Guide to Minimalist Living Room Décor

Minimalist Living Room Ideas

Minimalism is a philosophy and not necessarily a style. The minimalist bohemian living room is as valid as the minimalist industrial living room. It’s a holistic approach, independent of style.

To get the minimalist aesthetic, no matter your preference. We recommend starting with a checklist of elements to achieve the “less is more” look. We have organised our minimalist living room guide around the following considerations:

• Configuration and room planning
• Neutral minimalist colour scheme
• De-cluttering through storage solutions
• Multi-functional furniture
• Lighting & Mirrors
• Fabrics & Textures

Creating Openness and Flow

Before placing any furniture in your minimalist living room decide on the configuration. For larger spaces, create islands or clusters according to function, i.e. seating area, study or reading area, fireplace or hearth.

Make sure that circulation through and around the room is unobstructed. There should be a good flow of space where every corner is accessible. If possible, pull loose furniture away from the room perimeter to leave wall surfaces and finishes on display.

Harnessing the Power of Negative Space

The concept of Negative Space is well-known to interior designers. It refers to the left-over spaces (negative spaces) once furniture and other fittings are in place. For the minimalist living room, this means planning both the room plan and the section.

For example, choosing furniture of the right scale to suit the space available, and making sure that its height doesn’t overwhelm the room. In a living room with a designer fireplace, this means keeping the coffee table low, so it doesn’t block views of an important feature.

Choosing the Minimalist Colour Palette

Colour is a sometimes-underestimated consideration. For the minimalist living room, colour is closely aligned with materials.

Think of natural shades of wood, concrete, raw fibres and textiles combined with neutral tones, such as whites, greys and muted colours. This colour palette has a soothing effect and can be adjusted according to the amount of natural daylight available. By keeping colours in the same family, there is a subliminal harmony and a sense of belonging.

The ideal orientation for a living room in the northern hemisphere is west-facing. That way we get the evening sun and enjoy the transition from day to night.

Accentuating with Limited Colour

Colour is a wonderful addition to our lives but one that must be tightly controlled in the minimalist living room. Pops of colour can highlight a balanced and harmonious colour palette.

Keep the number of accent colours within a spectrum of one or two maximum. Additionally, avoid competing with the background; instead, complement it. The minimalist black and white living room, for example, can be transformed by strong characterful accents like red or yellow. Similarly, a more muted neutral colour scheme can take statement accents like black and stand-out colour tones.

Artful Placement of Mirrors

The sensation of space within a minimalist living room can be greatly enhanced through the artful placement of mirrors. Reflected light is critical for living spaces with a northern aspect and limited natural light. Place the mirrors opposite the source of light to double the lighting effect.

Mirrors also help to open out a space and make it appear larger. Place large mirrors over a fireplace (or a sideboard), slightly angled to add dimension. Avoid flat mirrors at eye height however, this can be distracting and ruin the minimalist effect.

Decluttering & Utilising Storage

The minimalist living room is organised around creating an open and expansive ordered space. The concept is based on decluttering and making do with the least number of things. But balance here is crucial, that doesn’t mean sacrificing character or our own personal stamp. Follow these guidelines to keep surfaces clear of clutter and avoid superfluous decoration.

• Provide storage solutions that form part of the room’s architecture. In other words, built-in shelving within niches or a window box seating that doubles as storage. If there are no features, create them.
• Take stock of the possessions you want to hold onto and display in your living room. Get rid of half and work with the remainder.
• Choose pieces of furniture that incorporate storage, like chests, sideboards, coffee tables with compartments, etc.

 

 

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Essential Furniture Selection

In the true spirit of minimalism, we should make a list of the necessary items of furniture and strictly stick to those pieces. That will include a modular sofa, perhaps an armchair or two, and a coffee table that can double as a side table and storage. All these furniture elements should ideally, share an aesthetic, or in other words, look like they belong together. That doesn’t mean slavishly matching styles but instead perhaps a curved silhouette.

Multi-Functional Elements

The authentic minimalist living room is based on a reduced number of things. So it follows that by choosing multifunctional elements we do more with less. The famous mantra “less is more” only works if there are a few key pieces that double up. The sofa bed is a classic example, as is the storage ottoman and nest of tables that stack neatly when not in use.

 

 

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Thoughtful Decor Choices

Among the great advantages of reducing the number of elements in the minimalist living room is choosing quality over quantity. The right sofa, for example, will last a lifetime. So choose wisely a Chesterfield, for example; it will never be out of style.

Similarly, be judicious with personal effects and sentimental objects. Treat these decorative elements with the respect they deserve and curate them rather than simply displaying them.

Incorporating Texture and Subtlety

Texture helps prevent minimalism from becoming boring, especially accessories such as fabrics and soft furnishings like rugs.

Ratan, linens, cottons, silks and velvets are all endowed with an unmistakable tactile individuality. They catch and absorb light in unique ways that perform different functions; velvet curtains are great for blackout window treatment. Linen and raw cotton feel sensual against the skin while silk reflects the light in a luxurious way. These textiles and accessories add a subtle complexity without sacrificing the minimalist living room aesthetic.

Optimal Natural & Artificial Lighting Choices

Natural light is foremost when creating a lighting scheme for the minimalist living room. Keep the window treatments simple and unobstructed, allowing for variable degrees of privacy and transparency including total blackout.

For the UK latitude, artificial lighting is an important ingredient for long winter evenings spent in the living room. As a rule, there should be several light sources within the room that reflect the different activities accommodated therein. Lighting the minimalist living room can include the following:

• A central overhead pendant light fitting. This can be a statement piece but avoid too many statement lighting features.
• Floor lamps and table lamps. Create islands of lighting to delimit reading or seating areas within the living room.
• Indirect lighting that highlights architectural features such as coving, recessed ceiling profiles or scone fittings.
• External lighting. If you are lucky enough to have a lawn or garden visible from the living room, add outdoor lighting. The effect can be transformative. It extends and connects the minimalist aesthetic to the house exterior.

Cohesion and Consistency

We have looked at several aspects of minimalist design and proven that the minimalist living room is anything but dull. Consistency and coherence in colour and texture combined with rational and judicial layout are the foundation. Then, you can layer on personal pieces and quality multi-functional furniture. With texture and lighting, the finishing touches all add up to a cosy minimalist living room where balance and calm attract the eye and soothe the soul.

Wellbeing through Minimalism

The minimalist living room look is hard to pin down, as we have explored. But once you experience it you will know.

Although we have provided guidelines and pointers, we recommend a visit to your nearest Porcelanosa showroom to see what is possible. There you’ll see a whole range of living room ideas. Click here for a new chapter in your home, filled with calm and luxurious simplicity.

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