Store away your pillows and fluffy doona — minimalist beds are trending. We’re seeing them all over TikTok, and last month, Architectural Digest dedicated a piece to them. The publication referred to them as monastic beds and described them as consisting of a sheet, a flat coverlet laid across the bed and folded down at the top, and two standard pillows.
No six decorative pillows that you have to take off the bed every night before bed. No fluffy doona. And no statement headboards. They’re the types of beds you might find at a homestay in Indonesia or a guesthouse in France. Minimalist, yet comfy.
“It’s clean and tidy, simple but elegant,” Colin King, an American stylist, told AD. “It gives the room the feeling you want your bedroom to have — serenity.”
Monastic or minimalist beds are an extension of minimalist design, and also tap into Japandi design, a blend of Japanese, known for its functionality, and Scandinavian, known for its sleek aesthetic.
One of the easiest ways to adopt the minimalist bed trend is to swap your bed frame to a more minimalist frame, usually lower to the ground, if not on the ground, often with no headboard and usually in all-round colour or material, with timber being among the most popular.
If you don’t have the time, energy or funds to switch out your bed frame and you’re still keen for a more minimalist frame, you might also consider getting rid of a frame together, instead of putting your mattress directly on the floor.
If that’s not for you, you could simply strip back the pillows so you’re only using two and hide any spare pillows away to be used only when needed. Or you might swap your doona for a more low-profile option, like a coverlet or quilt. You might also consider adopting a minimalist bedroom aesthetic, as a whole, so it’s more than just the bed.
“A minimalist bedroom can be defined by clean lines, a restrained palette and stripped-down simplicity,” says Elle Décor. “While furniture-filled rooms have loads of options to visually distract from the boring, benign or broken, there’s a much smaller margin for error in a minimalist space.”
You’ll want to clear any clutter and be more selective with which pieces, including the bedsheets and pillows, you do include, ensuring they’re quality-made and will last. With more empty space, the room will appear to be airier, which will help to contribute to its serene feel.
At the end of the day, though, you should aim to create a bedroom that helps you to feel rested and calm before and after you sleep. So, the room should be styled in whatever way that’s achieved for you.
Related: The Right Way to Style a Room Divider
Related: Japandi Style’s All About East-Meets-West Interiors, So How Do You Execute It?
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