MINIMAL STYLE: INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of the 1970s, a new style took over which promoted the essentiality of the elements in the choices of furniture: the so-called “minimal style“.
The aim of this style, therefore, is to give complete emphasis to the furniture chosen to furnish the home, giving crucial importance to the space and the perception of its depth.
The minimal style is linked to a simple and orderly way of life, giving centrality to practicality rather than form.
In fact, compared to more modern trends, which prefer chaos, confusion and mixing furniture and furnishings of different origins, the minimal style is based on essential and well-formalized furnishings.
In fact, all the superfluous must be eliminated. To do this, the white color is the tint that most helps designers to achieve the goal, as it creates empty space and focuses people’s attention on the object.
HISTORY AND DIFFUSION
Minimalism was born in the 1960s and derives from radical chance experienced by the artistic environment of that era. In the art of that time there was a movement characterized by a reduction in reality, by non-expression and emotional coldness in the works.
In fact, the English word “minimal” is translated into Italian as minimale, simple.
The first to use this term, coining it back in 1965, was the English philosopher Richard Wollheim. The term was coined to best convey the idea of a minimalist environment, made up of a few essential objects and homogeneous colours.
Also, because of the fact that modern homes are being built with smaller sizes than in the past, it becomes important to focus only on the essential elements of the furniture, eliminating the superfluous.
The minimal style is often explained with the phrase “less is more“, the slogan par excellence of the movement coined by Mies Van Der Rohe.
In one of his posters he explains how minimalism is the reduction to essence, how everything must be reduced to the necessary basic elements, without forgetting to stay in step with modernity anyway.
Precisely for this reason minimalism has many forms, has adapted a lot to the various styles that have developed and evolved over the years.
Minimalism is a concept before being a style!
MAIN FEATURES
The soul of minimal style in the world of design is expressed as a tool to remove the superfluous and focus attention on what matters. In this regard, many associate minimal style houses with cold, anonymous and not very welcoming spaces.
This is a misconception: style does not promote a bare house but an idea of essentials. Summing up, we can thus list the main elements of the minimal style. First of all, the focus is mainly on functionality; the lines of furniture and furnishings must be as simple as possible, avoiding in an absolute way decorations and various ornaments. It is important not to exaggerate with colours, trying to make homogeneous gradations prevail, mostly based on white. Finally, as the concept of this style is minimal, it is recommended to have as little furniture as possible.
Light plays an important role in this style. In fact, the latter is able to expand the perception of space in your home, thanks to its purely white coloring and the lack of bulky furniture to block the flow. So pay close attention to the light, whether natural or artificial, always try to highlight the shapes and geometries of your rooms.
FURNISHINGS
Minimal style houses almost never have decorative objects.
In fact, the decorations are synonymous with “more”, they are non-essential elements and disturb the order and linearity of the spaces. This does not mean that the house is bare and impersonal, indeed, but reflects the choice of wanting to furnish giving importance to the architecture of the house and the carefully chosen pieces of furniture.
On the other hand, art is often present in minimal houses, large canvases of modern art and always abstract or important sculptures.
The arrangement of the furnishings is a fundamental feature. Priority in this area is given to space. The various rooms of a house must be large and airy, with the size of the furniture reduced to the bare minimum.
Often in open spaces the furnishings are positioned in the center of the room allowing the walls to remain clear and visible. Often, sound-absorbing panels, essential and not too bulky can be inserted.
The wall units are often suspended and not resting on the ground, creating contrasts between full and empty, space and lightness.
Let’s see together how to adapt this style to the environments of our home.
BEDROOM
Aplace of rest and comfort, the bedroom implies a special attention in furnishing, to avoid that the wrong choices can damage and disturb the sleep. In a minimal chic style bedroom, essentiality and elegance come together and combine, to create an environment that is simple but refined at the same time.
As far as colours are concerned, the most suitable palette for a minimal chic interior must be harmonious and linear. There must be no middle ground. Either opt for neutral and warm tones, such as white, beige or vanilla, or dark and bold shades, such as mahogany and grey. The most important thing is that there are no strong contrasts.
