My cousin said our apartment looks old and ugly because we don't really have things to decorate

My cousin came to visit us from South America after 5 years of not seeing each other. We greeted each other, and I was showing around our apartment in Barcelona thatwe just moved to.<br> <br> <br>She has been staying with us for 1 week and<br> <br>I asked her, "Hey, what do you think about our apartment?" <br> <br> <br>"I like it, but I have to say, it looks very empty and old." <br> <br> <br>I told her, "Yeah, we are going to change the furniture and get some new stuff and decorate the apartment." <br> <br> <br>She was like, "Yeah, it would look good." <br> <br> <br>I think she was talking about the lack of home decor. So I asked her, "Yeah, shall we get some vases or something?" <br> <br> <br>She was like, "Yeah, this is my opinion, but your apartment looks very empty and really lacks warmth because you don't have small decorations like vases or anything like that." <br> <br> <br>She's probably right, because I think we are leaning towards minimalism. We don't really like stuff, but we also want our apartment to look warm and welcoming, and I know this is going to sound weird but, we are not really good at decorating and I don't know if we want to put decorations on the shelves, or not. <br> <br> <br>What do you think? Is there a need for decorations?<br><br>Edit: I think it's worth mentioning that we are students, and we don't really have the money to go out and buy a vase or decorative items. We live by the "less is more" principle, but that doesn't mean that we can't have decorative items. We are not against decorations. The question is focused on the need to have them or not<br><br>Edit: thank you all for your answers. Some of you mentioned that it's not necessary to have decorative items, but I still find it interesting to read your opinions. Thanks!