Calling yourself a minimalist seems like a big deal. Our society portrays minimalists as people with bare white walls and barely any things/furniture. As I have discovered over the past year or so, minimalism doesn’t have to be anyone else’s definition, but instead can be your own. To me minimalism is living a life with less stuff and leaving room for the important things. My house is not completely bare and it never will be with a family of 6, but I have taken drastic steps to greatly reduce the amount of clutter in my home. Not only have I gotten rid of hundreds of unused items, but I have simplified other areas of my home. The clutter was ruining my mental health. I felt like I was consistently picking up things just to vacuum and wash the floor. Dusting? Yeah right! When a simple cleaning task takes twice as long because you have to tidy first, you can pretty much assume it won’t get done. I felt like I was drowning and could barely get the everyday things done. Having 4 young children doesn’t leave much room for anything else besides taking care of their basic needs. I wanted to spend more time with them, I wanted more (dare I say it?) time for myself and my husband. Having less stuff to manage was the answer I had been looking for.
I call this my minimalism journey because I know it will never end. Things will always continue to come into my home and I will need to stay on top of it. I still have several areas left to declutter, but I am taking it one step at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed. Last year I started with all of the baby items after my husband and I decided 4 kids was the perfect amount for our family. Getting rid of those items was really emotional for me and there were definitely some tears. I did join my local “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook and passed most of the items on to people in my community. It was a lot easier giving them away to local people, knowing my sentimental baby items were going to be used again. I did add several special things in each of my kids memory boxes. While my youngest is only 2, we still have many babyish things left in the house. As she continues to get older, I pass her items on when she grows out of them.
I have been always really good at getting rid of things, but I never really changed my buying habits. So when something came in my house another left, meaning I still had the same amount of things. Since starting this decluttering journey, my view of stuff and shopping has drastically changed. Protecting the environment has always been a passion of mine, but I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. I was mindlessly buying things I most likely didn’t need, without a second thought. Not only was I spending extra money, but I was contributing to the never-ending landfill. The more brand new items being produced, the more the Earth suffers. I now go to the library and borrow books rather than just buying them for my own personal collection. Yes there are some books I will buy, usually ones I plan to re-read again and again. I now buy my kids clothes from a consignment shop before going to a big box store. I no longer walk around Target for fun and get tempted to buy, but instead chose “pick up” for essential things. When I really want an item, I think, is this something I really need? Will I actually use it? Do I already own something similar? Can I borrow it?
My family and I enjoy creating and I run a kids program which requires me to own a lot of extra things for it. So while my house isn’t the typical minimalist home, I do have less stuff than before and have started to organize what we really need. I do believe it is possible to find a balance and still have a warm and inviting home. With a background of interior design, I simply can not keep bare walls and shelves, but I have found the right amount of decorations and photos that bring me joy. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you love your home and it leaves you will a feeling of relaxation rather than stress.
Please check out my page here and see some of my design/organizational work. I am starting to take clients and my goal is to help people feel calm and joy from their home rather than overwhelm and anxiety. We can have a functional and beautiful place we actually want to come home to, while having extra time to spend with our loved ones.
