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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

How to Incorporate Collections in to Your Minimalist Lifestyle

My husband and I are on the recent path to minimalism. We currently live in a small condo and want to eventually live in a small house. We do have "things" to contend with though. Both of us are HUGE in to film. Not just watching movies, but making them, owning them (although a digital way would be much preferred over DVD's we have to store) and collecting useable film items.

Case in point. My husbands father recently found some 8mm equipment (camera, projector and editing machine) he will receive in a few short weeks when we go over to visit him in Eastern Washington. Storing and displaying these new items was big on my mind until I saw this room below.


This is a beautiful way to incorporate a collection in to the decoration of a room. There is a very definite theme but it's not over the top. The grey walls and monochromatic color scheme enhance the collections on the shelves. Yet the collection is not in the way of the rooms function. I like this version of monochromatic especially with the addition of dark peacock blue (one of my favorite colors) pillows on the couch. (Photo found on greige).

I want to incorporate this idea in to my home. I would probably leave the walls a little more bare as far as framed photos go. I would remove some of the smaller pieces against the walls to show off the collection that really is the centerpiece of the room. It's hard to tell what the flooring looks like but I can just picture dark brown wood floors with a huge peacock blue woven Chinese rug taking center stage.

I don't have a monochromatic color scheme in any of the rooms in my home. I really love color and I could certainly tone things down with more neutral colored walls (right now my living room and hallway are the only neutrals in a light mocha color) and add color in the form of accent pieces such as rugs, pillows, candles, artwork, etc.

Another great detail is the plain coordinated jacket covers on the books. Another way to incorporate the monochromatic color scheme is to reverse the spines on your books as in this blog post from Steampunk Home.

How do you like this room?

3 comments:

Roland Hulme said...

L LOVE it. I like the pictures, though - I'm crazy about pictures and would have them ALL OVER THE PLACE if I could.

paisley penguin said...

HeHe - the funny thing is that we wanted to do a room FULL of photos - possibly the dining room. If you have ever been to Buca di Beppo then you get the idea. Crazy photos too. We may still do it.

Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife said...

That is SUCH a cool photo. The shelving is such a great idea!!!

I totally can relate to the fight for a minimalist lifestyle, while still having stuff!