Houston McLaury-

Sometimes when I have free time, I wander the web absentmindedly, searching for anything that might pique my interest. And oftentimes I find myself guided through house tours on YouTube, admiring what I can only hope to have in the future. Yet, something bothers me while watching these videos. Beige paints line the walls of these houses, white floors pass underfoot, and it feels as though I’ve been dropped into the Arctic with the amount of white I see.

It all just looks so ugly. I’m always left wondering why any of these people would buy a house if they’re just going to strip any personality away from it. Even in my neighborhood, I see homes that once had bricks of yellow-painted a disgusting eggshell white. And then other houses are flipped by amateurs who don’t know what they’re doing as they’re gutting any love and personality out of a house.

So, what is this horrible trend that has taken the American housing market by storm? Minimalism has seeped into many houses for its simple colors, cleanliness, and simplicity. Think of beige colors and office spaces when imagining the aesthetic that is minimalism. The only benefit besides this aesthetic is that the less clutter you have in your house or living area means less dust. This means less cleaning and fewer reactions if you are sensitive to dust and often sneeze because of it. This, for me, is not a good enough reason to resort to the horrid aesthetic of minimalism.

Now, the main reason I care about this issue so strongly is because it’s disheartening for me. I’ve wanted to have a home not because it’s a good investment or anything like that, but because I could decorate it as I like. I look forward to decorating spaces and calling them my own, but this current trend of stripping away all colors for a clean white space is nothing short of dystopian. I am human, and I need color in my life. It’ll feel as though I’m in a prison cell if I sleep in a room with no color, I’ll lose my mind the day I wake up in a room without color. This is not an exaggeration, I need beauty and color to function.

Along with this, I just hold onto little trinkets that have no real value to anything but me. For example, I keep a metal pumpkin on my desk year-round, even though it’s only meant for Halloween. Why do I do this? Simple, my sibling gave it to me as I left for college and it holds sentimental value for me in that sense. Same for a random rock that currently sits atop my deck of cards, my friend picked it out for me while we were on a trip to Lake Superior.

These little things, tiny trinkets that have no true value, yet have immense emotional value are what I live for. I love collecting items that mean something to me, either reminding me of a special day or just to collect them and toy with them later on.

One of my favorite points against minimalism is just the plain and simple fact that it’s a boring aesthetic. If you bring friends or family together, you don’t want to set them in a room with four white walls, beige carpeted floors, and a picture on the wall with a single feather painted in the center. You want decor that brings in conversation, that allows you to tell a story. I’m reminded of my mother, who always goes antique hunting looking for any item that pleases the eye and to add back home. This has led to her pig collection, multiple items like salt and pepper shakers, paintings, and pig-themed utensils. It adds character to our house and offers a conversation for visiting guests to strike.

These decorations also leave a mark on our home. It allows us to say loudly and proudly “I was here, look at what came before you and feel relief knowing another lived here.” Meanwhile, the minimalist house offers a cold response to newcomers, offering no conversation to start. It offers no comfort of previous lives that lived and loved being in that home. It makes a home a house, an entity of merely economic value, and not one of emotional value.

So, when you next go to a new place in the future whether it’s a dorm room, an apartment, or a house if you’re lucky enough, ignore the simplicity of the minimalist. Challenge yourself and thrive in a house filled to the brim with sentimental items, with walls covered in varieties of reds, blues, and greens. Make your mark and exclaim proudly to the world that you were there, that you lived there, that you found a home there. And always carry that lovely home with you as you travel on in life. Reject minimalism, and take joy in all you own and all that you carry in this life.