MOSES LAKE — So the living room got painted, or maybe it’s time to paint the living room. Or staying home during the pandemic prompted some thinking about refreshing the place. Or it’s just time for something different; after all, that vase and those pictures have been there for — wow, since the kids were in grade school.

And now it’s time to think about what “different” will be, and, OK, what now? On second thought, maybe that vase doesn’t look so bad.

Actually, there are rules for all that.

Barb Skaug, kitchen designer for Skaug Brothers Carpet One Floor & Home in Moses Lake, said minimalism is one of the major trends for 2021, driven by millennials who don’t like clutter.

Minimalist design doesn’t necessarily mean nothing on the kitchen counters or the living room coffee table, it just means there’s less. It’s a design aesthetic that emphasizes neutral colors for walls and furniture, clean lines and flat surfaces, and restraint when it comes to accessories.

In minimalist design, attention is paid to the eye-catching stuff, like bright throw pillows or a colorful painting.

But not everybody wants white walls, a beige couch and a bud vase with one flower on the beige coffee table. There are other options, and there are rules that help people get the look they want, whatever it is.

A perusal of the closet is a good place to start. Colors and patterns that people wear are colors and patterns that will probably work when it comes to accessorizing.

For Carlos Hernandez, owner of La Imperial Furniture in Moses Lake, color is the first building block.

“Play with color,” he said. “You need to play with the colors in your house.”

Hernandez used the living room set he accessorized as an example. He used different shades of yellow in the throw pillows, carpet and the painting on the wall against the gray tones of the furniture.

He recommended against trying to match furniture and floor colors, using the example of a brown couch and brown carpet or hardwood.

People should look around at what they’ve already got, maybe gather some of what they like on a table or shelf, and leave it there for a couple days. Then they should look at it and decide what they really like about it, and why.

And there’s design inspiration all around. People can build their own clip file of ideas they find on the internet, and offline there are books, museums and art galleries, hotels, home furniture stores.

Plenty of home decor companies cater to different tastes and budgets. One company will be good for vases that go with a boho living room, while another will have the right lamps for that mid-century modern space.

Of course, what looks good in theory might not work out in practice, so decorators shouldn’t hesitate to change their minds. If those vases on that high shelf are irresistible to the cats, then maybe the vases need to go, or at least move.

Style can change over time. That purple throw rug, or that painting that was once so compelling, may have lost their charm, so there’s no need to keep them.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].