Things
Inspired by the Things 3 app. A beautiful, minimal theme with clean typography, subtle accents, and excellent readability in both light and dark modes.
Colin Eckert is credited as the original theme creator. Setup notes, fit assessments, and cautions below are Obsidian Mate editorial guidance. How we review resources
Overview
Inspired by the Things 3 app. A beautiful, minimal theme with clean typography, subtle accents, and excellent readability in both light and dark modes. Things uses spacious typography, subtle separators, rounded interface details, and a calm palette inspired by the Things task manager. It fits users who prefer a restrained task-manager aesthetic with clear hierarchy and limited visual noise.
Key Features
- Things uses spacious typography, subtle separators, rounded interface details, and a calm palette inspired by the Things task manager.
- Supports light and dark appearance modes.
- Includes a repository-maintained visual preview for evaluating the theme before installation.
How to Install Things
- 1Open Obsidian Settings and select Appearance.
- 2Select Manage beside Themes, search for Things, and choose Install and use.
- 3Open representative notes in editing and reading view, then test every supported appearance mode.
- 4Add Style Settings only when the theme repository documents compatible controls.
How to Use Things
Install the theme from Obsidian Appearance settings, compare a text-heavy note and a task list in both modes, then add only the optional snippets documented by the theme repository.
Visual Character
Things uses spacious typography, subtle separators, rounded interface details, and a calm palette inspired by the Things task manager.
Who It Fits
It fits users who prefer a restrained task-manager aesthetic with clear hierarchy and limited visual noise.
Compatibility and Limits
- Its deliberately opinionated Things-inspired styling may not suit dense dashboards or users who want a highly decorative workspace.
- Retest personal CSS snippets after theme or Obsidian updates.
Customization
Install the theme from Obsidian Appearance settings, compare a text-heavy note and a task list in both modes, then add only the optional snippets documented by the theme repository. Customization should stay within controls and snippets documented by the theme project so future updates remain easier to troubleshoot.
Repository Screenshots & Visual Preview
Rich preview screenshots and visual assets extracted directly from the official GitHub repository for Things:
Details
- Modes
- Light & Dark
Sources and Documentation
This guide was checked against the creator's repository and primary documentation.
Recommended Vault Templates & Plugin Combinations
Pair Things with pre-configured vault templates and recommended community plugins to complete your second brain setup:
Recommended Vault Templates
- Ideaverse (LYT Starter Vault)
Gold standard PKM vault setup by Nick Milo.
- PARA Starter Kit Vault
Tiago Forte's PARA method starter setup.
- Zettelkasten Starter Vault
Structured note-linking vault template for research.
Recommended Plugins
- Style Settings Plugin
Graphical customization menu for themes & CSS.
- Dataview Plugin
Database query views & dynamic dashboards.
- Templater Plugin
Dynamic template engine for automated note creation.
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