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Home Books Less is liberation: Christine Platt talks Afrominimalism and designing a spacious life

Less is liberation: Christine Platt talks Afrominimalism and designing a spacious life

When the author and advocate learned to live with — and do — less, she found so much more.

Christine Platt never had any intention to start a minimalist movement, but when her first book, The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less, was published in 2021 — amid the global COVID-19 pandemic — that’s exactly what happened.

“I tried to mimic mainstream minimalism, but it was boring. It was awful. It was very white — literally and figuratively,” says Platt, chatting with Design Observer from her home in Washington, D.C. “I decided that I was going to have to have some colors, some fabric, some texture, some culture in my life. And I was like, ‘I guess I’m gonna call myself the Afrominimalist.’”

What started as an Instagram page quickly gained momentum as other people seeking to live with less (and do so authentically and colorfully) flocked to Platt’s account. Today, she’s the author of several books, including The Afrominimalist and its forthcoming sequel, Less is Liberation (Hachette, October 2025).

Her debut book’s popularity (fueled in part by two-and-a-half-year press run), was “really cool,” says Platt, but it was also a road to burnout. “For the first time in my life, I could not push my mind. I could not push my body,” she recalls. “Overwhelm had become my baseline, and I didn’t even realize all the harm that I had done to my body, to my whole wellbeing. When I paused and gave my body a chance to reset, it was like, ‘We’re never doing that again.’” 

So Less is Liberation, initially intended as a guide on letting go of self-imposed limits, became an exploration of “the interconnectedness between our overwhelm and our overall wellbeing,” Platt explains, “which of course still intersects with our beliefs and behaviors.”

Ahead, Platt tells us about the origins of Afrominimalism, the foundations of wellbeing, and the importance of learning to live with — and do — less. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What role have aesthetics played in your life, in and beyond Afrominimalism?

Christine Platt: I have a bachelor’s and master’s in African and African-American history. I’m a proud Afro-Carribean woman, so the fabrics and textures, the mud cloth that you can see behind me, the colors — they’ve just always been a part of who I am, which is how they got interwoven into my home design aesthetic.

And then, because I always say minimalism is the gateway to learning how to live with intention, you see how good it feels to be intentional with your wardrobe and what you have in your home, then you see how this authenticity and intentionality trickles into every area of your life.

As far as the aesthetic part, at least online, I love taking photographs and capturing these moments. I always thought of Instagram as a personal scrapbook. It’s really important to show the process — whether it’s designing your home, designing your life, or designing your career.  At the end of this day, what is this life that I want to design for myself? And that was something I had never given any thought to until I started down this journey.

Credit: Dayo Kosoko

Q: I love that! Your books, Tricia Hersey’s, and Octavia Raheem’s…they’re all these manifestos that anyone and everyone can and should glean something from, and they’re specifically written with Black women in mind. Like, these are sacred texts.

Platt: They’re like little Bibles for us, you know? If we look at Black women writers in this wellness space that are doing the work — Alex Elle is another one who’s a dear friend — we’re talking about healing. We’re talking about rest. We’re talking about being mindful about your consumption. That’s what I’d always done over the years — take a little piece here and a little bit there. I’m going to rest a lot. I’m going to heal a lot. How can we put that all together so that our overall wellbeing is taken care of: our physical health, our emotional health, our mental health, our social health, and our spiritual health. 

All of these things collectively are what make up our overall wellbeing. I only found this out by going to see an integrative health doctor who sat me down and explained to me these five foundations of wellness. She told me, “if any one of those areas is compromised or is unhealthy, we deem a patient unwell.” Our bodies are always trying to be well. We just need to learn how to listen.

Q: Yes, listening is key! What’s the last thing that made you laugh or cry?

Platt: My daughter, literally like 20 minutes before our conversation, sent me a photograph of her in the salon. She went and got her hair pressed, and I just laughed because honey, she was in struggle mode before that, but she was beautiful.

Q: Listen, I empathize because I, too, am in struggle mode at the moment. If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would you do?

Platt: I would probably be on the continent of Africa as an anthropologist. That was one of my original dreams and goals. I feel like maybe I’m a literary anthropologist. There’s some connection there.

Q: I can definitely see that for you. What routines get — and keep — you going?

Platt: I was part of a 5 a.m. writers’ club for many years, and my body is on that clock. Now, the first thing I do when I get up is, I go to my altar, I give thanks, I go make tea, I come back to my altar, and I sit there, I pray, and I meditate. It’s such a beautiful way to start my day, and then I ease into the morning. It’s been such a gamechanger for me.

It’s about centering yourself rather than centering work, or centering checking your email or checking your notifications. And I started that 5 a.m. routine many years ago just to have that time to write before my daughter woke up. We can find time to prioritize everything else but ourselves, so start the morning prioritizing yourself. That’s the routine. That’s the ritual.

Featured image credit: Tamara Darden

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By L’Oreal Thompson Payton

L’Oreal Thompson Payton is a powerhouse author, award-winning journalist, and highly sought-after motivational speaker who’s passionate about encouraging others to step into their full potential. Her debut book, Stop Waiting for Perfect: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Power, is a must-read manifesto for anyone ready to embrace their imperfections and reclaim their power. With nearly 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, L’Oreal has had work featured in major outlets like The Cut, Essence, Fortune, SELF, and Well + Good… just to name a few. Follow her on Instagram at @LTintheCity, and subscribe to her weekly newsletter at LTintheCity.com.

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