Survival Of The Modern Man - Home Decorating

As a recently single man approaching 40, I've recently had to look at my way of home decorating. Some of my furniture is heavy and out of style. There's nothing quite like the giant black entertainment center with glass doors and the 200 lb tube television on moving day. And the scratched up,black lacquer and glass end tables. I've always been a minimalist with the other things in my life.....I can be happy living out of my backpack and sleeping on a Thermarest.....why not be minimalist with home decorating as well?

If you're thinking about how to set up your place, a few words of advice - get rid of the neon beer signs, plaid couches and anything "outdated". Your abode shouldn't look the set of Porky's or Spring Break.

Here is a theory about the subject. You can be comfortable and your guests can be comfortable with less. Appreciation for old things is enlightening. Be gone with the clutter and the things taking up space. Having less is actually having more. Less stuff to dust, less things to worry about. Fewer things to move on moving day.

I'll share some insight.

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that embraces asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and suggest a natural process. According to Richard R Powell, "It (wabi-sabi) nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." Wabi and sabi both suggest sentiments of desolation and solitude, which is what I naturally embrace as a sort of liberation from a material world and trancendance to a simpler life.

In my not so recent past, I had embraced this philosophy in every aspect of my life , but had let it slip away with my last relationship....she claimed to value the wabi sabi concept but never took action in implementing it into her life.

As someone who's spiritual beliefs hinge on Buddhism and Wicca, I'm glad to say that I'm looking forward to decorating my new place wabi sabi style and have already started the wheels in motion by getting rid of the things that burden me (entertainment center, big TV, big tables) and have replaced them with simple, light articles of furniture that perform the job and don't take up too much space. These things also bring about a bit of a modern look.

Having a nicely decorated yet minimalist living space isn't hard to accomplish. All it takes is a bit of purging of your old, heavy things and replacing them with smaller, basic, sparse objects. And taking pride in a well decorated, unique space doesn't mean you're gay or strange. If you spend any amount of time there, then you should be happy where you live....but don't be obsessed with it. After all, it's just stuff.

Here is what I've done:

Tossed the big huge entertainment center and replaced it with a basic wood and stainless steel TV table. (Wal Mart) It's small, light and looks WAY better than the gargantuan entertainment center. The boxy TV has been replaced by a 32 inch HD flat screen, which is a lot lighter to move and looks a lot more modern.

I bought 2 small, basic stainless looking end tables and paper lamp for lighting.

I recovered my couch and loveseat with tough yet soft fabric in a bit of a neutral color ( the previous material was black and was a dog hair magnet and was very hard to clean.) that lends itself well to a modern yet classic look and replaced the cushions with new, one piece of heavy foam for the seat and one for the backrest. Also added a few loose pillows to sit on the floor with.

Since I had no desk, I purchased a small, plain flat table at IKEA (more on IKEA in a minute) for $30.00. It's basic, plain, does the job well and doesn't take up very much space.

My bed was just a plain old queen sized bed and box spring with a regular frame. I wanted to make it look a bit nicer, so I bought a stainless looking bed frame with head and foot boards at IKEA as well as a few large, clear, plastic Rubbermaid tubs with the drawers in them for folding clothes. I've added 3 small LED lights to them for a bit of a modern, spacey twist as well as lighting them up. A small table to hold the alarm clock and a book completes the room.

Before you go shopping, it pays to have a good idea of what you're looking for and how much your budget is. IKEA is a great place to find just about anything home decor related as well as everything that goes in the home. Good prices and cool style make navigating one of these stores worth it. Great buys on unique dishes and silverware and I picked up so many candles that my house now looks like a Billy Idol video.

I usually go against the grain when it comes to trends however, you can incorporate your own sense of style to these items as long as you keep it basic. In one sense wabi sabi is a training where the student of wabi sabi learns to find the most simple objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful. Fading autumn leaves would be an example. Wabi sabi can change our perception of our world to the extent that a chip or crack in a vase makes it more interesting and give the object greater meditative value. Similarly materials that age such a bare wood, paper and fabric become more interesting as they exhibit changes that can be observed over time.

Now if I could only find some basic yet unique artwork to put up......