Although these house tours differ greatly in style and location, there are a few key commonalities:
1. Signs of life. My favorite house tours are the ones where the personalities, interests, or way of life of the dwellers come through in the styling of their homes. This doesn't mean piles of dirty dishes or overflowing garbage cans, but it often involves less than pristine collections and a few imperfect touches like a slouchy chair or a threadbare rug— the kind of inviting human details that put you at ease by making you feel like you can sit down without disrupting with the room's perfection.
2. Balance rather than perfect symmetry. Classically, symmetry is said to be one of the universal signs of beauty when it comes to the human face. However, when it comes to the human home, balance seems to be more appealing than strict symmetry. Balance manifests itself in different ways according to the home: in some it's a large graphic image poised next to a simple classic form, or two different style lamps of similar proportions, or a grouping of different stylistically but similarly-themed objects. Regardless of the particulars, objects in the same setting are complimentary contrasts rather than perfect reflections of each other.
3. Neutral resting spots. While some of these homes have spots of more saturated vibrant color, there is at least one area with a limited neutral palette and loungable seating that invites relaxation and seems free from distractions— spots designated for pure rest whether it be a corner of the living room or a whole bedroom.
4. Easy-maintenance materials. Perhaps this is the greatest appeal of all in a simple home — the worry-free attitude elicited by the materials within in it. Elements like worn leather, slubby linen, and raw wood that look all the cooler for their creases, wrinkles, and dings put the mind at ease.
5. A mix of sturdy and airy. Although I have a special respect and love for delicate rooms, they are not often the most practical or inviting. These homes are mostly comprised by furniture that looks like it can withstand a beating balanced by light or minimal window treatments that maximize natural light and distracts from the weightiness of some of the more substantial furnishings.
There have been many homes featured on Apartment Therapy that exude this comfortable, inviting, and interesting simplicity, but these are a few of my all time favorites:
• 1. This sunroom is from an upcoming tour of the home of my close family friends, Dana & Guy. To me, walking into their home is the equivalent of taking a long, deep breath. It's the kind of place where nothing matches, but everything goes together. This sunroom is particularly inviting with its casual sprawl of potted plants, and bare stone floors.
• 2. Pete & Sandy's Minimal Farmhouse.
• 3. Brian's Serenely Styled Sanctuary
• 4., 9. Stephen & Todd's Fantastic Mr. Farmhouse
• 5. Nicole & Colin's Streamlined Salvage
• 6.Tyler and Sarah's Primitve Modern
• 7. Catherine's Cozy Equestrian Condo
• 8. Mara & Michael's Spanish Transformation
• 10. Jeanine's Sun-filled Home
Image: 1: Leah Moss, 2: Wes & Kayla Schwartz, 3: Brian H. Andriola, 4, 9: Stephen Ellwood, 5, 7: Leah Moss, 6: Tanya Lacourse , 8: Laure Joliet, 10: Jeanine Brennan
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Why do all the examples have muted colors? There is hardly anything here besides beige, tan and brown. You can certainly have color as well as simplicity.
Yup. Except for that skanky chair. Or is that just for kitty?
Ah, yes, I remember all of these tours. I LOVE the muted colors. Muted often comes off as bland, but not in these homes. Actually, these same tours have inspired me as well, especially Brian's apartment, and Stephen and Todd's farmhouse. All those gorgeous creams and browns and grays...... That subtle layering of tones really is an art.
I also want to compliment you, Leah, on your bold use of the first person "I." SOOOO much better than that silly editorial "we." ;-)
Good assemblage of examples to illustrate your points. I appreciate the same things as you about the homes you included. I also agree that the successful use of neutrals is truly an art and a pleasure to live in when done well.
Does anyone recognize the picture of that rocky coastline or know where to get something of similar subject and scale?
@Thorndale- LOL! Agreed. I like what this post is saying, but I have to agree with mkay4284 to an extent and say the similarity of the looks is throwing me. Is the Shabby Chic look the only way to achieve the sturdy, airy balance? Must neutral resting spots and easy maintenance all be beige and worn? I think the post gives good insight, but the pictures limit the idea to one kind of aesthetic.
i love number 2. a simple bedroom makes for better sleeping. take a deep breath.
i love the pic with the christmas tree all lit up. i'd love to decorate more along those lines for the holidays and less along what i've known growing up- stuffing as many gaudy decorations and baubles into one tiny space. it looks gorgeous and not understated in any way.
mkay42484 - certainly! Simplicity doesn't exclude color, but these pictures spoke to me b/c of their quiet tones, and none of them seem boring or bland unlike so many neutral spaces.
Personally I like color, but I don't like bold hues all the time, and I rarely find them restful. We're all different though! And the beauty of AT is that we have so many writers with different view points. How boring would it be to only, without fail, feature homes with red eames shells and orange accent walls.
MsDonnaGirl - point taken, and no, simplicity is certainly not limited to one type of aesthetic. The majority of homes we feature on AT are mcm, these are exceptions. I picked them b/c I think they all possess a similar type of calm--one that I'd love to invite into my own home.
I wouldn't classify any of them as shabby chic...which I think of as mostly cabbage roses, white slipcovers, and lots of chippy paint (and sometimes even faux chippy paint)....but these all embrace a certain degree of wabi-sabi, an appreciation for natural imperfection, maybe that's what you meant?
I suppose the look of these rooms could be considered "shabby chic," although not necessarily Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic. Looking at the photos I see lots of worn natural linens and cottons, aged wood, distressed leather, old twigs... The "shabbiness," the celebration of nature, is what I love about these rooms.
New and shiny is great too--it's just not what these particular photos are about.
@LeahDC-thanks for the response, and please note: I am NOT A FAN of MCM throughout a home (if at all), so I do appreciate any variety AT offers. As Creative License surmises, I did not mean Rachel Ashwell's version of "shabby chic", and I should have been more direct. I meant that I acknowledge the vintage, worn look of these rooms possess a certain charm for some. I don't think everything needs to be new and shiny, or multicolored, so I did not mean to sound critical. But I will say that a torn leather chair about to show its springs or a collection of tarnished mirrors doesn't give me calm or wabi sabi. It says "failure to take care of things as they age", but I recognize that's a matter of taste. I really appreciate what you are sharing with us, and I feel your depiction could have been illustrated with other images that weren't so similar to one another and I would be interested in seeing that!
MsDonnaGirl- thanks for your thoughtful response. You have me going through many of my inspiration files for a possible future post :)
I like the post a lot, although not a fan of all the looks. (When a chair is in such bad shape that I have to ask myself whether there is - or should be - duct tape on it, it's time to let go.) The thoughts about what it is that makes a calming and simple space are great, and perfect for those of us with kids and/or pets.