Simplicity, Minimalism and Contemporary Design in San Miguel

Simplicity is our byword. My wife and I live it every day in the choices we make about where to eat, shop, or simply relax. We do it by planning out our strategy for our daily activities. Our lives are much simpler and more manageable without a car, which we gave up 2 years ago in favor of a scooter to get us around town. If the sky looks dark and stormy or just pregnant with rain, we leave the scooter home and walk, knowing we can always take a bus or a taxi home if we feel worn out or if there’s a torrential downpour during the rainy season (roughly July to September).

In contrast to the traditional buildings and houses of San Miguel, our house is minimalistic and Euro-contemporary.  It’s made of brick and concrete covered with plaster and painted white inside with a mostly white exterior. It has an open layout on the ground floor. Most of the houses in our neighborhood are similarly constructed with mostly white exteriors. (Looking out from our rooftop terrace I’m struck by how much it resembles a village on a Greek island.) However, we made some modifications to the interior layout to make it more open with a clean, contemporary style.

Our preference for interior design is also minimalistic. We decided not to drill holes or put nails or screws in the walls whenever we could avoid it, so the kitchen has one long shelf and a free-standing unit and all dishes, utensils and food are in drawers.  Some of my paintings rest on the top of a long bookcase. In furnishings, we favor mid-century modern. This is also in contrast with the dominant décor of San Miguel’s casas, where the great majority of them are decorated in the traditional ornate and rustic Mexican style. (If you rent a house here you will most likely get that type of décor.)

The frustrating part of our minimalistic lifestyle is that good quality mid-century modern furniture is extremely hard to come by in Mexico, especially in San Miguel. There is a vintage furniture store in Mexico City that sells restored pieces (vintage-antic.mx), but as of this writing they have only a very limited inventory.

So if you have the same taste in décor, my advice is to bring pieces with you or plan to have them shipped to San Miguel.

If you are interested in hiring an architect to work with you on designing a contemporary house in San Miguel, check out these web sites. I can't personally recommend these architects but they have been recommended by people in SMA who have worked with them.

www.arquitectoluiscamarena.com 

https://www.discoversma.com/places/mexico/guanajuato/san-miguel-de-allende/architectural-services/domus-arquitectura/