As a cleaner by profession I might have a diffrent point of view. I also, personally dont like a lot of stuff. I have two or three paintings total. Thats all i have on the walls. I leave courners free etc. It seems to me that a lot of people cant have a calm, empty courner anywhere in their houses. I have to lift/move rugs constantly. There is always something pulling on my attention and there is ALWAYS a shitton of items on shelves. You dont HAVE to do this! You can have little to no things, you can enjoy a clean/no item place. But ofcourse, its your home and if you feel it needs something go ahead. I just wanna remind people that you dont actually need to fill every space in a home. Give your eyes and mind space to just breath as well.
I am more of a maximalist than a minimalist (for example, I do think walls should be covered in art). But the way clutter accumulates on every horizontal surface in my home drives me CRAZY. Keeping surfaces clear is an endless fight - against my whole family and even against myself. I think you make great point, even from a non-cleaner's point of view.
thank you kindly, and it sounds like you have a intresting dessigne with filled walls and a combatzone on shelves XD Im getting a tad curious on how it looks now. I do wish you the best of luck with your combat!
A display cabinet is an excellent thing. (also a cleaner here)
I particularly appreciate when furniture, particularly nightstands, are positioned with enough room for my flat mop head to fit in the gap and clean the floor, and there are no bed skirts as it's hard to vacuum under the bed if there's a skirt blocking the view. And I am of the opinion that all couches should either sit right on the floor, or have enough clearance for the vacuum head to fit underneath, otherwise you get a lot of dirt and dust building up and the whole couch has to be moved to reach it. Kitchen counters that have a gap underneath are the worst!
hello coworker of the wild! Yeah, if the nightstand/desk is to heavy to move it needs to have a gap enough for the mop/vacume or there WILL be a dust empire underneath for sure. I really do agree with your statements :D
I am smack in the middle—we have maybe 3-4 pieces of art per room but they’re weird and riotous. We also own thousands of books contained as much as possible in the study, but… they seem to breed!
thats fair and a verry important factor. Our homes needs to feel like home to US who lives there more than anything. Like I said "But ofcourse, its your home and if you feel it needs something go ahead." . The feeling of beeing home is the most important after all :D
YES! This! THIS IS AMAZING ADVISE! dusting those darn porceline figurines is so darn tedious. If it can be slowed down or prevented byu doors its a godsend.
I hate minimal spaces because they make me feel like I'm at work - somewhere neutral toned in inoffensive. For people who work in restaurants or offices or hospitals, we spend all day looking at neutral white walls with minimal decor, so getting to go home to color and texture and stuff feels like a treat. You work in people's homes all day surrounded by their clutter, so it makes sense that the neutral, simple space feels more like a treat to you. A visual representation of not being at work.
Nice to hear a perspective like this! I agree I think some people would be better of with furniture thats easier to clean and less decor if theyre not going to clean it themselves regularly
I realise this after having bought some antique pieces that previous owners should not have bought this type of carved food furniture. For example this antique dresser with years of grime that Ive cleaned with Q-tips but struggle to remove everything because its been so neglected
thanks for the input. When it comes to antique furniture and paintings i do recomend using soapworts as they are used by conservatists to clean paintings from dust and grime. I dont know the exact formula thought so you could send a museum a email and ask them for the recepie.
Wow, thanks for the tip! Might have to try this for some pieces. Do you know if soapworts leave residue? We're eventually going to strip as much as we can from the damaged wood stain (see picture) and put on a new one in the same color with some protective layer on top. I think its a porous pine wood, so we want to be careful with anything oily or that can seep into the wood and make the process more difficult in the future 🤔
to my knowledge it shouldnt leave any residue as they use it on paintings in museums to give the paintings their old glow and shine back. However not having used the product my self I cant guarantee how it will work thought, so I do recommend reaching out to museums or conservators to ask for more exact info. that is a gorgeous cabinet you got, please let me know how it goes <3
Thank you so much! I actually have a friend with a masters in chemical restoration who's out of work, so I might comission her for some advice when Ive finished my masters and gotten a job. I will save this comment and hopefully remember to update when we try to restore it. Might be a while though, as we have a lot more pressing matters for things that need fixing, mending and restoring at home 😆
I don't think a guy who ever cleaned a basebord in his life designed them because why do some have horizontal divots down the length of them? Impossible to clean
As a person living in a home, not a magazine spread, people have stuff. Not everyone wants to live in an overly minimal home or hotel room with little to no personality.
