Cozy Minimalist Home

I first encountered Myquillyn Smith on links from other blogs. I read a few of her posts, but I didn't bookmark her Nester site.

Her family has finally bought a home, rather than renting, and her book Cozy Minimalist Home shares what she learned in the process of moving into a fixer-upper and applies it to her way of looking at decorating.

Cozy minimalism seems like a contradiction of terms. She liked the uncluttered space of minimalism, the ease of care, but she felt they had gone too far so the home feels austere. Personally, I don't dislike the remade rooms of her home, but they seem plain with mostly white and brown and some blue tones. She talks of how she has created interest with texture and different shapes (mostly in accessories and plants). Maybe so, but there is no pop of color anywhere to draw the eye. It seems a little monotonous. 

She does not have a set order of rooms or categories to work through like Marie Kondo, but she has a strict list of steps to take in her order: furniture, drapes, lighting, floor covering, wall surfaces, finally accessories. She wants you to complete your flooring decisions before painting walls which seems counterintuitive when you see that a major step of her process is to "quiet" a room by removing everything but large furnishings. Instead, once you have hung the drapes, laid wall-to-wall carpeting or area rugs, then you protect or remove all of that stuff a second time to do the painting. She gives her reasons for this.

The first step is to decide the purpose(s) of your rooms. It will be different for each household and change over time. Then she suggests that you go to Pinterest (or alternatively use magazines or books) to find 50-100 photos you love of each room. The pictures might have things you dislike along with those you love. It doesn't have to perfectly reflect your tastes. I guess I am way ahead on this step since I have all those pictures in folders that I collected over the past 5-6 years. The task is to look at the pictures (ideally to have some friends also do this for/with you) to find commonalities or similarities to identify your preferences. 

Myquillyn says that no matter how much fun those "quizzes" in newspapers or magazines or on the internet are to identify your style of decorating, they are actually worthless in making decisions for your home. 

Once you have collected and analyzed the pictures, you do "quieting". You remove all of the accessories, area rugs, small furniture, most of the lamps and live in the room for several days (she prefers for a week). This is a minimalist idea I have seen on the internet. Gradually you bring back items but not all of them. While the room is "quieted", you spend time observing the bones of the room and its condition. Are there cracks to repair? Peeling or faded paint? Is the carpeting ratty? Awkward door and window placement? What needs to be different to make this room meet your purposes and aesthetics? In the meantime, the rest of your house may be a mess as you had to put the things you took out of the room somewhere. Her process is disruptive to you and your family.

Also, while the room is mostly empty, she wants you to move your furniture to lots of different placements. No can do. As a senior, I don't have the stamina or strength to be moving furniture all over the room. This is definitely not a step for the elderly or disabled. 

The author is known as a Christian blogger, and she does relate her decorating process to Christian values a bit. I expected more.

I would say the book is best for those starting over in a new home, or those who have been paralyzed with doubt and indecision thus not doing anything to improve their homes. In an indirect way, it does help you see that you have too much stuff, that your things cause you to spend time on them rather than on family and friends. Becoming more "minimal" frees you to spend your energy and time on relationships. The book also discusses how to recognize that you have "enough" and don't need to be constantly shopping or keeping up with the consumerism behavior of our culture. Also, temporary "fixes" are suggested until you have the resources to reach your dream home. Perfection is never the goal, however. Comfort, warmth, ease of living, hospitality opportunities are the priorities.