Minimalism, we are informed by the appalling coterie of narcissists who pass for trend setters, is calming: acres of greige, the emotional warmth of a dentist’s waiting room, the monstrosity done to the 'Home Alone' house,
And the spiritual nourishment of Pantone’s announcement that "Cloud Dreamer" is the 'colour of the year' for 2026. Pretty sounding, it's this by the way:
How very brave. How very nourishing to the soul.
Yet I read on the BBC News website this morning ("Very bad, very wrong people" according to another tasteless twerp, although at least gold is a colour of substance) that ordinary humans stubbornly persist in discovering that colour makes them happier. ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg2j5l4q7wo ).
I'm probably a tad more cottagecore in personal taste than this, but unquestionably it's effervescently reckless to have a room that suggests one's joy rather than moral-aesthetic superiority and I am incredibly happy to read about a home decorator committing the ultimate aesthetic sin:
Choosing what makes you happy in your own home rather than focusing on what flatters an estate agent's brochure written by a tasteless moron.
There are lots of problems in the world today and I completely appreciate this isn't the worst of them. But we are in genuine danger from a design orthodoxy so bloodless it mistakes emotional anaemia for good taste.
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I feel like minimalism is calming. I admit, I sometimes I get caught up in the technosexual and maximalist design that uses all 3 dimensions but it's true that the more Zen things are, the less cluttered and stressed you feel. So I agree with that much about minimalism.
@Hireath Oh I completely agree that clutter is really really stressful! But I also think that homes should be...homes... rather than just an investment you happen to live in for a bit.
Even a splash of colour or a few books goes a huge way towards making somewhere feel like you belong in it rather than a hotel room and there are lots of people (including people who if they weren't my friends already I'd barely want to visit their houses..ok slight exaggeration) who mistake a clutter-free space with having nothing in it at all.
@Persephonee Oh colour is nice especially if you have good taste and it goes well with the furnishings etc. There is another problem though, it can kind of conflict with pedestrian design (interior and exterior). I saw a pic of a row of houses, all different colours, really bright colours but it confused me a bit because it was overstatement mixed with understatement lol.