The bed is the central element of the room. How to reconcile elegance and essentiality? Even if you don’t believe it, it’s absolutely possible. In fact, the perfect solution is to choose a modern canopy bed. Don’t be alarmed, it has nothing to do with the classic one, full of fabrics and decorations. The modern version takes the structure, in a simple and minimalist key, but giving the room a touch of class.
BATHROOM
Thefurnishing of a minimal bathroom responds to very precise rules and everything starts from the fundamental elements. The design of such a bathroom starts from the space we have available. Based on this and the location of the attachments, you can then proceed with making the same. If, on the other hand, you are going to redo the room from scratch, you may as well not have to submit to the impediments of the room and create a modern bathroom in a minimal style just as you have always dreamed of.
It starts with choosing the most suitable sanitary ware. Buy a round or squarewashbasin with base or countertop. The main thing is that it should be white, at most a neutral color. You can combine it with the series of sanitary ware, such as bidet, toilet of the same line. Faucets for minimal bathroom fi xtures will complete the choice of fundamental elements. You can choose chrome or opaque versions, they are available in many variations but the main thing is that they must match the style of the rest of the room.
KITCHEN
In order to favour practicality and functionality even in the minimalist kitchen, there are various solutions that can be adopted in terms of configuration.
From this point of view, different concepts of space are developed, but with the common goal of encouraging the use of the kitchen not only for its primary purpose, but also for other daily activities. The corner kitchen, which relies on two walls to optimize space – one side dedicated only to the hob and the other to house appliances and hidden compartments; the kitchen with an island, which sees the central element as the pivotal point and protagonist of the kitchen, a versatile space with multiple uses.
Few objects in sight and free surfaces contribute to the overall impression of space and order. This is why drawers, compartments and shelves equipped with modules, dividers and accessories to accommodate each object in a precise and orderly manner become particularly important. Everything has its place.
LIVING ROOM
What can’t be missing in a minimal chic living room? First of all, the basic rule is to remove everything that is not necessary, so as to create more space in the room and a tidier and cleaner environment.
Furnishings and furniture should be simple, with basic, geometric lines and clear volumes, while objects should not only be small in number and in harmony with each other, but also have a clean, attractive design.
As for the colours of the furniture and walls, it is preferable to opt for neutral and delicate tones, such as white, dove grey, pearl grey or pale pink; earthy colours, such as beige and brown or the pastel shades of wood. Black also finds its place in the minimal chic living room, as it creates a sober, yet studied, contrast with the lighter furniture.
LIGHTING
In terms of home lighting, the minimalist style is becoming increasingly popular in Italian homes. If you also want to get the best lighting results in your apartment, you only need a small number of light points, as long as they are well distributed.
Only by enjoying proper lighting will you be able to highlight the breadth of space in each room. And that’s the underlying goal that minimal style allows you to achieve.
Along the same lines as for furnishings, where you should prefer the use of a few accessories and all sober in terms of color, even for the lighting of the house you should opt for a sober line.
In reference to how to light a house with minimal style, keep in mind that two aspects play a crucial role: on the one hand, the natural light, on the other hand, the position and type of LED lights.
CONCLUSIONS
The so-called minimal furniture style has been in vogue for a few years now and is part of the modern / contemporary macro-style.
A furnishing style is the dress you choose to give to your home and represents the character you want to impress on it. Choosing a furnishing style such as minimal means receiving pleasant sensations from it, both to the eye and to the touch.
Our advice is always to rely on an expert in the sector who can guide you in choosing the furniture that best meets your needs. Furthermore, we recommend choosing this style only if you are truly convinced of an essential, practical and functional style of furniture.
We say this, for the simple fact that people with more lively and extroverted characters could “get tired” of this style and want to change.
Instead, we strongly recommend that you discover this style to those who don’t pretend too much and really believe in their own lives, that “less is more”. In this case, there is nothing better than minimal style to meet your furnishing needs.
On the other hand, if you were an introspective and thoughtful person, you could combine the minimal style with a small Zen garden outside.
Finally, the minimal style fits perfectly with the Nordic style, or in any case shares several basic elements.
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