Interior design can sometimes feel like a massive challenge that you can’t even seem to get just right – the pieces won’t fit together in a way that makes your home look how you want it to. Trying to fit in furniture, decor, and not to mention some personality into space without making it look chaotic and messy is a tricky task, and with so many trends around and tempting home store displays, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking more is always better and throwing everything at your home’s interior.

But the truth is – as it usually is – less is more when it comes to great interior design. A thoughtfully put together space will always feel more inviting, stylish, and functional than a room packed with every trend under the sun, but of course, that doesn’t mean you have to strip your home of personality – it just means you need to make good, intentional choices that give you balance, comfort, and calm. With that in mind, keep reading to find out how to do it and why less can be more in interior design.

Focus On Function First

A beautiful room is pointless if it doesn’t actually work for your lifestyle, so before choosing colours, furniture, or decor, think about how you use the space – do you need a lot of storage? What about including a cosy reading nook? Or perhaps you want a workspace that doesn’t end up taking over your living room… it’s perfectly possible.

When everything in your home has a clear purpose, the space is going to feel effortless instead of overwhelming, so that means investing in furniture that works for you, which could mean a dining table with built-in storage, a modular sofa, or you might take a look at crib vs mini crib size and find the type that fits your space perfectly. Doing things like this means you can maximise your space without making it feel too full and overwhelming, and that’s going to make you more comfortable and it means you can stay stylish at the same time.

Choose Quality Over Quantity

It’s tempting to fill a space just for the sake of filling it, but rushing to buy decor and furniture can leave you with a room full of things you don’t actually need or even really love. So instead of packing a space with lots of inexpensive, trendy pieces, take your time and invest in a few well-made, timeless things that you’ll love not just now but in many years to come.

What do we mean? Well, we mean things like a high-quality statement chair, a beautiful light fitting, or a handcrafted rug – and those are just a few suggestions because the list is endless (which is why it can be hard to decide what you want at times, of course!). But keeping things more minimal but still the best quality you can afford means you’ll turn your room into something much more special than dozens of less meaningful pieces would manage.

Stick To A Neutral Base

Minimalist design doesn’t mean everything has to be white, beige, or grey… but the truth is that a neutral foundation does give your space a lot of versatility and even longevity because you’ll be able to add pops of colour in more meaningful and attractive ways. You can do it through accents, textures, or statement pieces like the ones we mentioned above, and that’s going to stop the room feeling cold and boring, but because of your nice neutral base, it’s also not going to get overwhelming and feel chaotic and uncomfortable. It’s the ideal way to balance colours out in any room.

Here are some ideas to get started: a deep blue accent wall, an earth-toned sofa, warm wooden furniture… you can see how these things can make a room a lot more interesting without being everything and overwhelming it. The key is balance, and you need to let the room ‘breathe’ a bit rather than trying to fill every inch, including on the walls and floor.

Declutter

Nothing is going to add to your feeling of discomfort and overwhelm more than having too much stuff in a room, and one of the easiest ways to deal with that and refresh your room instantly is to declutter. In other words, if something isn’t needed, doesn’t serve a purpose, or you don’t like it (if it doesn’t ‘spark joy’, in other words), it’s probably just taking up space.

That doesn’t mean stripping your home of personality – it means you need to really think about the things you include in it, and curate the interior of your home so it only contains really special items that mean something to you. Those things, which can include personal items like photos, for example, will stand out a lot more if they’re not surrounded by loads of other stuff that doesn’t mean as much, and that’s going to make your space feel so much better.

Let In More Light

Natural light is the ultimate interior design idea – it’s a little but like cheating, because it makes a space feel a lot bigger than it really is, but it’s useful and harmless so it’s wise to include as much of it as you can. Well, if you want a space that feels bigger, fresher, and more inviting, for example.

If you’re working with a smaller space or a room that doesn’t get all that much sunlight, you can also fake it! Add some well-placed mirrors, thin curtains, and make sure the colours you use reflect the light, and there you go – a larger feeling room right away. Whatever you do, the goal should be to create a space that feels bright and airy rather than cramped and dim, and if you can do that, you’re on the right track.

Keep Your Furniture Proportional

One of the biggest mistakes in interior design is choosing furniture that doesn’t fit the scale of the room. If you try to squeeze a massive sofa into a smaller space, it’s instantly going to make that space feel completely tiny and cramped, and on the other end of the scale, a tiny coffee table in a massive living room will look lost and, quite frankly, wrong.

This idea can be applied to every room in your home, so make sure that when you’re furniture shopping you’ve got the measurements of the room you’re going to put the piece in. A scale drawing would be perfect because you can add the measurements of the furniture and make sure it fits just right.