What bedrooms can teach you about minimalist design

When we were looking to define minimalism for this blog post, we went to two experts on it: our own in-house design director Didier Pické (interviewed here on our blog!), and our multi-skilled brand manager, Gemma Powers. Here’s what Didier had to say:

"Minimalism means to put in evidence beautiful pieces of furniture or art, getting more space between the different elements, to make the entire look more light (feeling of free space). Reducing all the different objects, colours, feeling of an interior to the most simplistic essence and still getting a strong style showing character and personality." - Didier Pické

Read on to see how this translates to reality in real bedrooms that we think epitomise the teachings of minimalist design. You’ll be able to learn something from each one.

Minimalism: the art of less?

On the surface, minimalist design can appear like it’s ‘the art of less’. Less furniture, fewer decorative objects, less fun. But actually, that is rarely the case.

What’s more important than ‘less’ in minimalism is the idea of ‘simplicity’.

The essence of minimalist design lies in distilling an interior space back to its most simple and straightforward expression. It is about finding a way to make complex things simple.

Minimalism isn’t just about interior design though, but it can stop there if you want.

It has exploded online in recent years to include lifestyle choices, fashion choices…even eating.

Because of this, it can seem overwhelming - where do you start to apply minimalism to your interiors? The bedrooms we’ve found give clues and tips for even the most hesitant beginners.

Minimalist bedrooms to love and learn from

The wonderful thing about interior design styles is that they can be combined. Check out last week’s post on urban rustic design to get a taste of what we mean. You’ll see elements of other interior styles cropping up again and again in minimalist interiors, even in the examples we found below, but that is OK.

Just go with it: purity is overrated.

Bedroom 1: a minimalist bedroom with a Scandinavian twist

Fresh and inviting, the combination of white and pale wood in interiors is undoubtedly Scandinavian. It's also relatively easy to achieve.

Bedroom 2: working with colours is allowed!

Warm dove grey works well with the white walls of this bedroom interior, tied together here with the earthy, grounding tones of the wooden accent colours.

Bedroom 3: mixing mod and minimalism

The reclaimed wooden accents and the clean, bright white of this bedroom are complemented by a flat-weave rug with a really strong, modern pattern.

All of this hangs together beautifully because this bedroom has a single, unified focus (that eye-popping pattern) that makes it simple but eye-catching at the same time.

Bedroom 4: dreamy minimalism

Light, airy curtains diffuse the light in this minimalist bedroom, effortlessly creating a hazy glow that adds a certain dreaminess to this entire interior space. The lamp adds an interesting design touch that is allowed to shine, pardon the pun, because of the negative space around it.

Bedroom 5: why have loads of plants when you can have one perfect one?

Pairing tones and adding in a single plant can really make the room pop against the otherwise-flat-looking white décor.

Simple interior design never has to be boring

Minimalism is an approach to design where the elements of the structure are simplified to their essential components. Minimalist design, as you’ve seen in our bedroom Pinterest finds, thrives on the beauty of form and function. Light, form and materials used are essential for minimalist interior decoration to work.

This is actually what we do with our fabrics: nothing in their construction is there that doesn’t need to be, and they’ve been designed from the onset to be simple but in no way boring. The craft of their construction is incredibly important to FibreGuard as a whole, because when the fabrics are in their final, approved FibreGuard stage, there’s no room to add fluff or trimmings to cover any mistakes.

We’ll end this post with Gemma Power’s thoughts on minimalism and what this means for FibreGuard:

"Minimalist interior design for me is clean and contemporary. Clutter-free with clean lines, using colour palettes that gently transition into one another. 'Minimalist' does not mean 'cold'. Combining the right materials, textures and surfaces will ensure the interior is warm and inviting.

Finishing touches of carefully curated accessories and homeware give an essential personal touch. FibreGuard offers the full range of interior furnishing fabrics, and anyone of our FibreGuard fabrics can be a key part of a Minimalist interior. The team behind FibreGuard are experts in creating tactile fabrics with gorgeous texture and softness – these are the ideal fabrics to inject a sense of warmth and homeliness into a Minimalist space." - Gemma Powers, brand manager. Check out Running a textile brand– A chat with Gemma Powers, multi-skilled brand manager