Minimalist and monochrome are buzz words of the home design industry – but how do they work in a space, together? These three living spaces across Europe show how to blend the two themes to sleek and sensual effect. Keeping it minimal, hard materials and furniture are shaped long and lean. Textured background materials such as marble and granite keep simple interesting, while drawing the eye to luxury. Unique pieces and unusual framing create a home with character, while industrial or even zen-like elements create a calm backdrop with presence. All create homes that look liveable and functional, without the slightest hint of clutter – homes both minimalist and monochromatic.
This single-family residence in Greece, measuring 320sqm, shows how minimalism and monochrome detailing can exude simplicity. Exhibiting a sea view, low-lying Roman steps fold down to an inset lounge area, where white couches and black slingback chairs shine. A hatched window panel takes centre stage while referring to the slingbacks.
The dining room mixes monochrome tones more explicitly. A black slate bench dominates a white backdrop, while black-and-white padded chairs frame the black dining table. Black window framing and dark wooden cabinetry add context.
High granite walls introduce the industrial, with light, natural patterns filling the space. Simple office fixtures and a black-and-white dividing wall calm the mind, while high wooden cabinetry creates storage space.
Monochromatic tones result in a Japanese-style minimalism, with a low-lying, futon-style bedroom. Chaise lounges lie close to the floor in black frames, while oblong cabinetry sidles along white walls, gently illuminated.
Smaller spaces work even better. A walk-in wardrobe lined with black shelving houses a white ottoman. High granite walls in the bathroom mean a calm backdrop for illuminated wood-panelling, minimalistic yet outstanding. White porcelain fixtures and wooden walls make way.
A three-roomed flat in Moscow, Russia, takes a different slant on the same theme. Spanning a much smaller 84sqm, its design is pared back to almost the skeleton of the building, a skeleton sensual, pure and natural. The living, dining and kitchen area show this, with a dynamic hanging dining table acting as focal point. Artistic, magnetic-style hanging lights pair with its form, as soft grey couches, cabinetry, and stencilled dining chairs soften the impact against curtains in white.
In the bedroom, granite walls behind illuminated headboards add interest without clutter. Another low-lying bed design, soft white bedding and an opaque closet partition create sensuality within close quarters.
Multi-faceted granite panels and thick black cabinetry allude to extra space in the bathroom. An oblong, wooden bath step adds a central point of focus, while a hanging decorative light adds a touch of class.
Our last apartment, a small apartment for a young couple, is bolder with its choices in contouring. Here, the living room divides from the bedroom by black framed boxes, contemporary and unusual. Broad TV panels sit on colossal white walls, while black stencils separate plush navy and grey upholsteries. Small touches of potted green and pebbled areas introduce nature.
Mostly white, the dining room adds black as a point of difference. Black insert shelving wows amidst white panelled walls; white lights sit beside chrome fixtures, that act as an intermediary between the two. A grey kitchen bench both functions and breaks the drama.
Black wooden panelling in the bathroom is held by white porcelain walls and amenities. A shaft of white light shines through the mirror, a guiding light for the visitor’s eye.
