The subtleties of the living room design in the style of minimalism

Minimalism is a trendy and popular design style for modern apartments. It is distinguished by its simplicity and conciseness, and also does not require serious material or time expenditures for implementation. This article will discuss the subtleties of decorating a living room in a minimalist style.

To understand the basic principles of a style like minimalism, you need to pay attention to its origin story. The first elements of minimalism began to be traced not in architecture or design, but in the visual arts. The pioneers of this trend were the communities of artists of the early twentieth century. The main principles on which this style was based were brevity, concreteness, energy and clarity.

The new style won a huge number of admirers, which led to its introduction into such spheres of human life as architecture, design and construction. The heyday of minimalism in Europe can be called the 60s of the twentieth century. Around this time, the entire European society, oversaturated with feigned and artificial luxury in the architecture of those years, longed for something simplistic.

Today, minimalism does not mean a certain style in the interior, but a whole worldview that rejects everything pretentious and redundant in favor of environmentally friendly, simple and functional.

If we consider the features of minimalism on the example of a modern living room, then the following features can be noted here.

• The furniture is modern, as simple as possible, but at the same time multifunctional.

• The interior of the hall in the style of minimalism is devoid of unnecessary interior items and accessories that distract attention.

• In such an interior there are no bulky vases, large floor lamps and stucco moldings. All lighting is organized as laconically as possible and is intended to illuminate, not decorate.

• Minimalism requires a huge amount of both artificial and natural light, and therefore living rooms of this type are always well lit. In this case, the light is not saturated, but diffused.

• A common tool of minimalism is zoning a room using partitions and shelving.

• This design style abhors curves, broken or irregular lines and shapes. All furniture in minimalism of the correct sizes and shapes, the lines are always straight and clear, with right angles.

• The key feature of minimalism is the restraint of the color scheme. There are no and cannot be contrasting colors and bright interior items that will distract attention.

• All household appliances and appliances in the living room of the minimalism style are extremely functional, while being as simple as possible.

• In a minimalist living room, you will not find things lying in close proximity to each other. Each item and device has its own place where other devices should not be.

Of all the shades and colors, minimalism looks best with white and all its natural shades. Despite such an attachment to light shades, the rule of "three" should always be preserved in the design of a minimalist living room. It implies that 3 colors are chosen for the room, one of which will dominate, and the rest will dilute it.

When choosing a shade of white for the living room, you should focus on the location of the living room relative to the sun. For example, for rooms where there is a clear lack of natural light, you should choose softer and warmer shades of white. This will immediately add coziness and hospitality to the room. In the event that your living room is under the sun almost all the time, you can add colder, metallic or gray shades here.

To give the living room a more presentable look or freshen it up with bright accents, the following colors and shades can be used:

• white and all its shades: cream, pearl, snowy, ivory;

• gray and its shades: ash, steel, basalt;

• beige;

• black and its shades: raven wing, gloss black, ebony;

• light golden, light wheaten.

The attachment of this design style to natural and natural materials should be noted. Materials such as natural stone, brick, metal, wood, even concrete, glass and, in some cases, plastic and chipboard, MDF can look great here. Requirements for acceptable materials in minimalism may vary depending on which country this style is used in.

The features of using other colors in minimalism will be described below.

For a minimalist living room that emphasizes materials such as stone or natural wood, it is not uncommon to use brown in the overall color scheme. It should be noted that in such living rooms, not pure brown is involved, but its darker shades. In addition, in this case, this shade does not dominate the color scheme, but creates a pleasant contrast with the rest of the furniture - most often soft white or cream tones are chosen here.

At the beginning of the 19th century, an active movement began for the use of exclusively ecological materials and colors in the interior. Minimalism, as a direction that adheres to clarity and natural simplicity in its concept, almost immediately picked up this trend. It should be noted that today a green living room in the style of minimalism is understood not completely, but only partially, a green room, in which accents are made on elements of furniture, accessories, carpets, curtains and other interior items. At the same time, the main emphasis here remains precisely on the white color. In rare cases, in such living rooms, one of the walls is completely painted in light green - this technique is called an "accent wall" in design.

Minimalism rarely accepts cheerful and carefree colors in the interior, and therefore there are not so many living rooms with an interior of this color. Usually, here, not bright shades of yellow are used, but softer or soothing color schemes: cream, beige and sand... Usually these colors are used to give the living room a cozier and sunnier look.

