By Myquillen Smith
Read by Lisa Wright
3 hours, 50 minutes
Published October 2018 by Zondervan
Publisher's Summary:
Writing for the hands-on woman who'd rather move her own furniture than hire a designer, Myquillyn Smith—author of the The Nesting Place—helps you think through every room in your house, one purposeful design decision at a time. With people, priorities, and purpose in mind, you can create a warm, inviting, and timeless home that transcends the latest trends and centers around your personal style.
You'll have the tools to create a home you're proud of in a way that honors your unique priorities, budget, and taste. And best of all, you can completely transform your home starting with furniture and décor that you already have!
In Cozy Minimalist Home, Smith helps you:
- Recognize your role as the curator of your home who makes smart, style-impacting design choices
- Know what to focus on and what not to worry about
- Discover the real secret to finding your unique style
- Find a sofa you won't hate tomorrow
- Deconstruct each room and re-create it step by step
- Create a pretty home with more style and less stuff
- Make your home look the way you've always hoped so you can use it the way you've always dreamed
- Fall in love with the space you've created
Discover how creating a cozy minimalist home goes beyond pretty and sets the stage for the true connection, relationship, and rest that you deserve.
My Thoughts:
Confession: I actually own this book in print (and, in my defense, I have actually read it), but I choose to listen to it to complement the work I've been doing around the house with the Cozy Minimalist community this year. I could have pulled it off of the shelf; but, at the time, I felt more confident that I'd get through it this way. Lesson I learned: a lot of what Smith has to say comes across just fine in an audiobook, but I missed the visual part of a book like this.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I am a cozy minimalist. I love the homes that have layers and layers of things that tell a story, where you can really learn who someone is by the things they choose to display in their homes. My heart is drawn to that. But my brain knows two things about me that stop my heart from having it's way: 1) I know I'm not going to dust all of that stuff regularly and I HATE knowing my house is dusty; and 2) my mood is much better if my brain is not overwhelmed by stuff. Maybe that makes me a super cozy minimalist? Someone who needs more cozy than the regular cozy minimalist, but who also doesn't want to have as much stuff as she does now?
So I'm refreshing myself with the idea of cozy minimalism - having just the right amount of "stuff" to make your home work for you, feel comfortable, and look lovely; but doing it in a way that's very intentional so that everything works together. Smith is very adamant that when you're working on redecorating a room, you do it in the right order and make very deliberate choices. About room arrangement. About the size of rugs and decorative pieces. And about NOT choosing a paint color until AFTER you've decided on your big pieces of furniture and rugs. Why? Because there are thousands of paint colors to choose from and it's going to be easier to match your paint to the other things you've chosen, rather than trying to find a rug to match the color you've painted on the walls.
Smith (or Nester, as she's known to those who follow her teachings) uses her own homes to teach her community these lessons. It's a style that's all her own, and it wouldn't be for me. But I recognize that by using her techniques, she's made a room that is lovely, cozy, and works for her family. And I'm confident that those same techniques will work for any of us.
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