Minimalist not Neutralist

As I build inspiration for my home, I scroll through images which are labeled minimalist, and most of the time the interiors have muted colours - greys, whites, tans, little colour and sparse use of pattern. 

There are 60 similar ones here

But what this house in Cleveland has reminded me - that there are two forms of minimalism - design minimalism, and stuff minimalism. I am trying to focus on stuff minimalism, but I keep on associating it with design minimalism. 

In other words, I want to keep reminding myself that stuff minimalism does not mean a grey couch, white rug, and wood coffee table. It means, making sure that I need / want a couch, rug and coffee table. If the answer is yes, then I can use colour and patterns -  a maximalist design. 

Now, I'm actually not going to buy anything new for my house, so this point is a bit mute. But I love how every day I can break my misconceptions about minimalism and build the definition of minimalism that works best for me. 

Because isn't that the point? To me, minimalism is about being thoughtful and mindful in our pursuit of happiness. Not filling our lives with stuff without thinking about the purpose of why it is there.