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Ana Marcu

Redesign a room from your home to make it look more minimal, more maximal or the perfect blend of the two. In this class, you will learn the principles of interior design that contribute to the minimal or the maximal look and I will teach you simple steps you can take to achieve that look.

In this class, you will learn the following:

Read more

Redesign a room from your home to make it look more minimal, more maximal or the perfect blend of the two. In this class, you will learn the principles of interior design that contribute to the minimal or the maximal look and I will teach you simple steps you can take to achieve that look.

In this class, you will learn the following:

  1. Why styles do not matter: where you will learn how the architectural styles have shifted between simplicity and complexity

  2. How simplicity and complexity contribute to what we consider beautiful

  3. How to curate your objects to make a space look beautiful despite the high number of objects

  4. How “grouping”, “families”, and “repetition” contribute to how we perceive a space

  5. How the shape of objects can influence the complexity of a space and how we feel around it

  6. How to pick colours strategically to make a space look more simple or more complex

  7. How the arrangement of objects in the space can create a sense of simplicity or complexity

At their core, Minimalists and Maximalism are nothing other than extreme simplicity and extreme complexity. And with this class, I want to teach you the tools that create simplicity and complexity in interior design.

The focus of this class is to help you detach from generic styles and marketing campaigns and empower you to create environments that suit your personal needs and desires. Throughout your life, you will swing back and forth between simplicity and complexity. You might start out as a minimalist, but as your life and family will grow, you might turn into a maximalist, at some point, you might want to swing towards minimalism again to go one maximalist step forward. No matter what comes, I want you to feel empowered to go up or down on the spectrum of complexity with ease.

I also want you to treat minimalism and maximalism like a buffet. You can absolutely be a minimalist that is surrounded by vivid colours and art, and you can definitely be an environmentally conscious maximalist. It doesn’t have to be either-or; it can be both and.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • The principles of interior design that create minimalistic and maximalistic style.
  • Master the art of curating and arranging objects within a space to create harmony and beauty, even in high density environments.
  • Grasp the concepts of 'grouping', 'families', and 'repetition' and their impact on spatial perception.
  • Understand the historical and cultural shifts in architectural styles, identifying how simplicity and complexity contribute to aesthetic appeal.
  • Learn how the shape and form of objects influence the overall complexity of a space and its emotional ambiance.
  • Acquire skills to strategically select and utilize colors to influence the simplicity or complexity of a design.
  • Develop the ability to balance minimalistic and maximalistic design elements to create personalized living spaces that reflect changing needs and desires.

Syllabus

Curriculum
Introduction
Why styles do not matter
Minimalism vs Maximalism
Read more
Beauty
Density
Variety
Shape
Colour for minimalists
Colour for maximalists
Arrangement
Project & Resources
Bonus Section
Bonus Lesson

Good to know

Know what's good
, what to watch for
, and possible dealbreakers
Explores the historical context of minimalist and maximalist styles, which provides a deeper understanding of design trends and their cultural significance
Teaches how to curate objects and arrange them in a space, which helps learners create visually appealing and harmonious environments regardless of density
Examines the impact of object shapes on spatial complexity and emotional ambiance, which is highly relevant to creating intentional and impactful designs
Develops skills in strategic color selection for influencing simplicity or complexity, which are core skills for creating personalized and visually balanced spaces
Balances minimalistic and maximalistic design elements, which allows learners to create personalized living spaces that adapt to their evolving needs and preferences
Requires learners to redesign a room in their home, which may require additional purchases of furniture, paint, and decor to complete the project

