When most of us see a clean wall, our urge is to cowl it—with images, posters, artwork, or shade. However within the inviting house of Maria and Paul Le Mesurier, the founders of UK furnishings firm WoodEdit (see our story about it right here), there may be not a touch of wall artwork to be discovered, neither is there a lot shade. “I can by no means see the purpose of utilizing plenty of completely different shades of paint,” Maria, who acts because the model’s artistic director, tells us. “Each hour of every single day of each season, the sunshine adjustments on a regular basis, so the white partitions do, too—which, for me, offers a lot variation in itself.”
Despite the couple’s minimalist tendencies, there’s loads of arresting visible curiosity inside their Seventeenth-century abode. As an alternative of shade, Maria and Paul (an osteopath-turned-furniture-maker) depend on discovered foliage to breathe life into rooms. And in lieu of patterns, they emphasize textures, prioritizing pure supplies like linen, terra-cotta, sisal, and wooden of their house. They might be residing in a brick-clad former secure in a West Sussex property with 5 youngsters, ranging in age from 4 to 18, however their house exudes a quiet, sunny serenity that feels extra Mediterranean than English Channel. (Maria’s father’s household hails from Madeira, Portugal.)
“We dwell fairly minimally, I don’t like having plenty of issues— simply what is required. I discover it calming,” says Maria. The important thing to sustaining a tidy minimalist house with kids who could not share the identical targets? Layering. Numerous layering. “There are spills and stains in all places. I throw plenty of jute rugs in all places to cowl the worst bits. As for the sofas, I layer them with linen throws and blankets.”
Learn on for extra nice tips about the right way to make minimalism work in a family with youngsters.
Pictures by Maria Le Mesurier.
