Less Xanax, More Minimalism
When it comes to minimalist designs, the phrase, ‘Less is more’ is often frequented. A truly minimalist home decor design is one in which no element is redundant. It is not that the elements that remain are favourites, rather, that all elements present are effective and serve a purpose.
This is as true to an aesthetic purpose as it is to a functional one.
We all do. We all have those long busy days jostling from the rattling Tube to the dingy office rooms, yearning to get through the day so we can get home and ‘rest’. Yet, on getting home, we are welcomed by clutter and chaos leading to yet more exhaustion. This is THE recipe for disaster – it does not enable us to put the weight of stress on our shoulders at bay. The implications eventually compound and restless nights and chaotic days begin to take their toll.
The notorious city commute - London Underground
The solution? Dare we say it, is found in the foundations of a minimalist design.
How? Well, minimalist designs enable you to:
Bring about mental clarity - Your home is your personal space and a reflection of your mind (and vice versa). Reducing clutter and creating space allows you to minimise negative biases and chatter in the brain, it heightens focus, and ultimately brings about clarity. Through this you stop running away from your own thoughts, and those moments of ponder are no longer chaotic but rather moments of creative and focused thinking.
Improve Productivity - With the average person spending 2.5 days a year looking for misplaced items we really ought to take this one seriously. When extra elements that serve as mere distractions are eliminated, the intentional elements become instantaneously more visible and accessible. Through this organised space you reduce the resistance between yourself and new positive habits - enabling you to take on new challenges and to do so in the right mental space.
Reduce Anxiety – Since you are no longer spending time anxiously scouring through piles of mess to find the things you need, you are immediately preserving mental energy to the things that matter whilst suppressing the instigation of anxious thoughts right at its root.
Maximise Aesthetic Appeal - Simplicity is timeless and that is what minimalism is about. A minimalistically designed home is one that is simple and yet, does not lose it's finesse or functionality/utility; an acutely fine balance, and is certainly no easy feat.
Feel Empowered - Minimalism is not just removing everything and anything. It is about giving your home space and room to breath, bringing attention to the finer pieces – the pieces that allow you to express yourself in a somewhat magical way.
How can you bring about the practices of minimalism to your home?
Be brave. Whilst the norm is to add colour you can try to avoid using too many colors, bringing more character to each tone and in turn calming the mind.
Quality not Quantity. The items should be of high quality, not only due to their function. They may be expensive, but they save money in the long term. They should be visually attractive and should elevate the design individually.
Don’t shy away from having empty spaces. It allows attention to be directed where you want it to be whilst also creating vacuums of space for personal time.
Out of the remaining elements, one or two should stand out and be the point(s) of focus. This shows what needs to be seen immediately and further increases the essentiality.
Enable minimalism by having products that serve multiple functions. With enough space, each element can carry out its purpose. Through this, all the elements, individually and collectively, improve the design and maximize functionality - and do so with minimal effort.
The Shining Armour eloquently embodying the practices of minimalism
Over to you
Ok, we’ve thrown a lot of ideas around and it might be a lot to take in. But, before you leave us, we wanted to get your mind in gear with something fun to try at home;
- Hang all of your jackets/dresses with the coat hangers facing away from you
- Whenever you use a piece of clothing re-hang them so that the coat hanger is now facing towards you
- Do this for 12 months, then take a moment to check how many hangers are still facing away from you, and proceed to be shocked by it being almost all of them.
The minimal home decor experiment
Look, at the core of it, minimalism is the absence of clutter. And without this clutter, we can reduce our anxiety. Things that don’t serve a purpose - whether it be a functional or an aesthetic purpose - can be discounted as clutter, and thus, simply, the instigators of our anxiety. Done well, minimalism can allow us to consciously channel our thoughts, regain access to our creative minds, and above all improve and enhance our own living space which in turn gives us further control and the perpetual cycle continues.
As an alternative to over-the-counter Xanax, we’re inviting you to get inspiration from our collection on the style of items you can add to your living space which offer a profound level of functional minimalism.