I never really considered myself a minimalist until I moved to Spain. When moving to Spain, I knew I couldn’t bring too many things or buy too many items— I was only staying for a year, I didn’t need much. So, I decided to make it minimal and I’m going to tell you how to style minimal home decor.
When decorating, I didn’t want to spend too much money or buy pieces that I’d fall in love with because this was a temporary apartment. There’s no easy way to ship these items home and honestly no point. So, I went for a cheap but cute route.
Minimalism, in my opinion, doesn’t just mean having fewer items but, it is making everything look nice with a soft, neutral color scheme. Every minimal apartment you see on Pinterest is always so light, soft, airy, and a ton of brown. The good thing is; I already love neutrals and boho looks so this was easy to replicate. When we went shopping for our items, I knew I wanted to stick to wood, bamboo, browns, whites, and certain pops of pastel colors.
The apartment is pretty small so buying things was easy. We knew what we needed and when it came to decor, we knew we could use items that we brought with us or just get a few random trinkets.
Living Room
The living room is where we spend the most time and I wanted it to look nice and cozy. The couch was left by the previous owners and all we had to do was buy tables and decor. For the couch, I simply added two blush pink Ikea pillows, a comfy throw blanket, and 3 posters above it. We wanted some artwork to show character so we bought these cheap, cute prints from a print shop near our apartment and I think it looks super cute. We also decided to keep our string lights up from Christmas because it just made it look more like a vibe plus it made a good substitute for using the main light.
For the tv stand, we opted for an Ikea table that was large enough to be our entertainment and coffee table. Since the area is small, two tables wouldn’t have fit. When decorating this table, I wanted to make it look simple with a few decor pieces lingering. I hate clutter and having random things around so, I used my fashion and travel books, a few candles, plants and random decor to piece everything together.
The dining table is also small and a perfect square-shaped table from Ikea so, I definitely wanted to keep it simple and de-cluttered. I continued with the neutral look and added these cute, round Ikea placements, stacked up the coasters, and placed a water bottle on top. Perfect for me.
Kitchen
The kitchen in this apartment honestly has no counter space whatsoever. This was a headache because a lot of Spain’s flats do not have ovens which results in you having to buy a toaster oven. My boyfriend loves to just keep the oven on the counter so he’s not taking it out every day but it is extremely annoying. It’s so big and takes up a ton of space plus, we had to keep putting the fruit baskets in the cabinet and then we’d forget they’re there and our fruit would go bad and the kitchen just looked like a mess.
Although, decorating this space was simple enough because there wasn’t really much to even do. After deciding to keep the oven under the cabinet, I easily decorated. I put the fruit baskets off to the side and stacked the cutting boards and cooking utensils next to it. Then on the stove, I placed the tea kettle and that was it. It didn’t take much effort but it still looks cute to me. The style of the items definitely plays a role in the look of everything. They’re from a shop here in Madrid called Flying Tiger which is pretty amazing for little decor and home items.
Bedroom
The bedroom was the least decorated for a few months and that’s because we barely spend time in there. It’s small and not much to do but sleep. When decorating, I just wanted it to look comfy and put my items somewhere neatly. The room already had a shelf so, I put a Banksy print, our cameras, and my Michael Kors bag on top then, styled my hats next to do.
Furthermore, we bought a nice, neutral white and brown nightstand and decorated it with an empty wine bottle, faux leaves, a candle, and a tissue box that matched the room. Normally, that is how I would decorate my nightstand any way because it honestly doesn’t need to be cluttered.
On the dresser, we got a mirror, a tray, and then used our personal items. I set up the tray to hold all of the everyday necessities, then put the mirror in the middle with a few candles in the front and finished it off by sprinkling my scrunchies and hair accessories on both sides.
Lastly, we bought a
I’m honestly happy with the way everything looks because like I said, this apartment was only for a year and two, corona cut our trip short and we’ll be going home at least 3 months earlier than expected.
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I hope you liked this post, what are some minimalist tips you have?
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