The 2 Major Ways Minimalism Has Changed My Life
Minimalism. It seems to be a buzz word these days. I had heard of it, but I’m not a super trendy person so I didn’t think much about it. The real reason I didn’t look into it is because my thoughts went straight to all Ikea furniture, a cold decorating style without the beautiful things I love, wearing the same outfit everyday, and only owning 4 plates. While that sounds great in theory, that’s not something that would be sustainable - or enjoyable for me.
So fast forward to a time in my life when I was doing great with regular productivity, but this looming feeling of overwhelm was constantly there. My anxiety level was up pretty often and while I worked non stop, I felt like I was constantly catching up.
I’m not sure how it all came together, but I know toys had something to do with it. You see, I’ve always been someone to purge and organize regularly. But something about having that second child sort of added this wonderful, but very extra messy aspect to my life. I do know that I had enough of always picking up. She would dump them all out. Go back to playing with non-toys (her favorite thing to play with) and there would be this giant mess.
Something just sort of clicked and I stumbled across minimalism again. I truly believe the Lord led me there because it has been such a benefit to my life.
I already had people asking if I was a moderate minimalist because I hate clutter and piles. But when I started to learn about really looking at the purpose of my space and the purpose of the things I owned, the time it takes to maintain all of the things we own and everything changed.
Here are the two major ways that Minimalism has changed me.
There was a mindset shift. I became intentional about what stays in my house. Intentional about the things I maintain and that take up space in my life.
Secondly, I began being intentional about what comes into my house.
What stay in my house? Stuff equals time. You have to clean it. Organize it. Put it away. Move it.
When I started this journey I took a hard serious look at everything we owned. These questions helped me.
Do I use this?
It is something I need? Or do I have something else that serves this purpose just as well?
Do I even like this? This is great for clothing and decor. Does it fit my body and my style?
Do NOT ask “what did I pay for this?” You already spent the money. Learn from this and move on. I promise that this is the best way to go. Don’t get bogged down in past mistakes.
The kitchen was on of the first places I started. I don’t necessarily recommend this unless you have a full day and are really ready to be ruthless.
I pulled everything out of my kitchen cabinets. Everything. I held each thing in my hand and ask “have I used this in the last 6 months? If not, why? Will the space it gives me serve me better than it has.” I have a large kitchen table that can seat 8 people and I piled it high with cake plates, dishes, utensils, and small appliances. I donated almost everything because I just needed it to be gone now.
I still have some empty kitchen cabinets, like the one above my ovens. It is almost completely empty. Which is totally ok! I love opening cabinets and having space to breathe. I love having room for zones that make sense.
I moved on to my closet and it is embarrassing the amount of clothing I got rid of.
Now, I solicited help for this area and I believe it is really great to have a close friend help you in your closet if you can. My sister (who can be honest with me) really helped me immensely in here. Do I love this? Nope. Then let it go. Does it truly look good and fit well? Nope. Bye.
I got rid of furniture. We had 2 dressers in our closet and we went down to one.
My son on his own started cleaning his room out. It was a whole house purge. And I loved it!
I have had a monthly deep clean zone for years, but now I use this time to again look at each thing in the space. Have I used it in 6 months? Do I still need this? Do I even still like it? Let it go.
So what does minimalism mean to me?
Minimalism means that it’s easy to pick up my house - even with 4 people living here.
Minimalism means that I know right where something is because each cabinet and closet is easy to maintain.
It means that the things I do own are things I really like and enjoy.
And the process of minimizing isn’t over for me - each time I go through a space I tend to get rid of something that before I felt I needed. Some things I have held on to and then one day I realize that I’m ready to let them go.
Getting rid of things isn’t the last step.
#2 - Intentional about what comes into my house.
I have found that I buy far less than I did before. I really think about the things I bring in my house. Maybe it was putting a bag of donations of things with price tags in the back of my car that helped to really reevaluate that.
But I truly think about each purchase I make. It has made a huge difference in clothing I buy. I tend to return about 75% of the things I buy. And that is with me buying even less. I get it home and then notice that I have something else very similar to it that I prefer. So back it goes to the store.
And you would think that people would notice that I wear the same thing over and over, but they don’t. I recently was complimented on an outfit that I knew I had worn to the same event the year before. And the same people saw me. But it did’t negate the fact that it’s a really nice sweater. When did we start believing that we have to have new clothes to look nice? And I’m preaching to myself here. This is still a mind-shift change for me. I actually have $150 in gift cards to my favorite store that are almost a year old because I just can’t buy something I don’t really love.
But it didn’t stop there for me. It has bled over into what I buy my kids. We are nearly 2 years into this and I can truly say that my kids would prefer experiences over stuff. I have given my son the choice many times and he always chooses the experience. This year we went on a trip together and bought no Christmas presents. There were no complaints and my kids are still talking about the trip.
We have saved so much money with being quality over quantity. I have bought so so so much less.
What minimalism is not:
#1 It is not a set of rules - You can only have 1 plate, 1 fork, 1 knife per person in your house. Sure, if your kids never drop a fork while you’re eating dinner or accidentally sticks your fork in their mouth when they have a cold and you want a fresh fork. Or if you never ever have friends over for dinner. But that’s not my life.
#2 It does not mean you can’t have collections of things you love. The only thing I collect is Starbucks mugs from places we have visited. It’s one of my very favorite things and always a great conversation piece when friends come over. We had friends that stayed over one night and the next morning I heard them discussing “where they would visit.” I LOVE that! Hospitality is so important to me, so that makes me happy.
Do I need 50 coffee mugs? Nope. But I have room for them. They spark joy, make me happy, whatever you want to call it. So yes, I have 50 coffee mugs.
My husband is a book lover. He has actually really purged this. We even got rid of 2 book shelves when we decided to move the screen in here. But he loves these books and we have room for them. He is constantly sharing a book with someone and I love seeing my kids lying on the couch or floor in here reading. So yes, we have 3 full bookshelves and that’s ok.
You have to be sure that you don’t fall into the trap of “everything sparking joy” or everything being a collection. But minimalism doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything you enjoy. It just means that you clear your home of things that are unnecessary or taking up space you need to breathe.
Minimalism has bled over in my time. What do I say yes to? I work hard to make time for the most importatnat things. While saying no to physical clutter I am also saying no to mental clutter and things that clutter my time.
I would love for you to join in on this journey with me! I know it has made such a positive impact in my life and can do the same for you.