The key feature of the finish in this case is the complete absence of distracting accents and contrasts - everything in this design style strives for calmness and tranquility.

To make your minimalist living room look cozy, solid and fashionable, you should focus on the following finishing materials:

• mirror surfaces;
• glass;
• metal surfaces, frames and ornaments;
• natural stone and wood;
• gloss in interior elements.

Most of the responsibility for the appearance of the living room is borne precisely by the walls. As a rule, if desired, their design in the style of minimalism, the owners use either decorative plaster or decorative brick. Recently, minimalism is more often inclined towards walls painted in neutral colors.

It should be understood that a style such as minimalism adheres to restraint in everything, and therefore it is not necessary to decorate the walls of such a living room with an excessive number of accessories and decor elements.

The floor in a minimalist living room is designed not only to set the right tone for the room, but also to harmonize with its overall color background. Options for self-leveling floors, light tiled surfaces or natural stone will look especially good here. Unlike walls, minor patterns are allowed on the floor, but they should not distract attention and contrast with the furniture.

The best materials for flooring in such a living room are wooden or wood-imitating materials: natural wood, laminate and parquet. Wood gives the whole room a cozy, serene and harmonious look. Most often, wood is used here in white shades, however, soft brown tones can be used to create a pleasant contrast between the rest of the furniture.

As for the floor accessories, their minimalism is not strongly honored. If you still want to decorate your room with a beautiful dark carpet, you can choose monochromatic pile options without patterns and patterns, or a regular carpet.

Minimalism refers to those design styles in which stretch glossy or matte ceilings look best. As for the color palette, only light and white shades are mainly used here. Depending on what the owner of the apartment wants to focus on, they can be either snow-white or cream.

When looking at a living room in the style of minimalism, it may seem that the owner did not cost anything to equip its ceiling plane, which is fundamentally untrue. This style requires simple and concise but expensive materials.

A living room in a minimalist style requires high-quality and constant lighting, whether it be natural sunlight or artificial. If your living room is located on the north side of the house, it makes sense to decorate it in warmer sunny colors. This style is one of the few where almost all curtains will look bad. In rare cases, blinds or roman blinds can be used in such an interior.

Despite the fact that minimalism needs a lot of light, this does not mean that it will accept large fixtures with bright and saturated light. It's just the opposite - small but numerous spotlights will look best here.

The following light sources will look best in a minimalistic living room:

• lighting along walls and cornices;
• lamps in the plinth along the perimeter of the floor;
• small and movable light sources;
• minimalistic floor lamps and tubular lamps;
• zone LED and neon lighting of furniture (mirrors, chest of drawers, desktop).

Classic examples of minimalist furniture are models made from natural wood or with a glossy surface. Also, options for stylish glass furniture, as well as metal structures, look good here. In rare cases, plastic furniture or lacquered chipboard looks good in minimalism.

The most important point in the selection of furniture for this type of living room is the observance of clear geometric shapes. However, despite the fact that minimalism strives for brevity and simplicity in everything, comfort is not alien to it. So, for example, upholstered furniture will look great here, but with clear boundaries - to the detriment of the so-called bedbags and floor mattresses.

One of the goals of minimalism is to provide maximum functionality even in limited environments. So, furniture in a minimalist style is characterized by hidden or built-in openings, drawers or shelves where household items, clothes or books can be stored. Transforming furniture will look perfect here, which can simultaneously combine several functions (for example, beds and storage for clothes).

Fortunately, it doesn't take much effort on your part to properly decorate your living room in a minimalist style. This is exactly the version of the design style that does not require excesses in the interior in order to look laconic, solid and comfortable.

Despite this, minimal decor elements in such a living room are still acceptable... For example, small flower pots with bright green plants or cacti will refresh your living room. Small decorative stones or shells, smooth and simple vases, stands will give it more natural coziness and warmth.

If we take a closer look at textiles in minimalism, then here it is as simple as possible. Most often, smooth fabric or leather textures are used here. Bulky, overly soft or covered with stucco and gilding furniture will not look advantageous here.

• Living room in white.

• Contrasting living room.

• Living room in warm and deep colors.

For the secrets of the minimalism style, see the video below.