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My partner is a minimalist, and that’s a part of what I like about him. I like that he isn’t superficial, and doesn’t need a bunch of things to feel good about himself. He’s the antidote to a society that’s buying things like, ten-inch reflective visors and shoes that light up. There’s a lot of stuff out there, and a lot of people who feel like they must purchase said stuff if they’re going to avoid a total meltdown. My partner is nothing like that. He’s endearingly old school and easy to please. He doesn’t need much to be happy.
What I didn’t know was that, when we moved in together, this minimalist lifestyle was going to affect me. Most specifically, it was going to affect how we decorated our home. When I met my partner, he pretty much had a bed, a desk, and a kitchen table. I just thought it was because he was busy. I thought he just needed a little guidance, and didn’t know how to decorate a home. Now I know that that was a choice and he stubbornly, vehemently believes that people don’t really need to decorate their homes. Yikes. You can imagine what I’m dealing with. I knew living together could be tough but I wasn’t expecting this.
So now here I am, trying to make a house a home with a man who has no idea what a crown molding or nail head trim is. He has absolutely zero interest in getting anything beyond “the essentials.” But his idea of the essentials really doesn’t cover the essentials, in my honest opinion. Every time I try to bring up home decorating or (god forbid) include him in the task, I fight an uphill battle. Everyone walks away frustrated and we still have blank walls and hideous dining chairs. Here are the struggles of home decorating with a minimalist.
He has no vision
He has absolutely no artistic vision when it comes to a home. I’ll try to talk to him about how using certain colors can make the room look taller or the space look bigger. I try to talk about sticking to a theme, if not throughout the whole house, at least per room—each room should have a unified look. He has no idea what I’m talking about. He just wants to put the Western lamp next to the contemporary painting and get it over with.
