I adore warm and cosy interiors. I also love simple forms, designer furniture and minimalist décor. During the renovation of my flat, I have often wondered how to combine these seemingly contrasting styles, and how the different interior choices I make affect the final reception of the space.
When thinking of cosy interiors, I picture warm colours, soft furnishings and rounded shapes. The intuition leads me to imagine splendour rather than minimalism, and femininity instead of masculinity. My initial inclination would be to associate cosiness with a conventional traditional style rather than sleek and uncluttered spaces.
Take a look at the interiors below. They are very minimal. The furniture has a modernist, masculine character. There are no curtains and very few accessories. The walls are practically unarranged. Despite all that, they give off a cosy impression. Why?
Photo credits @designs_av & unknown
Although one can point to specific design techniques that helped achieve their cosy ambience, I think the answer is much simpler than that. A cosy interior can be created with two elements only: warm lighting and wooden floor in a warm, and preferably light, shade. There is a whole range of additional tricks that can help enhance its overall warmth, but it’s hard to achieve without this base.
Consider this example. While the interiors below are designed in a slightly different style than the ones I just described, they use similar design principles and modernist elements. The most impactful difference between them is the colour of the floors. Most would agree that they are cold in reception:
Photo credits @nicole_franzen & @spacecopenhagen
Notice what happens if we change only one element - the colour of the floors - to a light, warm shade:
One more thing would happen in real life. The walls, regardless of whether they have a cold or warm shade, would reflect the dominating colour in the environment. In this case - the floors - as they are the largest surface in the room. This is well illustrated by the pictures of my own flat, photographed with covered and uncovered floors:
Photo credit @lets.ponder
The picture on the left feels cosy despite the fact that the room is completely empty. The same space gives off a cold ambience when the floors are covered. The two photographs do not offer the same mood even though the difference between them is just the colour of the floor.
Note that the walls in both shots are painted with a cold shade of white, yet one of them appears warm. I believe this disproves the notion that one should seek only warm tones of paint to add cosiness to the space. When the floor has a warm shade, the wall colour is secondary. Such deliberations have more merit when dealing with cold and/or dark floors.
I also do not think that a large number of decorative elements, especially on the walls, is necessary to create a cosy space. It doesn’t take much to create a pleasant ambience if one starts with a warm floor as a base.
Consider the design below. It was possible to enhance its cosy feel by adding only three elements: airy curtains, natural carpets and wooden chairs.
Photo credit @hansverstuyftarchitecten
To answer my own question: a minimalist interior can definitely be cosy. The right base is the key – this is what, in my opinion, has the biggest impact on the perception of the space. Everything else only enhances the ambience created by the floors and light. This is assuming we remain considerate of the proportions between the lighter and darker colours in the room:
Photo credit @_bonemade
That being said, if you would like to go a few steps further towards maximum cosiness, there is a number of ways to get there:
I believe the most effective method is to increase the proportion of wood, or wood-derived products such as rattan and wicker, in relation to the other materials.
The use of natural materials such as linen, cotton, leather or jute, and brass finishings.
Plants, particularly the green ones – both inside and outside.
Adding elements in warm shades, including walls and furniture fronts – however, they do not have to dominate the overall design!
Photo credit unknown
Photo credits @hansverstuyftarchitecten & @designs_av
Note how difficult it is to create a cosy space despite following these rules when the floor is not a warm-coloured wood:
Photo credit @livsnyderhaven
In the coming weeks I will be using many of the techniques described in this post to enhance the cosiness of my own, rather minimal, space. Stay tuned for the outcome of this interior experiment.
I wonder about your opinion on the matter: how do you interpret cosiness? How else do you think it can be achieved? Let me know in the comments – either below or on Instagram.
Comments