Minimalism, a way of life? design style? the art of keeping many many things simple and less? Yes, minimalism is infact associated with all of these, each having its own popularity amongst it’s community in the world we live in today. Usually, from how I see it, each person who takes up the minimalist life, has specific reasons to why they were drawn towards minimalism, just like with any other trend or style really. (Have I said minimalism too much already?). It is indeed a very attractive culture and style consisting of a few specific things that just happen to end up being associated with the culture, things such as coffee; well everyone who drinks coffee isn’t a minimalist but coffee definitely has evolved itself to be part of minimalism, or maybe the people and us have something to do with that too. I definitely am drinking one right now. Despite the limited visual and cultural features of minimalism, there is much more to it than COFFEE, and at times a whole bunch of tasks can get complicated which would definitely throw the “Simple” aspect out the window; even the hardcore minimalists go through these complications such as attempting something you really want to do without thinking, but because the minimalist creatures have created certain rules you instantly pause and have to make a decision which for some especially the beginner or, uhh wannabe minimalists can find complicated or a better way to put it is life or death. So, after this confusing kind of minimal introduction, I am now led to the main event, which is the title, Colour in Minimalism, and will mainly be Interior Design focussed with some extras here and there.

As mentioned in the introduction about how complications can appear in minimalism; they tend to occur when designing an interior space not only for the basic individual but for a designer too, as they are more focused on making something truly unique for the basic individual who may be a struggling minimalist or of that kind. For now, I’ll imagine you’re that basic individual who has maybe just started living the minimalist way or even for some time. So let me guess, when you made that change to the ways of the minimalists you got rid of your bed, to sleep on just your white sheeted mattress or you may have kept your bed but made sure everything was as white as possible with some pastel toned mugs and accessories on the side, “oh I’ll need my 10 colourful teddy’s too with that lava lamp I got for my birthday, oh no, but that will ruin the whole look I was going for”; who knows this may be you some way or another. Well this is exactly it, you do all you can to create a minimal style living space for whatever reason then complications and decisions come up. Even though you picture a minimalist interior being white and empty looking in almost every way, there are ways involving techniques and exceptions which keep a room looking minimal while enabling that bit of colour you want. The colour may not be from the object you planned, but hey if you want this style then you’ll have to make the change; don’t worry though whining, crying and complaining is completely normal.

If you take a look below, I have created an example of how colour can be applied. (a)

Your rooms architecture may not look as nice as this one but notice how I’ve made an empty room pop with a strong elegantly shaped blue sofa as an asymmetrical focal point and soft pink single seats. Now if you were to apply these coloured furnishings to the room without any casual thought then I feel the room would have too much going on without any meaningful flow throughout the space; I mentioned the word flow, what I mean by this is that for there to be some visual ease and softness, you can match certain colours carefully from the use of accessories and plants, but remember this is a minimal look so not too many, also choose and place them appropriately. Colour matching in this flowy kind of way can be tricky but look at what I have done in my example, the weak(not to offend colour pink) colour is the pink tone which illuminates from the chairs as its main source; following from the chairs an elegant pink flower placed on the centre table where you’re directed up towards the art work, which is right above the strong elegantly shaped blue sofa, yes all of those words. In my own words this forms a triangle(b) which groups the defining colours of the room forward, and due to the simple intended theme attached to this, your wandering eyes are able to settle, definitely what a minimalist interior should do.

This element of relaxation on your eyes includes the other surrounding colours in the space which I will elaborate on later. A lot of the time all principles such as symmetry to materials work together but I’ll save that for another discussion too. Onto that blue sofa which I mentioned is the strong colour of the group, its placed at the point of let’s say the pink triangle which makes sense as the goal is to direct your wandering eyes forward; now going back to “flow” which visually starts soft pinks to blue providing your eyes with a slight blend to ease and gradually relax; shape plays a big role in this and the whole visual effect too but that’s for another discussion man.

