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Minimalist living room inspiration

Want to refresh your living room with a clean, simplified look? We share tips and offer inspiration for creating the minimalist living room of your dreams.

4 min read

If you’re drawn to a pared-back, uncluttered, clean aesthetic, minimalist design may be for you. Looking to overhaul your living space and give it a sparkling new look? We explore minimalist living room inspiration that can elevate your living space to the next level.

What is minimalist design?

Minimalism is a popular interior design style that prioritises function, cleanliness and simplicity.

What are the main features of minimalist design?

Some of the key features of minimalist interior design include:

Neutral colour palettes

Unlike its interior design opposite, maximalism, minimalist design devotees tend to lean towards a fairly neutral, un-fussy palate. This can range from beiges and creams to whites, greys and oatmeal shades.

This can be an asset if you’re renovating your home and hope to avoid having to do it again for a long time, rather than choosing a trend-led palette that may swiftly look dated. It could also be a good idea if you’re renovating and redecorating in the hope of selling your property shortly after as it provides more of a blank canvas that prospective buyers may be more able to imagine themselves in.

Open-plan layouts

Airy, open-plan layouts are often a key feature of minimalist design for their brightness and uncluttered nature. The open, clear arrangement creates a beautiful flow between various different zones that can enhance how sociable the space feels. If you don’t yet have an open-plan living arrangement but you’re interested in seeing whether it would be possible to achieve it in your home, there are a few ways that you may be able to achieve this including a side extension, a rear extension or a wraparound extension.

To learn more about each different type of extension and to discuss what could be possible in your home, book a free advice call with one of our consultants today.

Clean lines

In residential architecture, minimalism can be striking and effective whilst looking fairly simple to the naked eye. The term ‘clean lines’ is often associated with minimalism, but what does it really mean? On the whole, it suggests unpretentious, sleek designs without excessive decorative elements.

A characterful example of minimalistic clean lines on a freshly renovated oriel window and seat in Waltham Forest

© Matt Gamble

Natural light

The spaciousness and airiness that accompanies many of our thoughts that are associated with minimalism is often accompanied with images of homes filled with plenty of natural light. This, in turn, increases how large the living room feels.

Clutter-free living

This is perhaps one of the most well-known, obvious elements of minimalist interior design. Adoptees of minimalism either tuck clutter away or deliberately minimise the amount of clutter that they have full stop. Read more about the art of decluttering in this article to find out how to begin. We’ll discuss more about how else you might approach decluttering your living room in the segment below.

Tips for creating your own minimalist living room

Be ruthless and minimise clutter

One of the first things you’ll want to do if you’re considering constructing a minimalist living room space is to whittle down the belongings you already have and shed items that either serve little practical purpose or have ceased to inspire you (Marie Kondo really elevated this ethos into the public arena).

Choose clever storage solutions

Once you’ve streamlined all your clutter and decided on what’s staying or going, think about clever ways you can store what you need that don’t require everything being on show. This could be anything from using furniture pieces that double up as storage or putting up shelves that store and present sparse, carefully selected ornaments.

Pick a neutral colour palette

If you’re looking to redecorate your living room in a more minimalist interior design style, opt for a subtle colour palette in neutral tones. We recommend fresh, bright whites or softer beiges and creams. We also love emphasising clean lines in minimalist design in stark black lines such as window panes.

Inspiring minimalist room ideas

If you’re still looking for inspirational minimalist living room design ideas, explore our portfolio and our free AI Scrapbook tool. We’ve created some examples of photographs from real life Resi projects reimagined by Scrapbook to give you a sense of what it can do. What’s more, you can upload photos of your own real home to see it in a range of different filters.

Before:
Resi project
After: Our AI Scrapbook tool has taken a spacious living and dining room space and made it even more minimalist and fresh by paring back the artwork on the walls and simplifying the colour palette of the room.
Minimalist living room design

Before:
Resi project
After: The AI Scrapbook tool has reduced the variation of colours, patterns and textures in this open-plan kitchen/living space design for an elegant, minimalist design.
Minimalist living room example

Try our AI Scrapbook tool for yourself and see how your home could look in an array of different styles.

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FAQs

What does minimalist design mean?

Minimalist design is characterised by simplicity, whether it be furniture, colours, etc.

How do you make a minimalist living room?

To create a minimalist living room you should choose neutral colour palettes, make your space feel airy (with open-plan layouts for instance), use sleek design and keep your space uncluttered.

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