We’ve been talking a lot about the home, and today I want to dive into what makes your home comfortable to live in. For us, a cozy minimalist vibe works. We aren’t overwhelmed with distracting decor or crazy colors. Comfort in the form of quality furniture, textured and patterned textiles, and personalized decor makes our minimalist home pretty cozy.
So how do you make a cozy minimalist home of your own? So glad you asked!
You could of course read the book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which I highly recommend. Or you could keep reading this blog post and see how we did it ourselves.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you!
How we created our cozy minimalist home
Minimalism is about living with less, but NOT living with nothing. As we pared down our possessions, we found that we were not true minimalists. I like the term “minimalish“. And the more that I’ve thought about our minimalish lifestyle, I’ve realized that we are embracing cozy minimalism. (We’re also really frugal!)
Cozy minimalism is having the essentials plus what makes you happy and comfortable.
Yes! You can still be a minimalist and still have loads of books. Yes! You can can be an avid quilter and a minimalist. These things make you happy and make your home uniquely yours.
#1 – Declutter
A cozy minimalist home can’t be achieved if ever pieces of clutter is fighting for your attention. Pairing down what you own can help certain possessions shine – the ones that are truly special.
For more help on decluttering your home >>>
- A Simple Guide on How to Purge Your Entire Home
- How to Declutter When You’re Overwhelmed
- Decluttering Seasonal and Holiday Decor
- How I Got My Entire Home Organized with Just One Mindset Shift!
- Decluttering Roadblocks + How to Move Past Them
#2 – Decide what minimalism (and cozy minimalism) looks like for you
Before you dive in head first into minimalism, decide what minimalism will look like for you.
- How do you want your house to feel when you walk in?
- Really how minimal do you want to be?
- What colors work best for your life and what makes you feel more at home?
- When you settle in for the evening, what brings you comfort?
- What would other people find comfortable in your home?
I have found that I love adding textiles to a space rather than hanging decorations on the wall. These handmade quilts and blankets give our living spaces personality and add a layer of coziness. Our dark bedroom furniture made from solid quality wood offers a foundation for relaxation.
Aesthetic minimalism calls for white, gray, and black all over. But realistic, cozy minimalism doesn’t have to be that way. You might find white everything doesn’t work with your toddler or active life (that’s us!) or that gray bums you out. So work with what makes you comfortable.
#3 – Be intentional + use what you have
I’m a big advocate for using what you already have. Shopping your own home can benefit your minimalist goals (and save you money!).
When figuring out how you want your cozy minimalist home to feel, start from scratch. Take all the existing decor down, declutter, and assess what you already have on hand. Can you make your favorite, special items shine?
Being more intentional with where you place objects (everyday items or strictly decor) will have a big impact on un-cluttered your home looks and feels. Put objects where they most make sense in your new minimalish life.
Instead of adding more items to a room, another option is fun, stylish wallpaper and prints from my friends over at Photowall! Photowall makes high quality wallpaper, prints, and posters to fit literally every style. My personal favorite is the wallpaper murals. With all that bulky furniture out of the way, think of how much impact a wallpapered accent wall could have! Through August, Photowall is giving you 25% off your order when you use my code “hellobrownlow25”.
#4 – Relax, but this may take time
This cozy minimal style can be oh so relaxing to come home to (or stay home in) every day. But getting to that point of feeling comfortable in a freshly decluttered space may take time. Resist the urge to bring more things into your home. Give yourself a window of 30 days or more before you bring something new home to “fill a void” that you may see. Often, it just takes some getting used to and then you’re able to accept your new cozy minimalist home more freely.
#5 – Spend your time doing what you love
With fewer things and stuff to look after and clean in your home, you might just find that you have more time on your hands. This won’t be huge chunks of time, but it’ll be enough to do something that you love.
If you have fewer pictures hanging on your walls, you bought back the time you spent dusting those every week (let’s be real… maybe once a month?). There is less to stuff into your linen closet and keep clean if you pared down sheets and towels. You get the idea. Less stuff = more time back in your life.
Hi Amanda, I’m new to your blog and now following you, I love all your tips on making your home and life easier, I’m currently in the process of decluttering my house again (lol) room by room and keeping things to a minimum as I feel it helps with my depression having a minimalist space to relax in, it’s sticking to it that’s the problem, when I have a really bad depressive episode I tend to do retail therapy and end up with stuff I never wear or cluttering my home with too much decor, I’ll get there in the end I just need more discipline with myself lol xx
There is no shame in acknowledging that retail therapy helps you through your depressive episodes! When I struggled with post partum depression, I definitely shopped a lot. A LOT. Now I can recognize the feeling I’m craving – that instant feel-good vibe like when you buy a new pair of shoes. I found that if I put a bit more thought behind why I want to go shop, I often can change my mind and do something that brings me longer lasting joy. Such as going for a hike with my family, going to the gym to move my body, taking a long hot shower, rearranging my living room. That bit of satisfaction shopping brings us is so temporary. Doing more physical activity or activity that calms my mind give me that same level of happiness but sustains it rather than disappearing after I bring home my shopping haul. I bet you’ll soon find what makes you feel good instead of shopping!