Of Sparta (the ancient Greek city), and particularly associated with their fabled indifference to comfort. In interiors, it describes a very strict, severe decorative, architectural or stylistic mood.
The most Spartan home environment is perhaps the traditional monk’s cell with its hard, narrow bed, a small space with little physical comfort in line with the notion of disciplining one’s emotional and mental state with vows of poverty and chastity. It is therefore also connected with purity of mind and space, a quiet and ordered life aided by ritual. The Spartan ideal should not suppress, but rather aid and promote freedom of thought for greater creativity and understanding.
A Spartan environment is always disciplined, always creative, never dull
It does not, however, mean colourless as the care taken with the design will pay attention to light that amplify the colourful ambiguity and nuance of light .. edit
Spartan furnishings require commitment of a different kind, although not totally unrelated to discipline and order. Homes are not cells, and furnishings neither need to be, nor should be, uncomfortable. Neither should anything under the umbrella of Spartan find itself lacking in creativity. Strict, tailored furnishings and forms with minimal detail and colour change that are Spartan in terms of the appearance often require extremely complex cutting and seaming to succeed.
In its own way, the ritual of designing, making and cutting such furnishings, following the discipline of line, is therapeutic and meditative, requiring full attention and expertise honed by practice.
The very best of minimalistic architecture is the epitome of Spartan: beautiful and accommodating, yet devoid of excess.