As for the cushions, I feel that depending on the style of your sofa if its patterned or plainly coloured, the cushions will look best visually blended in with the sofa using either the same colour, material (if you can find the same material or similar) and pattern (a lightly patterned or textured cushion would be most recommended). In my example I have used these arrangements in which colour and material match the sofa and what helps in addition is the roundness of the cushions. You may be thinking but Harun there’s a green cushion(C) just casually chillin there, why? Well this type of thing I’d say can be an exception, but only when using careful analysis of other surrounding colours, you can colour match this green to keep things flowy. In many cases this exception looks great as a patterned cushion but not too heavy, and the colour can even be any one you want, but neon’s I would not recommend, not that you had that in mind? well I hope not!

Summary

Choose your colours: an ideal amount I’d say would be 2 colours but depending on the scale of your space 3 would work well for a slightly bigger space. Make sure you pick one strong colour and one weak/soft colour. (Some examples are Red as the strong colour, a soft light earthy green as the weak colour; Purple as the strong colour, light yellow as the weak colour). A colour wheel is definitely good to keep on hand.

Decide how you will display these colours: for example, using your colours in chairs and accessories while thinking how much of a statement you want to make. I would suggest displaying your colours in accessories if you want a cleaner feel and look that’s less bold, and in the chairs/furnishings if you want that extra bit of pop and slight boldness to your minimal space, maybe because you love colour equally as much as minimalism. In my example I have used both chairs and accessories which you can do as well but be sure your accessories are clean and light in form to not overpower the chairs or furnishings.

Flow: if you remember earlier, I mentioned the pink triangle(b), form your layout by grouping your colours into a shape using the flow related techniques similar to what I mentioned earlier. Before you do this find a view as if you were looking for that perfect photo angle; (d)make sure you apply your weakest colour closest to you from where you’re standing and the strongest colour furthest from you. The shape doesn’t have to be a triangle, it can either be a square, rectangle, diamond or even a random shape using things such as asymmetry. As long as your eyes have direction from the flow of colours everything will begin to look balanced and pleasing to your eye.

Analyse the layout from the viewpoint you’ve chosen: so, you can do this from an idea sketch whether it’s one idea to three or from your room already laid out. Is there still a sense of space and simplicity and do the colours pop in a way that gives you a sense of direction? having that element of direction will make up for the empty spots. What’s most important is that there’s balance between space, direction and simplicity, direction being in the middle.

Just a note, it may be that you’ve chosen your idea and you’re still kind of stressing because it doesn’t look pleasing enough, well this could probably mean that you have too much going on and it’s not simple enough which may sound silly and pointless to some; it could possibly be that you need to remove an accessory or re arrange something slightly. Idea sketches do help a lot with this as it’ll save you running about.

With section one covering the colours of your choice, I’m led to discuss the surrounding colours of a room which from my example are the browns, yellows and greens, whites as well I guess, you can also consider these as the neutrals. Surrounding colours are still very important and will be colours or “shades” which I’d prefer in this case, that aren’t allowed to stand out as much as the ones you have chosen to be your main ones, they’re basically the shades that appear (e) naturally, structurally, in a material or some kind of accessory that blends well with the other surrounding colours. Let me begin by talking about the browns, which from my example are displayed structurally as dark and light wood (e). If you are able to create your space from this point that comes before the furniture and accessory stage then wood is always a nice go to material in minimalism; you can apply it to a larger area such as the floor or like what I’ve done, portions of walling. A mix of wood shades both light and dark fit well within this style due to the amounts of warmth it’ll bring to a space, without them you’ll probably be left in a freezing white room with a bunch of bright colours struggling to bring in the warmth. As there are many shades of wood ranging from the reds to the yellows to the creams to the faecal browns and soiled browns, whoops I may have got a bit carried away there, but my advice is to stick to one to two shades at maximum in a minimalist intended space where there will be main colours like the ones I have discussed. Having two shades of wood work well as long as you have applied them appropriately; let me get into this a bit, if you just went ahead and applied the wood shades to the walls, floor and then to chair legs, your space would gradually lose that minimalist direction and flow. Well you could probably proceed with this but one area of wood will need to be reduced, which would of course be from the area that uses it the most. How I would reduce this is to have only one wall covered in wood either on the left or right of your main view and then some applied to a surfaced area on the opposite side (e1).

