Sorry for the radio silence! My roommate decided to move out a week ago, and I have been busy preparing for his departure, and for my new life in minimalism with a new subtenant.
The bottom picture is the “before.” We had a TV (yuck), an end table, a coffee table, an ottoman, a four-chair dining set, a kitchen bar, two barstools, and 3 more bicycles.
The top picture is now. Instead of those things above, I have a lot of space. And plants. I have a rug but no vacuum so I’m not even gonna lay it out yet, and a piano and some ugly wifi boxes will be forthcoming.
I think now is as good a time as any to share some of the minimalist homes I’ve inhabited in my past lives, and how they worked for me.
This was my first settled apartment in Boston. The living room was a decent size but there was no dining room, so we made the kitchen eat-in. We had aloe plants, and a bookcase (which I would really love to have here):
Here’s another view of it after my roommate moved his piano to his room, and I acquired another more giant schleffera plant:
My next settled spot in Boston was this living room, which was a similar size, and kitchen was also eat-in, no dining room. This time I hung up my guitars, we had a TV we never used, and I acquired an alocasia plant to keep my schleffera company:
People on the Minimalist Life Facebook Group have been chattering about minimalist living rooms that don’t use a couch. After my two roommates moved out and took their couch, I had about a month to myself, during which time I converted the living room into this pillow palace. I had that gorgeous vintage rattan bookshelf (which a later roommate THREW AWAY, ugh), a cozy rug, still had the armchair, and the trunk coffee table became a truck bench with some pillows atop it. NO REGRETS on this setup. I loved being on the floor, and loved having room to move and spread out and laze about. Would do again 100%.
Anyone else live minimally? What’s your favorite thing about your spaces?
Mine is the PLANTS, BAYBEE!!!
