latvian designer rolands landsbergs has created ”boxetti,” a collection of furniture that folds into itself when not in use,  leaving you with nothing but….boxes. described by rolands ”the collection is driven by three basic design principles – functionality, advanced technologies and contemporary aesthetics of minimalism. each of boxetti modules is designed to achieve maximum efficiency of particular demands for functionality and suitability.”

allow me the opportunity to introduce you to boxetti.

the desk, retail price: $12,839.72.

 the bed, retail price: 11,409.69.

i am more than positive that the furniture would not work for my family of four… but it would sure be fun at parties.

related posts:

• minimalista
• minimalist art

i’m terrible with wallets.  i really do hate carrying them around. more often that i care to admit, i just leave it in my vehicle… sometimes just sliding out one credit card to take into the grocery store with me.  a bad habit for sure, but slightly better than my other habit of leaving it at home altogether. 

i’m not sure how my friend amy over at new nostalgia knew i hated wallets but the other day she sent me a link for the jimi wallet.  billed as “the wallet for people who hate wallets,” i had to check it out. 

i was pleasantly impressed with the demo.  it even comes with a detachable money clip that houses one card and three bills – right up my alley for sure.  but more than the features, i’m just glad to hear that i’m not the only person who hates carrying around their wallet.

with shipping, the product price totals $20.10.  i also noticed it is available through amazon for $19.39.

my wife and i have always enjoyed the simplicity and beauty of minimalist art.  today i found an artist named alan salabert who has a large archive on his website.  if you enjoy minimalist art or would like to understand it better, check out his archives.  here’s a link to his site: alan salabert.

if i could start all over and money wasn’t an issue, i’d buy my furniture from minimalista.

but because money is an issue, i put my junk drawer up for sale on ebay.

before:

after:

what i did:

• removed every book that i have not/will not use
• removed wall hangings (notes/record albums/college degrees)
• removed all paper clutter from desktop (stored in my top drawer)
• removed all office equipment from desktop (stapler/tape)
• removed noncurrent clutter from bulletin board
• removed misc clutter from bookshelves (souvenirs/sports memorabilia)
• painted

results:

• able to focus / less distraction (my mind matches my activity)
• a vision for the future (no longer tied to the past)
• more energy (clutter is so mentally draining)
• endless possibilities…

today i picked a paint color, prepped my office, and applied the primer. tomorrow, i’ll apply the new color to the walls.

picking a paint color for my office was harder than i thought – it’s never easy for me (i don’t “visualize” real well) but this was particularly tough. on one hand, i am committed to a minimalist theme prefering a color that is not distracting, yet expansive. on the other hand, i’ve got to live with the furniture that i’ve got (bulky oak, nothing like this: milk desk). and choosing a color that is too cool and sterile doesn’t necessarily create an inviting environment (which i need to offset my personality).

after changing my mind on the way to sherwin williams, i finally decided on a color called “respite” that is a mid-tone true blue. it’s not too cold. not too warm. not too boring (my wife talked me out of grey). and it seems really close to the color of the sky on a sunny day. i’m looking forward to putting it on my walls tomorrow afternoon and posting pictures on monday when the furniture is returned.

i hope you’ll check it out.

today was everything that i hoped it would be.  i get everything accomplished in my office that i was hoping – and sat down at 4:45pm with 15 minutes to spare.  here are my accomplishments:

• removed every book from my bookshelf that i haven’t used since i moved
• moved one large bookshelf out of my office and left two empty shelves on another
• removed everything off my physical desktop leaving only a computer, phone, lamp, and family photo
• digitally scanned over 150 pages of paper files and shredded the files
• removed a mid-size box full of sports and travel souvenirs from my bookshelves
• took everything off of my bulletin board except for my son’s drawing and a poster of michael scott.
• removed 8 things from my walls (college degrees, keith green record albums, calendar, misc.)

my last remaining step is to paint the walls a different color which will complete the transformation.  i am scheduled to complete the painting this weekend and should get some photos up as soon as i finish.  check back here to see the finished minimalist office.

ps – as my assistant was leaving today, she commented, “your office looks very minimal.”  (i was very excited because i haven’t even told her about our new lifestlye!

perhaps it’s a bit quirky, but recently i turned off all of the icons on my dektop.  and i love it!

for those that aren’t aware, you can turn off your pc’s desktop icons by right-clicking the desktop > clicking “arrange icons by” > and un-checking “show desktop icons”.  before i did that, i moved some of my regularly used program shortcuts to the quicklaunch taskbar just to make sure they were quick to load (auto-hiding the taskbar takes care of the evidence).

i noticed an article today about designing minimalist that i bookmarked right here at home-decorating-reviews.com.  his information on color, texture, and accessories will be helpful when we redesign some of our roooms.

i just noticed that ehow.com has full room-by room listings of “how to decorate in a minimalist style” from living rooms and home office to selecting accessories.  i didn’t notice too many pictures which would have been helpful.  and i did notice that ratings for most of them were in 3-3.5 star range but i do think the thoughts will be helpful for something as we continue to become minimalist.

related posts:

• minimalist office complete