You’re probably still wondering how to apply these shades of wood; well here it is I recommend applying it in linear forms or with linear planning as shown in my example. Take a look at the diagram below which marks the areas I use this. (f) also in (e)

Try to analyse the space and develop your thoughts on the placement of the shades of wood, this has a lot to do with shape too. Your analysis is good practice as your thoughts and opinions do count when forming my techniques with some of your own unique flare. I’ll start with the light shade, which I have used in slender amounts on the left and a block amount on the right (e1) creating a sense of dimension and balance. I’ve done similar to the darker shade which I’ve applied towards the back of the space, the only slight difference is the left sides main aim is the linear element I mentioned earlier and the right more of a vertical linear element (e)(f). Using wood in this linear way is great for creating illusionistic space and depth especially since wood grains flow in a directional manner.

Let’s get back to the shades, with them both being surrounding colours, there purpose well one more than the other in our case is to create movement or in other words dimension; a lot of this involves using the dark shades to frame the lighter shades or the room even, which from what a frame looks like, definitely shows linear form. This framing I’m on about has a lot to do with the view you have chosen to design your space at, like what I’ve done by placing the darks at the back to frame the white wall and furniture in the centre(e) (you could think of it as a dark outlined white box with colourful candy in the centre)

Analyse diagram (e) to get the bigger picture.

With the dark shades being placed where they are, I’ve placed the light shades on the left and right (e1) which is involved in the Framing technique as well but more for creating not only dimensional blend between light and dark but to visually widen up the space; in my examples (e1) case the whole open space is longer than it is wide which is why the light shades are placed where they are. What may have popped up in your mind is “why not just keep the walls white?” well that does make some sense but not entirely because it wouldn’t align with what your trying to achieve which is to create a minimalist space that accepts colour; to do this you do in fact need those words I’ve mentioned, Dimension, Linear, Blend, just to name a few.

Right, natural shades used structurally to evolve a space are ideal as they do not create an empowering vibe, well you could say they are empowering but in a way that’s right for minimalism; you wouldn’t really want to make these structural features seem as if you were in an LED light box. There’s something else which will most likely help you form your interior surrounding colours, if you have a look out the window of my example you will notice many greens, browns, yellowish browns all of which are good to take note of as they form a natural palette that will make things slightly easier when selecting and balancing shades for your interior. It is likely that you will go for wood as it’s usually something automatic; depending on the view outside your window, analyse what colours are used most and what aren’t; for example you can use the dark and light browns for the main structural elements(e), greens, yellows and others you may apply to a structural pendant light and a cushion; basing this on my example, the browns outside are reflected on the bigger surfaced areas(e) and the greens and yellows are reflected on the more delicate areas, you could think of this as a checker board going black, white, black, white from left to right; hopefully that wasn’t too weird and confusing for you.

Allow me to clear things up on the remaining colours, as you may have already noticed I’ve displayed the yellow shades in a material again(Brass) like I did for the wood; let me mention that this is something you should stick to in a minimalist design as natural materials are usually less over the top in expressing a colour, just look at Japanese minimalist interiors, there’s use of natural plant greens and light natural wood or bamboo, hardly any use of those bright colours. Actually, speaking of Japanese minimalist interiors, analysing some is a great way to get more insight of linear flow and natural wood shades that blend with whites and some greys even, nothing to do with fifty shades of grey by the way. See some awesome examples I found below:

Greys may seem quite dull for some when thinking about applying it to a space, which if you are thinking this then get off my blog…only joking, but it looks great with some wise thinking and a bit of passion too. Grey tends to be soft on the eyes and if applied to a soft fabric sofa both factors become enhanced to give you this accentuated piece; take a look at example (1) above, the grey sofa is just perfect. From what you know about an accent, a colour like red may come to mind but in the minimalist world grey is an exception which definitely isn’t dull and will softly pull your attention into the space, not in an erotic themed way of course but who knows.

