Living more minimally has been a work in progress, one that is still very much a work in progress and probably will be for a while yet. To me, minimalism is different to each person, and while I won’t ever be a one pair of jeans and one t-shirt kind of girl I know that we all have our own brand on minimalism and that’s the most important thing.
Are we where we want to be yet? No.
Are we doing better than we were a year ago? Definitely.
How did we start?
Being home for the last year has actually been incredibly productive when it came to evaluating our home. We found better ways to live in and also a few renovations that we really wanted to do too. Some have been done and some are next on the list.
We spent the last year taking a look at what we have, both around our home and things inside it and how we can live more minimally within it. We live in a small home and we absolutely love it, although since I got pregnant with our second child the most common question is “will you move house now?” as if people could not comprehend wanting to live in a small home by choice. We love our home and I find that most people’s issues in outgrowing their home are that their stuff grows out of it. Instead of that, we live in a way where we fit inside our home.
Now I do recognise that at some point we are going to have to move, but not yet. It has nothing to do with the size or space for our family but more that we have a daughter and are expecting a son. While sharing space will work for a while ultimately we will want to be providing them with their own individual bedrooms. However, that is something for the future.
Living with less
Once we decided that we had no intention of moving home and we’re more than happy where we were we decided that instead of trying to fit all out belongings into our small home a better idea was that we actually stop living with so much stuff and try to live more minimally instead. Most of it was just stored and there was so much that we could get rid of. So we did.
We don’t need more space for more stuff and more clutter and instead we fit into the space that we have and we fit comfortably (although, like I said, we’re still very much a work in progress) and it really does feel great to live more minimally.
Top tips for decluttering, living small and/or living with less:
1. If you haven’t used it in 6 months (and it’s not seasonal or sentimental) consider selling or donating if you can.
2. Think more about fitting into space and less about adding yet more storage to make too much stuff fit into too little space.
3. Try multifunctional storage or furniture solutions. If you have a small or awkward space think of how you can be creative with what you have. Tiny homes are popular and with that comes a whole host of smart ways to live with less and in a smaller space.
4. If you’re having a hard time letting stuff go and you have a place to temporarily store it (ie, a garage or loft) pack it up. If you’ve not thought of it or reached for it in six months it can be sold or donated.
5. Turn your waste into cash or to help those who need it. If things don’t need to go to landfill then find ways to pass them on. Plenty of people are in need and if you are happy to give away freely you’ll be sending it to a good home. Alternatively, if you have the time use places like ebay, Facebook market place etc to sell your stuff. Imagine how good it feels when you sell enough to pay a bill, treat yourself to takeaway or just add to your savings.
What’s your best decluttering and/or living small tips?