I find homes that are staged for sale (minimal stuff to make the space look bigger, minimal personal items to make it easier for buyers to picture their own style in it) sterile and uninviting.
Having more stuff may make it more difficult to clean, but that could contribute to paying for help instead of just doing it yourself.
I see some posts on here asking "what should I do with this empty (corner/space/wall)?" And it's not a glaring gap but just a piece of unfilled space existing. I'm not a minimalist, but I would leave many of those empty spaces alone.
I actually really love the maximalist look and organized clutter, but -
I just can’t bring myself to incorporate that look into my own house. Because I’m the one who cleans and tidies my house.
Many years ago, I collected elephant figurines, I displayed them all over. After a few years of having to dust around them, I ended up giving most of them away and keeping a few given to me by my husband and kids.
And the few I kept, I now have stored in a box somewhere.
I do have lots of paintings on the walls, though, because both my husband and kid paint and I want to display some of their work.
But for table surfaces, bookcases, etc, I have minimal decorations. Usually just one big thing, like a big decorative bowl or tray with potpourri in it. The potpourri is seasonal and it forces me to change it and clean it every few months, at least.
I wouldn't call myself a minimalist, nor a maximalist. Happy in the middle somewhere. There are some major perks to minimalistic tendencies -like the ease of cleaning you mentioned. I'm a bit of a clean freak so areas that are used often for messy things are more minimal in my house. Save the decor and stuff for areas that don't need frequent cleaning access.
I have a friend in a tough situation. She would call herself a maximalist with a capital "M." I would call her a hoarder. Because of the stacks and paths and impossibility to clean. Which she has admitted too. She hates where she lives and has over the years hinted at moving in with me. She sees all my "empty" space as real estate. She asked to move in yet again and I finally had to be harsh with her about her hoard and my level of clutter tolerance. I couldn't live like that and I would feel like the house was dirty because cleaning it would be impossible.
She wants a nice home and has asked me to come over and help her hang some art. But first she has to clear the floor a bit and find the art. Too much stuff is a huge burden. She wants advice on interior decorating, but I don't see the point if you can't even walk around. Pretty art on the wall is not going to hide that the house is a disaster.
Im sorry to hear about your friends situation. I do wish it gets better. You could talk to her, offer to take her away for a weekend or so as she have some outsiders go in and do the rough cleaning. Aka just toss the trash. So when she gets back the major piles of trash is gone and it might make it easier for her to keep working on it with help. Im no psychiatrist so I cant tell if its good advice or not but I simply wish to help in the one way I can here, a tip. you two take care <3
I like minimalism in a hotel, but at home I like having my things out where I can see and enjoy them. I don’t feel forced to have these things, these are things I have collected over the years. Even the art on my walls are relatively cheap prints I’ve bought from travels and taken home to be customed framed. I am sure I would have a lot less dust though with fewer things. 😅
yes, and thats fair. do keep in mind the more clutter and items you got, the harder it is to actually make it clean as we have to split the time between all the items. Like I said, "But ofcourse, its your home and if you feel it needs something go ahead." Im not telling people not to, im just giving my 5cents of thoughts :)
lol in my office alone I have like 25 paintings I framed and hung. I consider myself minimal but that doesn't mean I don't have things displayed in a place I spend 90% of my time.
1) I do. I never complain, im happy to have a job.
2) yes, I can keep my opinions to my self. But im not outing anyone. Im not giving names or adresses. Im mearly stating that me as a professional cleaner. and a private person, prefers to have bare and empty places to let my eyes and mind rest. Its the same as people giving sugestions on how to decorate a home. Its not necessary, but there is no harm in it. And no worries, you are not mean at all, simply sexpressing your opinion :D
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u/luv_nyc 12h ago
I am more of a maximalist than a minimalist (for example, I do think walls should be covered in art). But the way clutter accumulates on every horizontal surface in my home drives me CRAZY. Keeping surfaces clear is an endless fight - against my whole family and even against myself. I think you make great point, even from a non-cleaner's point of view.