenance. Win-win.

For more on furniture care, visit our furniture care guide.

2 - The Brain Likes Them

We’re not going to waste too much time going into neuro-architecture (it’s a thing) because, well, we haven’t spent years reading about it.

However, what we do know about it, and what we tend to agree with, is that it suggests that minimalist interiors are enjoyable.

The long and the short of it is this: busy interiors can be stress inducing — apparently, they can even make you feel ill.

We can’t say that we’ve ever experienced that but we are prepared to say that we do find minimalist interiors to be calming. 

3 - They’re Easier to Sell

If your interior looks simple, clean and deliberate, prospective viewers are either going to be impressed or see an opportunity to stamp their own mark on proceedings.

Homeowners: ignore this at their peril. If you’re not sure what you should do with a room, we can’t make the case for this approach strongly enough.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.