When we browse social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, the minimalism hashtag always shows us white walls, white sheets, and a lot of white furniture. But why is minimalism always white? What is it about the color white that just screams minimalism?
Minimalism isn’t always white, sure, but it mostly is. This happens because white conveys a lot of minimalist sensations and images, such as cleanliness, simplicity, and mental stability through organization. Moreover, white makes spaces look bigger and it’s easier to film white.
Table of Contents
Practicality
Minimalism has a lot in common with Nordic interior design, which is grounded on a lot of white so the rooms look as bright as possible. So, for some, the choice of the color white can be a matter of enjoying as much natural light as possible.
Aesthetics and lifestyle
The colors you choose have much to do with whether you, as a minimalist, pay more attention to the aesthetics or the lifestyle.
People who appreciate minimalism for its aesthetics tend to care more about their interior design, which is much based on white as the main color of the palette.
People who focus more on the lifestyle don’t devote as much attention to color and décor. Their goal to make their space simple and occupied only by essential items.
Fashion
White is never out of style and it coordinates well with any other article of clothing in your wardrobe (1). It’s low-maintenance in the sense that it hides pet hair (unless you live with black or grey pets), lint, dust, and dandruff better than most other color choices. If you get a stain on a white piece of clothing, you can bleach it out.
Psychology of color
According to Empowered by Color, the color white represents completeness and pureness – it’s the color of perfection. The psychological meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness, and completion.
In color psychology, white is the color of new beginnings, working as a blank canvas in which you’re free to write whatever you want. White is the representative color of absence.
While white doesn’t work as a stimulating color; it rather reveals the way for the production of anything the mind can conceive.
White is reflection, awakening openness, growth, and creativity. You can’t hide behind it as it amplifies everything in its way.
White is, essentially, a color of protection and encouragement. It offers a sense of peace and calm, comfort and hope, helping alleviate emotional upsets, which makes it a quite useful tool in minimalism. It creates a sense of order and efficiency – a great help if you need to declutter your life.
Colorful minimalism
While some minimalists might be fond of the minimalist or the Scandinavian home design, which is grounded on mostly neutral color palettes, other minimalists are what we can call colorful minimalists. They love color the complicated color matching, making sure that their white walls have the company of vivid colors. A colorful minimalist’s house will be bright, but also vibrant.