In my example I’ve shown some grey on the back structural feature which is kind of a feature piece in itself (g), that I’ve singled out. By it being placed head on expresses the odd one out factors a bit more, in that soft way I mentioned earlier. The softness in this way creates a sense of noticeability that does not reflect the same way the main colours do. What else can I tell you about using grey in this style? Not much else really. Well concrete, yes this is a cold and very raw structural material that is grey and can appear in light or dark shades; It definitely fits well in a minimalist space but only in portions, like as a feature wall that you can leave plain or add a simple photo frame to. My recommendation is to apply the grey whether it’s concrete or simple paint, to an area that draws your eyes forward and creates a slight meaningful division; I have done this (g) by placing it head on but to the right, sort of indicating a direction to another area. Man, as you can see my mind works in the most confusing way (hoping you aren’t confused).

Here’s a quick summary of this section just in case I lost you in my explanations above.

Summary

Analyse the neutrals and shades: Spotting your neutrals/shades will naturally give you your photo angle view to design at. The best bet is looking for that window.

Divide up the shades: take in what shades are used more and used less. Just one thing, if the yellows, greens or any other bright shade appears less than the browns which assumes you to use it more than the browns, I recommend using a very light shaded wood (3) and one darker one that matches the one outside. Still use browns/creams more than the brighter shades though. All that matters is that you have your neutral palette from this to apply delicately.

Your space: analyse how much space you have from your chosen angle (either more long than wide or the other way around).

Visualise: do a rough sketch of your room from your angle and grab some colouring pencils or similar; now that you know if your room is longer or wider start shading in portions of the walls, floor or surface on your sketch while keeping in mind which is the next points…

Linear, Dimension, Balance: test a few ideas on your sketch, three to make it a bit easier when finalising. When it comes to dimension, think of a Rubik’s cube or even the Matrix, let’s say as if you were inside while it’s rotating; form your room in this way using light and dark wood shades. This will contribute towards depth as well.

On your sketch create a balance of shades, in other words create a reflection of your neutral palette on your interior. This may come in the middle of what’s explained just above.

Check how high your ceiling is: A good standard height is 2.7m (3m max). Short ceilings suit a linear effect (f), as height would become visually enhanced. A good way to do this is by applying a light shaded wood to a whole wall or to a portion of a wall creating a kind of feature, take note of the wood grains, as they too play a big part; this can also be used to widen a room. As for it looking longer, this tends to work well in most interior settings.

Try not to think too much and use too much when conceptualising the above, as this is minimalism, the simplest formations will do just fine, simple equals beauty. Also remember that your space may look completely different to my example, yours may even be a cave but keeping the jokes aside I’m confident my techniques above will help or at least get you thinking, to keep things unique and SIMPLE obviously.

Say for example you don’t have a window like mine consisting of a neutral palette, you could instead place a neutral looking plant somewhere you’d imagine the window to be; this will end up reflecting into your space as your neutral colour palette. This will also test your improvisation skills too; in the end you may just find that a light shaded wood floor and white walls is the way to go for you (which is probably you giving up).

Those yellows, greens and so on; having some idea of what structural accessories and other accessories you would like, ranging from cushions, lights, and tables; reflect your bright shades onto these accessories.

Keep in mind the weight/boldness of the accessories; I recommend slender and elegant forms in your chosen items which could be framing on a chair as you want to create balance that doesn’t make the natural yellows, greens etc over power the browns and main colours.

Decide what materials you would like to display these shades in. Brass and copper are my recommendations, and favourites overall but it’s important to note that small use of these will make a big difference, so use carefully.

Here’s a quick example: you can display yellows in lighting for areas that may require it or for areas that display something. As for greens or similar, you can display them in a simple accessory or ideally interior plants, something that doesn’t express too much boldness.

Just a reminder, make sure you jot down all of the above on the idea sketches of your space. You don’t have to draw the objects perfectly they can either be a scribble or you can even use the colour to signify the object. What matters most is that your ideas or tests display flow, balance and a concept consisting of my tips.

Right, so from all I’ve mentioned above, the main colours to the surrounding colours and all other things I’ve rambled on about, you are now an expert minimalist well an expert colourful minimalist that is; to be real though you may not yet be an expert after reading this, I’m more focussed on you taking what I have told you to the next level in forming your own unique improvisation with my techniques. So now go run and be creative in the simplest minimalist way.