So, you’ve decided that there’s too much clutter in your life, and you’re looking to make your home more minimalistic. The problem is, when you’ve spent so long enjoying bold and busy décor, it’s hard to know how to cut everything down and create a minimalist environment you’re happy with.
If you’re looking to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle at home, but you’re not sure where to start, let the following ideas help you.
- Consider What You Need
A lot of clutter in the home comes from sentimentality and the unwillingness to get rid of items, even if you never use them. Switching to minimalism means freeing yourself from unwanted items and being honest about what you want and need within your home.
If you haven’t looked at, used, or thought about an item in a set amount of time, get rid of it. If you have more than one of the same items, get rid of the unneeded versions.
To alleviate any guilt, you can always give unwanted items to charity, meaning you’re decluttering your home and helping others at the same time. You may not need certain items, but they may come in handy for another person or a charity store shopper.
- Think More Carefully About Lighting
A room filled with big and bold lamps attracts a lot of dust and takes up space. While it’s, of course, essential to light up your room adequately, if you’re finding that a lot of your rooms are filled with lamps and lights, you may want to switch to more effective lighting.
If you invest more time and money into efficient lighting fixtures in your chosen rooms, this can serve to light your home in a better way and help to eliminate too many lamps.
This could be as simple as a lighting fixture, which allows you to adjust the head so that you can point light in different directions and fill every corner of the room.
Remember always to be safe when installing new lighting fixtures and working with electrics: you can always contact an emergency electrician if you have any problems with new lighting fixtures, or require any advice.
- Use Storage and Cabinets
If you are aiming for a more minimalist look on the surface, but you need to keep a lot of your items, you should make use of storage in the home. This is especially helpful for the kitchen, as many people fill the sides and tops of counters with items instead of storing them away.
If you’re aiming for completely clear and clean on the top of furniture or in certain rooms, use drawers and cabinets to organize your belongings out of sight.
- Choose Quality Over Quantity
If you usually buy more than you need simply because you like certain items or think these are essentials for your home, take a step back. You should choose one quality item which you know you’re always going to use, instead of three bargain items which you only use one of, for example.
Author: There’s not much Lucy doesn’t know about her two passions: fashion & interior design! Having worked in the fashion industry for six years, she has a keen eye for all things on-trend, with a focus on new developments in both the interior design world and on the world’s catwalks.
