My Design Rules for Our Modern Minimalist Home

Design rules and design style are two different things. When I think of creating ‘rules’ for myself when it comes to how I style and furnish my home, so much of it depends on the house – not necessarily what my favorite design style is at the time. BUT – once you settle on a design style, you can absolutely create rules around how to achieve that look throughout your home without having to think too hard when it comes to planning and buying for each space.

When I initially started planning our home renovation, 80% of the decisions were made based on what I felt the house was telling me it needed to be. The geometry and angles inside and out made a unique focal point for our home and I wanted to help those “sing”, in a sense, with everything we brought in, from the floors to the furnishings, to the hardware. But once the remodel was complete, there were more rules I felt like I needed to set in order to achieve the ‘finished product’ I was envisioning while in the trenches of the renovation. So here are the four rules I use to guide myself in every design decision I make:

rule #1

Echo key architectural angles in other rooms.

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In our home, we fell in love with the arches. They were the selling point for us. They dictated so much of the smaller design details and finishes in most of the other rooms in the house. I used curved-edge mirrors and shower glass in the guest bathroom. I found an arched floor-length mirror and fan tile for our main bathroom. A lot of my light fixtures in the main areas of the house have curved lines that compliment the arches nearby. They are subtle details that make a huge impact in making the home feel harmonious.

This is why millwork throughout a home is often the exact same size. The baseboards are always the same height and style, along with the doors and window trim, etc. Think about how choppy and disconnected your home would feel if you had all different size baseboards in each room of your house.

Using consistent shapes, angles and materials is an easy way to make a house flow effortlessly from room to room. Which brings us to the second rule…

rule #2

Consistency is your friend in helping the house to flow.

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Repeating materials, finishes and (like I said above) shapes, is one of the best, and easiest ways to achieve an organic, homey feel. Most people may hear this and think “Well that just means every room in your house is going to look the same!” Not true. You establish a baseline with repeated colors and materials, and then layer from there. My tricks: a home color palette (I choose no more than 6 colors to use throughout!), choosing only two metal finishes to use throughout (I went with black and brushed nickel), and up to three different wood finishes (you’ll find maple, walnut, and oak in our house – all more yellow/warm undertones).

White, black and wood are the starting point with EVERY room in my home. Every. Single. Room. has all three of these colors/elements. Sometimes it’s just that the wood flooring is running throughout each of the main rooms and that all of our walls and trim are the same white paint color. Other times, like in the three smaller bedrooms where we have carpet, I bring in wood elements in the furnishings.

I’m particular about how I use black in each room. Typically, I start with something small – like hardware. It made sense, for the design style I was going for, to use the same cabinet and door hardware throughout. It helped ground the rooms for me – black has its way of doing that to your eye – grounding it. In rooms that didn’t have cabinetry or wood elements, black was used as more of a focal point, like in the light fixtures.

Once I established consistency with those three elements, I then started layering in more character, which is really where you establish the different looks in each room. Sometimes that character still consists of white and black… but it also consists of other elements and colors that are in my home color palette. I use a lot of monochromatic versions of the same color – like greens and tans/brown, or pinks and creams. Sometimes I lay monochromatic versions of those colors on top of each other within one room to create more depth, or maybe I layer them in adjoining rooms in order to create thoughtful movement from one space to another.

rule #3

Use a mix of textures + materials to achieve a cozy, neutral color palette.

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Texture is king when it comes to accomplishing a modern, light space, without making it feel sterile. Every time someone comes to our home for the first time they always comment on how surprised they are at how warm and cozy it feels – and how they were not expecting to feel that with all the white and the modern minimalist design elements. It was something I was worried about going into this renovation, so I’ve been careful about how I bring in the neutral elements to keep the ‘light, bright, white’ look, but still creating an environment we can comfortably enjoy as a family.