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Minimalist vs. Maximalist Interior Design. with these activities:
Review Basic Design Principles
Reinforce your understanding of fundamental design principles before diving into minimalist and maximalist styles. A solid foundation will help you better grasp the nuances of creating simple or complex spaces.
Browse courses on Elements of Design
Show steps
  • Review online resources covering the elements and principles of design.
  • Take a short quiz to test your knowledge of design terminology.
  • Analyze examples of good and bad design, identifying the principles at play.
Review Basic Design Principles
Reviewing basic design principles will provide a solid foundation for understanding how minimalism and maximalism utilize these principles in different ways.
Browse courses on Elements of Design
Show steps
  • Read articles or watch videos
  • Take a short online quiz
Read 'Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave' by Joanna Gaines
Explore a book that showcases various design styles and provides practical advice on creating personalized spaces. This will help you develop your own aesthetic and understand how to blend minimalist and maximalist elements.
Show steps
  • Read the book, paying attention to the sections on different design styles.
  • Take notes on the design principles and elements discussed in the book.
  • Reflect on how the book's advice can be applied to your own home.
Nine other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all 12 activities
Create a Mood Board for a Room Redesign
Visualize your design ideas by creating a mood board that reflects either a minimalist or maximalist aesthetic. This will help you solidify your understanding of the course concepts and plan your room redesign project.
Show steps
  • Choose a room in your home to redesign.
  • Gather images, colors, and textures that inspire you for either a minimalist or maximalist design.
  • Arrange your chosen elements on a physical or digital mood board.
  • Reflect on how your mood board reflects the principles of minimalism or maximalism.
Review 'Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave'
Reading this book will help you identify your personal style and preferences, which is essential for deciding where you fall on the minimalist-maximalist spectrum.
Show steps
  • Read the book
  • Take notes on key concepts
  • Reflect on your personal style
Analyze Interior Design Examples
Sharpen your eye for design by analyzing existing interior spaces and identifying the elements that contribute to their minimalist or maximalist aesthetic. This will improve your ability to apply the course concepts in practice.
Show steps
  • Find examples of minimalist and maximalist interior design online or in magazines.
  • Identify the key elements that contribute to each style, such as color palette, furniture arrangement, and object density.
  • Write a short analysis of each example, explaining how it embodies the principles of minimalism or maximalism.
Create a Mood Board
Creating a mood board will help you visualize and define your minimalist or maximalist design preferences for your project.
Show steps
  • Gather images and textures
  • Arrange elements on a board
  • Refine your design choices
Review 'Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life'
Reading this book will provide a deeper understanding of the minimalist philosophy and its application to interior design.
Show steps
  • Read the book
  • Take notes on key concepts
  • Reflect on your personal values
Redesign a Room in Your Home
Apply the course concepts by redesigning a room in your home to reflect either a minimalist or maximalist style. This hands-on project will solidify your understanding of the course material and allow you to express your creativity.
Show steps
  • Choose a room in your home to redesign.
  • Plan your redesign, considering the principles of minimalism or maximalism.
  • Implement your redesign, making changes to the room's furniture, decor, and color scheme.
  • Document your redesign process, taking before-and-after photos.
Redesign a Small Space
Starting a small redesign project will allow you to apply the principles learned in the course and experiment with minimalist and maximalist design elements.
Show steps
  • Choose a small space to redesign
  • Plan your design
  • Implement your design
  • Evaluate the results
Document Your Redesign Process
Documenting your redesign process through photos and notes will help you reflect on your design choices and share your experience with others.
Show steps
  • Take before and after photos
  • Write about your design decisions
  • Share your project online
Create a Design Portfolio
Creating a design portfolio will showcase your skills and knowledge in minimalist and maximalist interior design.
Show steps
  • Select your best projects
  • Write descriptions of your projects
  • Design your portfolio
  • Share your portfolio online

