Minimalism causes maximum damage

uelled by books like Marie Kondo’s The LifeChanging Magic of Tidying Up, secretly thrown out something that belonged to someone they lived with.

Common tensions are how to balance the pressure to declutter with the importance of meaningful objects, and the need for personal space with the ability to ask for it.

Interior and building designer and Zen expert Anthony Ashworth reveals that the way minimalism is applied in modern design is a corruption of the original principles of Zen.

‘‘The so-called application of minimalism to our homes should be called steril-ism,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s all so very masculine when our homes need to be feminine.’’

It’s all about striking a balance between meaningful decoration and succumbing to mindless consumerism, with meaningless clutter and stuff everywhere, Ashworth says.

While an overfeathered nest can cause stress, we also shouldn’t torture ourselves trying to attain to the ideal of a perfect home.

‘‘For some of us, merely feeling a need to apply minimalism can feel stressful or even counter-intuitive,’’ he says.

‘‘Our homes and our stuff are key to our identity. Having to compromise our values around how we decorate and the quantity of commodities we have, may bring up feelings of being unsafe, lack and fear to the point of genuine anxiety. For some it can trigger deep-seated issues around scarcity.’’

He suggests warring partners try to make it fun and allow each person creative input. ‘‘This may avoid feelings of resentment that inevitably comes out in another area of the relationship in time,’’ he says.

Compromise and prioritising is key. Start the decluttering process in an agreed part of the home, such as the family room or lounge, he advises. Allow the other party to retain their clutter in another part of the house.

Start on something small, such as the worst drawer or cupboard, and work outward from that. Ashworth advises his clients against overly minimalistic interiors. ‘‘It’s ideal for interior design magazines, or staged houses. But not so good for a real home.’’

Research shows that more of us are feeling pressured to live minimally.