I received an interesting email from a Solvang reader, PF. “Elizabeth, are you a minimalist or a maximalist? Since you constantly write about the glories of STUFF, I fear you are a misguided maximalist.”
To prove her point that I suffered from maximalism, she sent me a quiz she online.
Some of the questions sound fascinating:
- Does your computer have a million icons?
- Do you upcycle makeup?
- Who is your favorite artist to hang in your living room?
- Do you like wallpaper?
- Do you have more furniture than two people need?
- Do you have colorful clothes?
- Do you bring souvenirs back from travels?
- Do you throw out books once you have read them?
- Do you ever entertain on your floor?
- Do you schedule time to DO NOTHING?
WOW.
Yes, I AM a maximalist, PF. Here’s a photo of my living room. But hold on, this is not all bad. I understand my ‘More is More’ motto is perhaps currently OUT OF STYLE. However, in my defense, my stuff speaks about the ‘times’ I lived through. I LIKE chaos. I like excess. I like visual excitement. I think the world is shallow enough, and I like my home epic, stimulating, and visually talkative. My stuff is not clutter, it’s meaningful NOISE. Is this WRONG?
PF tells me she’s a minimalist. “I don’t like material possessions. I cannot enjoy a display of things. My tastes run to blank walls, function, geometrical relationships between objects, and I like to see the angles. Too much color makes me nervous. Me and my friends enjoy sitting on the floor. I go through my kitchen cabinets once a month and throw things OUT. Likewise, my kid’s toy box. Likewise, my closets. This leaves me more time with my husband, my dressing routine, my kid’s playtime. I like to have spaces with purpose.”
PF, I appreciate this. You VALUE non-things. You can think about more important things without OBJECTS. Your home reflects your lifestyle. A poetry exists in function and purpose, and that’s precisely what the revolution of the late 1950’s, called minimalism, revolved around. This teeter-totter between excess and simplicity has occurred in the visual world throughout history. Think of Art Nouveau after the Classical Revival of the late 19th century. This tension is happening right now in the de-cluttering revolution.
Enter mindfullism
Today we have another movement in the visual arts world called mindfullism, the abhorrence of anything that might harm the planet. I see this in a return to Renaissance era solvents used by my mindful artist friends. Another important thing about mindfullism is the abhorrence of storage. If you need to pay someone to store your stuff, you own too much. If you need more closets than a basic house contains, you have too much. And eventually you need to do something with ALL that stuff. So don’t buy/find/collect/inherit stuff in the FIRST place. I see this point completely.
Yet I have news for my mindfullism/minimalism friend. A trend is building among my clients, slating the teeter-totter of good taste back to maximalism. This is in reaction to the midcentury fashion craze we embraced these past 10 years. Designers tell me clients ask for, horrors, wallpaper with bold colors, and comfortable sofas. Instead of an open plan design, clients want themed rooms: a library, a sitting room, a big pantry. We see a return to the shock of the unexpected when we enter a room filled with personality and stimulation.
So, PF, you and I come to a crossroads. Flat surfaces, fine crafted neutrals, simple elegance; versus color, cush, and collections.
We’ll see what comes next for our two opposing camps. PF looked at the photo of my living room, accused me of clutter. Taste and personality are here intertwined. I possess a restless mind. That’s my excuse. But what is the mindset of the minimalist? Does interior space need simplicity so the mind becomes complex?
PF wonders what my readers think of this battle. Please let us know in the comments below or email me.
Long live maximalism!
Maximalism for me all the way. I appreciate Mindfulness. Most of the things I have come with a story. The best ones, I keep to remind me of that story. Looking at the assemblages on my walls, in the bookcases, and on shelves all make me feel good. I do know I need to give or sell things as I don’t want to leave my son to clean up after me like I had to for my mom. That’s where the mindfulness comes into play. Wish me luck!! LOL
I have, for as long as I can remember, felt a not-unpleasurable tension between these two options. My mother designed interiors with a zen influence and, as a teenager, I appreciated them. But I was also attracted to the exuberance of baroque music, art and architecture. While purchasing Japanese antiques some years ago, I was surprised to learn from a proprietor, Mr. McMullen, that the exquisite minimalism I associate with Japanese interiors is commonly supported by a backyard storehouse bursting with art and furnishings, from which individual items are selected in rotation. Thus, each item gets time in a spotlight, with plenty more waiting in the wings. I was and still am struck by this way of balancing a lot and a little.
Interesting to read (and learn) about the “two sides of the fence”, as it were.
I am and I dont mind admitting a passionate collector in my own way and I could never see myself reducing my life to that minimalist, grey, grey and more grey look that so many here in California seem to prefer.
But then, it is their choice I suppose and I would not want to dictate how someone else lives.
It’s also interesting that I have found more “minimals” complaining and even ridiculing us “give me color, give me clutter” than we react to their opinions.
I recently was invited to a friend’s home which I instantly fell in love with their style, fantastic collections and art work cleverly displayed. . The man of the house, explained (in hushed tones) “Of course, we will eventually down size everything here, there’s too much clutter”
What! I exclaimed “It would be like tearing out your soul – please dont do it”
“Your home reflects who you are and your entire personality. why seek to play it down?”
A glazed look came over his face – hmm you think so?
We shall see.
Viva Color, viva passionate collecting Viva life for living!
Really interesting! Made me think: I don’t like clutter but I do have small collections of things, and all of them are functional. (Plates, eggcups, flasks, etc.) I suppose that is because I grew up in a house (with Elizabeth BTW! She is my sister!) where function was favored over style and would never allow waste of any sort. This is my way of indulging comfortably it seems!