Cosy vs Minimalism?

I mentioned to DH this weekend about how much space getting rid of my Terry Prachett book collection would free up. Up until now I’ve gotten rid of almost all my books except for this collection (+-30 that I’ve been collecting since I was about 15), a few large glossy art books (a beautiful set I often look to for inspiration) and a complete set of my favourite manga books. He was horrified and said no. Our conversation went sort of like this:

Me: But they are my books so I can get rid of them
DH: But you’ve been collecting them forever and re-read them every now and then. I thought you loved them
Me: I do but I can get them on the Kindle
DH: No, they look nice on the shelf; you can’t get rid of everything. It will start to look empty here
Me: Is that a bad thing? I like the emptiness
DH: No mine, your home has to look nice, it looks cosier. Leave them

So hmmm, does this mean minimalists don’t have cosy homes? I will admit to not being a huge fan of those sterile white interiors which are toted as very modern and hip. I always feel like they can’t be very comfortable to live in, everything would look dirty so fast and you would feel like you couldn’t leave anything out ever.

I want a cosy home but looks like my definition isn’t the same as DHs. For me cosy means comfortable, everything in easy access, nice art on the walls, throws on the sofa and plump cushions in my favourite reading spot. Since I am a lighting designer I attach great importance to good lighting and feel like lighting can do more to make a place feel cosy than having a full bookshelf.

For DH cosy is more a sense that the house is well loved and show cases the lives of the people who live there, ie our books out, photos of us and our friends on the fridge or framed and lots of stuff we love all around and on display.

Looks like this is going to be something we need to discuss to find some middle ground on before I continue getting rid of everything on all our shelves. So far I have bought some house plants which do fill up some blank space and DH likes. They have been a compromise and we are both happy with the solution.

Minimalism will have to work for us though not the other way around, so I will cut back only as much as is acceptable for DH at the moment. I want us both to feel comfortable in our home.