Cosy without Clutter
I love the idea of living an edited life, surrounding myself with just the things that have meaning and bring joy. But the idea of minimalism leaves me cold.
I definitely do love the idea of clean, tidy calm space, but I also love to be reminded of travels, people and places that certain objects evoke memories of. This is why I’m learning to embrace cosy minimalism.
It’s about paring things down to only having the things that serve you in some way. A cosy rug for warmth, a beautiful candle for the senses. Layering excess things creates clutter, having too many objects that, in isolation don’t bring you joy, ultimately drains your energy and creates sensory overwhelm.
The easiest way to create cosy without clutter is, and this is a hard one for me, to focus on fewer larger items instead of lots of small knick knacks. Looking around my home, I have endless small bowls, miniature bud vases, and collections of shells and stones. So how to edit these things?
That is the trick that I’m still learning. Containing and presenting my many pebbles, stones and sea shells together in one glass jar so they are visible reminders but not strewn everywhere is one.
Making a more concentrated centrepiece of artworks or feature candles and culling out the “me too’s”also makes for a calmer living space.
Try editing out everything from the space you’re concentrating on, make it “quiet” Remove all the noise that our things create and it’ll make you re-look and re-think what you actually want to be surrounded by.
“If everything in your room has a voice, and every surface has 15 things on it, it’s like your room is yelling at you.” – Myquillyn Smith
lI want to live in a home that holds and reflects memories, that evolves with me and my family. But also that is calming, simpler and gives me more mental space to enjoy them all. So, I’m making a conscious decision to slowly make my way through our home and implement this wonderful revelation, that you can create a joyful, inviting and warm environment in a minimalist way.
