Live a great life w/ less through minimalism.

Minimalism is considered one of the crowning architectural achievements of the XXth century. Spare and streamlined whilst still being inviting, minimalism is charming in almost any space. With less clutter to wade through and mentally process, the innate beauty of each piece of furniture or art in the home really starts to stand out.

Is this kind of design devoid of character and fun and life? Some might think so, but I get a strange satisfaction, a fulfillment, at looking around and seeing a home free of clutter. It’s calming, and liberating, and just pretty nice.

Less stressful. Clutter is a form of visual distraction, and everything in our vision pulls at our attention at least a little. The less clutter, the less visual stress we've got. A minimalist home is very calming.

Easier to clean. It’s hard to clean a whole bunch of objects, or to sweep or vacuum around a lot of furniture. The more stuff you own, the more you have to keep clean, and the more complicated it is to clean around the stuff. Think about how easy it is to clean an empty space compared to one with 50 objects in it. That’s an extreme example, of course, as I wouldn’t recommend you have an empty room, but it’s just to illustrate the difference.

More and more appealing. Just think about photos of houses that are excessively cluttered, and photos of minimalist homes. The ones with almost nothing in them except some beautiful furniture, some nice artwork, and a very few pretty decorations, are the ones that appeal to most of us. You could make your home more appealing by making it more minimalist.

What does a minimalist home look like?

This would vary, of course, depending on your taste and how extreme of a minimalist you want to be. Here are some characteristics of a minimalist home:

Minimal furniture. A minimalist room would only contain a few essential pieces of furniture. A living room, for example, might only have a couch, another chair or love seat, a coffee table, a minimalist entertainment stand, a television, and a couple of lamps. It could even contain less. A bedroom might have a simple bed, a dresser, and perhaps a night stand or book shelf.

Accent decorations. A home completely clear of things would be a bit boring, actually. So instead of having a coffee table completely free of any objects, you could have a simple vase with a few flowers, for example. Or a clear desk might just have a family photo. An otherwise empty wall might have a tasteful piece of art.

Quality over quantity. Instead of having a lot of stuff in your home, a minimalist would choose just a few really good things he loves and uses often. A really nice table, for example, is better than 5 pieces of press-board furniture.