The natural wood throughout definitely helps to calm all the white walls. But I’ve also been particular about how I pair different materials so that the finished result isn’t so stark and bold… but rather, soft – but elevated… clean – but welcoming… and simple – but sophisticated. I pair straight lines with gentle curves. Rough materials, with smooth surfaces. It’s about creating curated, thoughtful, opposition that feels cohesive.

Neutral, in my mind, isn’t always just white and creams. To me, neutrals also consists of pinks and subtle, earthy greens and browns. By adding tiny pops of these unconventional ‘neutrals’ in each room, that also aids in upping the warmth and downplaying all the white. It’s small things – like a plant or textile. Maybe it’s even in a small piece of art or a decor item on display. It really only takes 2-3 little hints of texture or color in a bright white room to automatically make it feel more inviting. When in doubt: add a woven basket, something black, and a contrasting fabric on a piece of furniture. Easy and elevated in one fell swoop.

I’ll also add- it’s important to pay attention to scale. When going for a more minimalist look, obviously you’re dealing with fewer items, so in order to make the room look intentional, you still need it to feel “full”, in a sense. You do that by making sure you insert elements that not only differ in texture and color, but also differ in heights and depth. It’s about movement. Group items together in a way that would naturally help your eye to move, rather than get stuck in one corner where everything may be the same height.

rule #4

Keep each space simple and focal points minimal.

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Minimalism is something we’re starting to struggle with now that we have a little babe… but obviously, limiting the amount of things we bring in is key in maintaining the open, inviting feeling we want our house to give off when you step inside. Obviously easier said than done. It’s such a skill, but that’s a topic for another day. For this rule, just know that we ‘choose less’ most of the time. Our rooms actually rarely feel “full”. Some may think certain areas of our home feel sparse, but usually it’s intentional. I don’t like the feeling of a room with barely any open space – whether it’s on the floor or on a shelf or on the couch! I love empty space! It feels like I can walk in and take a deep breath. If a room really is lacking something, it’s typically because we haven’t found the right items for it, yet!

That’s one thing I’m proud of us for doing since completing our remodel. We have reeeeally taken our time in finding the right furniture and decor items to finish out every room. We’ve kept old hand-me-downs in some spaces, just to have what we need while we search (or save) for something else. It’s helped in maintaining the discipline and authenticity of what we dream of our home looking and feeling like long-term, rather than feeling obligated to fill each room as quickly as possible. It makes it that much easier to really KNOW when I come across the right thing. In my mind – decision paralysis comes when you haven’t found the perfect piece yet. I think of it kind of like finally finding your significant other… things just *click*, ya know? It feels right. Finishing a home is so costly – you’re going to spend $X-amount in the end anyways…so why not take your time and source exactly what you want, rather than spending that budget on something you come across that works just fine?

And when it comes to focal points… let me explain… I don’t like when there are multiple areas in one room that are “attention grabbers”. Rather, I choose one or two and finish the room around them to let them glow; and the rest of the room is just a nice complementary accent. For example: in our living room, our fireplace is an obvious focal point of the room. Its dark stone was a big reason why I felt strongly about wanting a lighter colored couch. I didn’t want a very large piece of furniture competing with the natural colors of the stones. I could so easily picture the room quickly feeling cramped and busy if we instead had a dark colored couch up next to the fireplace as it is today. It’s also why we don’t have a coffee table or many other decor pieces or consoles, etc. I try to practice that same rule in all the other rooms as well. Choose one (or two, if the room is larger) thing you want to shine – and then let everything else work around it.

I know not every house may have unique characteristics or architecture to base their home design style off of. The upside, is that I actually think those homes have the most potential to be whichever style you want them to be. I would approach them more as a clean slate, if I were attempting a remodel or update. The good thing about renovating, is that you can create your own character 🙂 Add an arch or two if you’re going to be messing with drywall and doorways anyway. Vault a ceiling. Add a skylight.

I’m hoping these rules and best practices will help make your design decisions easier! As someone who becomes easily indecisive, a simple way to quickly narrow your options is to set some boundaries for yourself. And hopefully it will help to make the best choice much more obvious.