Career center

Learners who complete Minimalist vs. Maximalist Interior Design. will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Interior designer
An interior designer crafts functional aesthetic spaces. This course helps build a foundation for the work of an interior designer, focusing on the principles of minimalist and maximalist design. The course teaches you how to create a look with objects. It will also teach you how to strategically select colours to make a space look more simple or more complex. This course may be useful to those who want to learn how to arrange objects in a space to create a sense of simplicity or complexity.
Interior Decorator
An interior decorator enhances the look and feel of interior spaces using a variety of decorative elements. Interior decorators will be interested in how the course discusses the arrangement of objects to create a sense of simplicity or complexity. This may help inform their selection of decor. Additionally, this course may be useful for learning how to group objects and how families of objects contribute to spatial perception. Interior decorators will also be interested in learning how to pick colours strategically to make a space look more simple or more complex. This course helps interior decorators learn to create spaces that suit the needs and desires of clients.
Design Consultant
A design consultant provides expert advice on design-related matters. Design consultants will be interested in learning how the shape of objects can influence the complexity of a space as well as how to create a feeling in a space with density. This course may be useful in understanding how to create a feeling in a room by strategically picking colours to make a space look more simple or more complex. The course teaches about the principles of interior design that contribute to the minimal or the maximal look, which adds expertise to the knowledge base of design consultants. This course helps build a foundation for design consultants to better serve their clients.
Residential Designer
A residential designer plans and designs the interiors of homes. This course may be useful for residential designers interested in learning the principles of interior design that contribute to minimalist or maximalist looks. A residential designer may want to take this course to learn how to curate objects to make a space look beautiful despite the high number of objects. Additionally, this course may be useful in developing an understanding of the way groupings, families, and repetitions contribute to how we perceive a space. This course may be useful for those wishing to design a space that matches their client's desires.
Stylist
A stylist arranges and selects objects for photoshoots, sets, or personal use. This course helps stylists to better understand how to curate and arrange objects within a space, and how to do so to create an effect using density. The course may be useful to stylists in showing how repetition contributes to the way we perceive a space as well as how the shapes of objects can influence that feeling. Stylists may also be interested in the course's discussion on how to strategically pick colours to make a space look more simple or more complex. This course may be useful to a stylist seeking to build a foundation in design aesthetics.
Home Organizer
A home organizer helps clients declutter and organize their homes. This course may be useful for home organizers who want to learn how to curate and place objects in a way that is both beautiful and functional, especially for maximalist clients. Home organizers may also learn the value of carefully grouped items, families of objects, and repetition to make a space feel coherent. Home organizers might also find the course useful in learning how to use colour to create a sense of simplicity or complexity in a space. This course can help home organizers achieve better results for their clients.
Exhibition Designer
An exhibition designer creates engaging and informative displays for museums and galleries. This course helps build a foundation for creating a coherent feel within a room through the grouping of objects, the creation of family groupings, and the use of repetition, all of which contribute to spatial perception. Exhibition designers will benefit from the course's discussion of how to use color effectively to create a sense of simplicity or complexity. They will also learn how the shape of objects affects the ambiance of a space. The course may be useful to exhibition designers looking to create spaces that are visually appealing and engaging to visitors.
Space Planner
A space planner optimizes the use of interior spaces. This course may be useful for space planners who may want to learn how to create different types of atmospheres in a room, including the use of colour. The course teaches how to group, create families of, and repeat objects to create a coherent feel in a space, which can then be used by space planners in their work. Space planners will learn how shape and form of objects influence complexity and the overall emotional ambiance of a space. This course may be helpful for space planners to create designs that are both functional and aesthetically appealing.
Visual Merchandiser
A visual merchandiser creates appealing displays in retail environments. Visual merchandisers must be able to make strategic use of color to create a sense of simplicity or complexity in the environment, and this course may be useful for that. Additionally, this course may help visual merchandisers develop a sense of how to use groupings, families, and repetitions to contribute to the feeling of the space. This course also explores how shape influences the perceived complexity and emotional ambiance of a space. The course explores how to detach from generic styles to create personal and engaging spaces, which can be very useful for visual merchandisers.
Color Consultant
A color consultant advises on the use of color in interior spaces. This course helps a color consultant learn to pick colours strategically to make a space look more simple or more complex. This course may be useful for colour consultants because it teaches them how the arrangement of objects can create a sense of simplicity or complexity. Color consultants will also benefit from learning how different colours fit into the minimalist or maximalist style. This course may be useful to color consultants who wish to enhance their understanding of how color plays a part in interior design.
Real Estate Stager
A real estate stager prepares properties for sale by arranging furniture and decor to create an appealing and inviting atmosphere. This course may be helpful to a real estate stager who will learn how to group objects, create a family, and use repetition to create a cohesive feel within a room. Real estate stagers will also be interested to learn how to strategically select colours to make a space feel more simple or more complex and how to use a variety of objects to create a beautiful space. This course helps build a foundation in designing for maximalist and minimalist aesthetics, which may help real estate stagers.
Product Designer
A product designer develops and designs products for consumers. This course may be useful for product designers who want to learn how the shape of objects can influence the complexity of the environment around them and how we feel around it. This course will also show product designers how to pick colours strategically to make a space look more simple or more complex. The course helps one learn how to detach from generic styles, and this may inspire product designers to create more unique products. This course may be helpful to product designers in learning how objects affect a space's atmosphere.
Set Designer
A set designer creates environments for film, television, or theater productions. Set designers need to know how to use objects to create an atmosphere, and this course may be useful by teaching how to use the number of objects within a room to create a variety of looks. Set designers will benefit from learning from the course's discussion of how the shape of objects affects how a space feels. This course helps set designers learn how to arrange objects to create a feeling of simplicity or complexity. This course may be helpful for set designers looking to build a foundation in different design aesthetics.
Furniture Designer
A furniture designer creates functional designs for chairs, tables and other objects. This course may be useful for furniture designers to understand how the shape of an object influences the overall complexity of the space. Furniture designers will also be interested in how to select colours to make a space look more simple or complex because the colour of an object is a design choice. This course may help furniture designers understand the impact that objects have on a space, and how furniture can contribute to that impact. The course helps one detach from generic styles, in favour of creating spaces that suit personal needs and desires.
Architect
An architect designs buildings and other structures. Architects might find this course useful for understanding how to create different feelings in the spaces they design, by using density. Architects can apply the course's teaching on how the shapes of objects can influence the complexity and emotional ambiance of the space. This course may be helpful to architects who want to deepen their understanding on how color strategically can make a space look more simple or complex. Architects may find value in learning how to detach from generic design styles.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Minimalist vs. Maximalist Interior Design..
Explores the philosophy of minimalism and its practical applications in various aspects of life, including interior design. It provides insights into decluttering, simplifying your surroundings, and focusing on what truly matters. This book is best used as additional reading to help you understand the principles of minimalism. It adds depth to the course by providing a broader perspective on minimalism beyond just interior design.
Provides a comprehensive overview of various interior design styles, including minimalist and maximalist approaches. It offers practical advice on creating spaces that reflect personal style and preferences. While not strictly academic, it's a great source of inspiration and practical tips for understanding how to curate a home. It is more valuable as additional reading than as a current reference.

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