Spinoff: Stylish minimalism?

[happyhats]

I like this thread! I too will be hopefully moving shortly, to a three bedroom from a two bedroom apartment. It's not as substancially bigger as some pps on here, but it will give us more wiggle room and we will be making an office/play area for my children out of the three bedroom. I am holding myself accountable to not just buy a bunch of new, big toys for the kids or other nonsense. I'm also trying to hold dh accountable, lol.

As far as minimalism with decor, I can't live in a home without pictures/art on the walls and some sense of "lived in". We don't have mindless tchokes, and we've weeded the stuff on our walls so its not so visually cluttered, but I like to look around at my treasures and sentimental items, and feel like this place is my home and a reflection of our family.

[cherylchoo]

happyhats, I am of the same thinking. I like pictures of family and artwork that has meaning, but not cluttery decorative stuff. Streamline yet personal.

This is the desk I mentioned earlier. With the lamp and clock the 4yo boy chose. The girls were far less conservative with their lamp and clock choices, lol.

[poopstermomma]

I'm in! We're moving to a much larger home in 12 days, and I will have a lot of empty rooms!! I want to be minimalistic and shop carefully. I want to make my choices carefully and live in the space for a bit before we decide what we "need".

[momomom]

We have moved and are moving again. I wait to replace things till they are shredded, then I shop sales and try to DIY a lot- even furniture. We just built 4 gorgeous oak bookcases we will keep FOREVER!

We also just dismantled our handed-down train/ activity table and will be building a new one after the next move. I will need a lot when we move, as I have been making do this year with very little.

Have you tried www.ikeahackers.com? I LOVE the site. It is upgrades and creative uses for IKEA items. But you could use other stuff from other stores, or even old furniture, for many of the projects. Some IKEA furniture is JUNK, but any of their solid or mostly solid wood stuff is always going to be a good buy! I like IKEA a lot .

I like to buy beautiful and functional items. I will be buying Bolga Baskets from Africa for toy storage. Somewhat pricey compared to plastic bins, but less expensive than Pottery Barn baskets. I have 2 already and they last forever- super high quality. AND GORGEOUS! So it's storage that is also art/ decor.

[momomom]

Oh, and I like to decorate, too, but hate to dust. So I hang things on walls but keep horizontal surfaces decluttered as much as humanly possible.

[cherylchoo]

I am struggling with toy storage ATM. We are blessed with a nice big finished room in the basement, but it is made with that long out of production basement wall paneling system. That stuff that looks like cubicle walls/fabric, insulation underneath, no organic materials that can rot or mold etc - but you also can't bolt anything to the walls as a result because it is not solid. I am a big believer furniture over a certain height in a room used mostly by kids should be bolted or tethered to the wall, and our old toy shelving is fairly tall and big. I am going to have to repurpose it elsewhere in the house.

Right now i have about four Lack end tables from Ikea lined along the walls holding puzzles, bins of books, board games. Mainly because I already had them and didn't know what else to choose. We have an old train table for the train and blocks. And I took the idea from one of the thrifty moms to make a Lego table out of a solid wood end table from a thrift store (glueing the base plates from a Lego store. Right now its ok but looks like random leftover stuff got demoted to the basement, lol.

[cherylchoo]

Dp

[MotherMoonPads]

Originally Posted by momomom We have moved and are moving again. I wait to replace things till they are shredded, then I shop sales and try to DIY a lot- even furniture. We just built 4 gorgeous oak bookcases we will keep FOREVER! We also just dismantled our handed-down train/ activity table and will be building a new one after the next move. I will need a lot when we move, as I have been making do this year with very little. Have you tried www.ikeahackers.com? I LOVE the site. It is upgrades and creative uses for IKEA items. But you could use other stuff from other stores, or even old furniture, for many of the projects. Some IKEA furniture is JUNK, but any of their solid or mostly solid wood stuff is always going to be a good buy! I like IKEA a lot . I like to buy beautiful and functional items. I will be buying Bolga Baskets from Africa for toy storage. Somewhat pricey compared to plastic bins, but less expensive than Pottery Barn baskets. I have 2 already and they last forever- super high quality. AND GORGEOUS! So it's storage that is also art/ decor.

Just in case anyone else is confused ( ) the website is http://www.ikeahackers.net/
Very cool site!

[Erinne]

You all seem like my kindred spirits! I try to be fairly minimalist, but I don't like a super stark look. We just bought our first house and we plan to stay here until the kids are grown, so it's finally worth it to invest in things that we love and will last. Before, we were just buying/taking free stuff that worked, but was kinda crappy . One thing that I'm struggling with is that we have built in bookshelves around the fireplace in the living room, and I don't know what to do with them. One one side I have dd's games and art supplies and like it, but the other side.. not so much. I put some books on it just because I thought I should, but I don't love it. I could fit all the books on our bookcase upstairs in our bedroom and I would kinda rather do that. But then what do I put there? Ideas?
I'm super excited about this thread! Thanks, OP!

[happyhats]

I like to have sentimental items in my living room. It's where we spend a good chunk of time and its kind of the greeting place of our home. How about picture frames or albums? Even sentimental stuffed animals if you are worried about small hands. On the bottom shelf you could use boxes and store media equipment, blankets you use when lounging on the couch, etc.