The More the Merrier. The Fewer the Better.

Maximalism vs. minimalism

In 2014, The Atlantic published an article headlined “Living With Less,” outlining the perks of minimalism. Six years later, a story from Vox read “Minimalism is dead. Meet maximalism.” And just last year, the BBC ran “The rise of relaxed minimalism.” These are the ebbs and flows of home design, specifically in the past 15 years.

Minimalism rose in popularity following the 2008 recession, with Marie Kondo, the lifestyle’s de facto spokesperson, urging people to “declutter” and “discard everything that does not spark joy.”

“To me, a minimalist interior is very intentional, with well-executed pieces,” says Ryan Kopet, an interior designer at Miles and Kirk Design, LLC in Chattanooga. “Where you’re not going to have an abundance of things, everything you do and place has a purpose and a design thought and direction.”

Maximalism is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Described in Architectural Digest as “a design style rooted in a more-is-more philosophy,” contemporary maximalism emerged when COVID-19 forced everyone to spend more time inside and rethink spaces in their home, Kopet says.

The definitions for these two umbrella terms — minimalism and maximalism — are ever changing. “It’s less ‘Is it minimalist or maximalist?’ and more ‘How intentional or personal is it?’” Kopet says.

For Chattanooogans Daryl and Dana Thetford, Damon and Lisa Davis, Sydney Phillips and Nick Carruth, all their spaces are absolutely intentional and personal; it’s just a matter of how they express it through their decor (or lack thereof ).