I’ve always loved the whole idea of décor. Interior décor to be precise. My feed on Pinterest and a host of other apps are largely dominated by pictures and videos of my dream home décor. So when the Minimalist Community those decors that don’t resonate with our minimalist tendencies, a few of them quickly came to mind.
I wouldn’t be quite sure if it’s my minimalist tendencies. It could be for the most part but there are some decors prevalent in homes today that just give me the heebie jeebies. Maybe cause it just doesn’t appeal to my eye or my senses and I don’t see the reason behind it. I’ll start with the first and foremost décor that came to mind as soon as I saw the #kiss topic.
I searched for the right word to describe this for minutes but I just couldn’t find the words, at least not immediately, that could quite describe my abhorrence to this particular theme or décor. I’ve never been a gold jewellery girl. Scratch that, I’m not even a jewellery girl but gold is just not it.
There’s this ostentatious feeling I have about gold that just made it never sit right with me. Then we move over to décor and it’s a whole order level entirely. A friend called me at the beginning of the year to check out his apartment that he just finished furnishing and together with a mutual friend, we went to check it out. I stepped in and I was blinded, quite literally.
Everything was plated in gold and yellow gold. Couldn’t have been real gold but from the table to the side stools, the chairs, the mantel, everything screamed gold. My other friend was slack-jawed in awe and maybe I could have managed to mask the utter displeasure on my face if his eyes weren’t trained on me as I took in the room.
“You don’t like it right?” he asked.
“Well, it’s just really fancy and…blindingly bright,” I replied with a smile I hoped looked genuine.
I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had obviously spent a lot to purchase them but I was uncomfortable through the whole stay and not just because I had to squint almost the whole time at how shiny everything was. It screamed opulence and really, I don’t mind other ways to show opulence but gold theme is just a no-no for me. It hurts my eyes and you can never turn gold and white into something homey no matter what. Good for a magazine maybe, but for the house you’re supposed to live and find comfort in, I just can’t.
A huge apology to lovers of antiques worldwide. I love antiques. I feel they have a lot of positive energy about it. I don’t mind a few antiques placed strategically in a home but when you step in, and it feels like you’re in some art gallery, it just doesn’t sit right with me or my tendencies. There’s this subtle superiority I sense when I’m in a home dominated by antiques. It’s like you’re trying to scream opulence but just don’t want to say it yourself. I could be wrong with my thinking but that’s just how it feels to me.
I’m a great deal claustrophobic. And for some reason, being around all of that just triggers this feeling of confinement. I love space. I love freedom and just having a whole bunch of antiques in every corner just rubs me off the wrong way and impulsively makes me think of running for the hills.
I was stuck at this point because there were no words for this one and I’m just hoping to explain it as I can. A couch is supposed to be sat on. Why are there two dozen cushions and throw pillows? I think this should all be in the same category as the gold-coated décor and antiques for me. I saw a video on TikTok once of this family that wanted to wow the audience with how magnificent their parlour was. Of course, it was gold-coated, antique-filled, cushions everywhere. I ran to the comments thinking that people would comment on how gaudy it all looked but no surprise, they were fawning and basking in the opulence of it all.
I think I saw a single comment that characterized my feelings. The person said, “There’s too much going on with this décor.” And I screamed acknowledgement in my head. There’s too much going on. The whole style just rips off that flair you wanted to achieve in the first place.
But in order not to be misconstrued, I’ll say that some of these decors could look really nice if done moderately but other times, it’s just tiring to the eyes and frankly disagrees with my minimalist tendencies too. I’m still looking forward to furnishing my home one day but it’s an assurance to myself that my home would give me peace. Give me comfort. Give me solitude and I’ll just be able to connect with it. Simply and comfortably.
Image is mine unless otherwise stated.
