if you read the article stated you would see that before this apt. had been painted all white it had shades of black and grey with wood floors and was still minimalist.
that being said, minimalism=white is a very sad perspective of this concept.some traditional japanese rooms are are masterpieces of minimalism, clean, airy, and calming with touches of nature.

I've always thought of minimalism as anti-clutter. I don't see why you can't still have a colorful space, with accent walls, painted trim, rugs, interesting furniture, and so forth.

These are not homes. They are depressing, empty sterility.

Did you ever see the movie/documentary INTO GREAT SILENCE about Grande Chartreuse monastery? The interiors were minimalist (without the conceit). Stone and wood and plaster.

I checked out the article. What sad, dreary little lives I imagine for these people. No cooking, you might create a crumb! No reading, books are dusty! Oh, it's 7:15, time to sweep again. Let's all sit very still on our hard chairs, not making any messes.

jenpdx and dianejerry, I was also thinking of older Japanese minimalism with lots of natural textures. Then there's the Shaker route, with pops of bold color along with natural texture (and it's not the same as Shaker, but if you REALLY want bold color, check out Amish quilts).

The apartment pictured above isn't my cup of tea but it would make someone else very, very happy. I just painted my small 1940's kitchen completely bright white to match the white refrigerator and stove and I absolutely LOVE it. But the kitchen, for me, is less a living space and more an appliance in and of itself. That's why all-white kitchen and bathrooms make sense to me. But all-white everything? It's pretty foreign to me. The more I think about it the more I'd be willing to give it a try.

I don't think of minimalism as just being white, either.

AT had a great small cool entry last year that was black and very minimialistic.

If you Google "minimalist room" the reality is that most rooms pictured are predominately white. For some reason our Western concept of minimalism seems to exclude colors as well as clutter. I suppose that, in a way, the concept of visual minimalism hinges on monochromatic decor. After all, a room with only one chair in it but with kaleidoscopic prints on walls, floor and fabric would hardly feel visually "minimalist," despite the fact that it is spatially minimalist.

By that argument, why not have a black, brown, green or star-patterned minimalist house?

I have to say that, looking at Mr. Waterbury's apartment photos, the word "perfect" doesn't come to mind, but the word "germaphobe" certainly does!

I'm working on a semi-minimalist bedroom in gray. I'm painting the walls, closet, and four pieces of furniture the same shade of gray, and I'm only allowing red, burnt orange, and chartreuse accents/art. It looks great, and I was surprised that it was so hard to find examples of minimalist rooms in gray.

Wow, what a template for graffiti. I hope no one lives here, pretty sad looking.

The pink and aqua versions remind me of something out of Edward Scissorhands. :)

I like minimalism....in other people's homes and photos. It's not for me and it doesn't fit in with my life, but I often find myself attracted to it. But I think people do confuse minimalism and white on white. I've seen plenty of dark spaces that are very minimal and sparse, but have a LOT of texture like steel, wood grain and concrete or natural stone. I tend to feel it's less about the color and more about what's NOT there when it comes to true minimalism.

Aw... all the minimalists except maybe the first (only due to lack of evidence) seem to have pretty good senses of humor, though. XD

I guess if you are surrounded by art everyday as the owner is, you probably don't need any color or things at home.

While i understand the direction the white room is going, i think it is missing texture, painting, and things that show that someone lives there. You can still have a few things and be "minimalist". Am i missing something? Would anyone else feel comfortable sitting in an all white room?

gasp! i'm not THAT minimalist that i don't have a sense of humor-yet. but spring cleaning is around the corner.

Uh, no. I have a life. Life gets messy. That said, I can't stand frou-frou. I find excessive ornamentation awful. I like clean lines and thoughtful placement. But this is obsessive. One should never have to work that hard to maintain a space.

Clearly these people have no small children.

Go to 4:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfvGq97B7_U

It seems the point of this article was missed. I don't think it was as much about minimalism in a traditional sense, as it was about highlighting where minimalism ends and perfectionism begins. Obviously perfectionism has deep psychological rooting, which is quite different than just wanting to live with a minimal aesthetic. For these people it is not a style or design, it is a lifestyle that is all-encompassing.

I always assumed magazine people wanted all-white as a way to show they're wealthy. It shows dirt but it also shows you have regular housekeeper, nothing you own is scuffed, and you probably eat out a lot. I would imagine US/Western modern minimalism is associated with white cubes because art galleries promoted that aesthetic in a big way in the 30's-60's. (Wealthy New York hipsters STILL decorate their places to look like galleries, but more contemporary galleries). And rich people love galleries. And what rich people love, everyone else wants.

The Minimalism 'ism' like the Modernism 'ism', whether mid, early or late, has been played - co-opted by disparate artistic cliques that confuse and deviate from the essence.
White gallery cubes, make anything look less dirty, even piles of dirt as has been seen in Blue chip Chelsea.
And yes, Life is dirty.
White cube living spaces also detract from the reality of wear of toil and complex emotions and financial transactions, and thus have become a symbol of luxury for those who not toil, one's robot/servants do and then hide.
Monasteries are about discipline of the mind with the physical world and an integrated yet not materially obsessed relationship with it, hence minimal, but the bowl, hoe and the bucket have their place close at hand.
But how does the maintenance and relationship of a classic minimalist space foster a healthy balance and not a neurotic one? Even with servants or robots, there is no peace of mind as you are enslaved to them and the need for a pristine unreal environment. It means planned obsolescence, as instantly, any imperfection must be erased, unlike a Japanese dojo or Cappadocian hermit's cave. True disciplined minimalism and chosen poverty go hand in empty hand, and neither the NYT or APT are talking about that.

To me, minimalism is clean lines and NO clutter. I prefer the serenity of all white spaces.

I like the look of Minimalist spaces, quite a bit. I think monochromatic can be a wonderful design color scheme and is probably the most effective choice for a Minimalist space. the point is to achieve a visually interesting space while using clean and simple lines and surfaces. I however think that by no means does this automatically = pure white everything. A pure white room can absolutely be minimalist but there is also such a thing as a well designed room. I personally disagree strongly that white on every surface = a successful minimalist space. I think a successful minimalist space should include the same things that any other successful space should include. visual interest for one and achieving a sense of comfort preferably. Monochromatic doesnt mean pure white. Monochromatic can be achieved through black, grey's patterns textures and silves. Thinking pure white and minimalist are interchangable shortchanges the potential of miniamlist interiors. I googled "Minimalist Decor" and sure, there were plenty of white spaces but there were more spaces that used pops of color or a combination of shades, textures, and blacks and greys in combiantion with relying on white to give an overall clean effect. I found the first couple statements had large leaps in logic. "perfectionism in interiors equals minimalism, and without stating it outright, therefore somehow also equals all white interiors" I'm not sure if that was a synopsis of a flawed article that actually stated this or a flawed synopsis of a reasonable article but theres flawed logic somewhere and it's not at all accurate in my opinion.

@virtuelsie AWESOME comment!

To each their own, but the white room as pictured feels very dystopian to me. I'd be uncomfortable and uneasy just spending five minutes in it. If I were forced to live there (and not add some color, texture, and softer edges), it would have a deleterious affect on my mental health.

Ack. effect, not affect. (I two different wordings of the sentence in mind, and scrambled them.)