Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.
This week, I’m happy to share this contribution from Shell. She explains how decluttering has made her home more spacious and enjoyable, and has had a positive impact on her family’s life. To hear more about her experiences, be sure to visit her blog.
Shell writes:
I’ve always enjoyed the look of minimalism, but grew up acquiring items. Partly because I once lost almost everything as a child, and partly because I thought that collecting was a part of life. I ended up with a good-sized book collection, two closets full of clothes, a large shoe assortment, and random other things. I learned though that most of this stuff didn’t bring me joy. I hated cleaning around it, and I felt stifled. Fast forward to the most recent years with a husband and children. After slowly getting rid of stuff as we downsized homes and things were damaged, we are making a very conscious effort to remove everything that does not bring joy or fill a need.
Our small home keeps getting bigger in appearance. We have more space to move around and play. I realized that I’m truly comfortable and feel peace in an open room when I “un-decorated” my bathroom by removing the strictly decorative fabric second shower curtain. The entire room suddenly felt large, and calming. My wardrobe now fits in half of a small closet, including my six pairs of shoes. My books fit with my husband’s on one bookcase, though I do have a library of ebooks. Ah, the joys of the tech age in helping to reduce clutter! Cleaning isn’t as much of a chore now that there aren’t collections to clean around. Even our children are on board with owning less, which I believe is wonderful for them to learn so young.
Minimalism is just one way that I’ve enhanced my family’s life. I’ve also found a passion in homemaking including baking and cooking. Switching to natural, homemade, and less waste is part of the journey for us. If you would like, visit my blog (http://shellssimplelife.blogspot.com/).
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
Hi –
I enjoy reading the real life minimalist examples you share here. I have some practical questions:
What do minimalists do to decorate for holidays?
Do minimalists exchange gifts on birthdays, etc? If so, what?
Thanks,
Tanya
I’m not sure I would call my self a “minimalist”, but I am certainly on the road there.
RE holidays: we have a small box (less than 1 foot cubed) to hold our Christmas decorations, and one slightly larger box to hold our Halloween costumes. If someone in our home was particular passionate about other holidays, we would just all agree on a storage container size that everything had to fit in AND where that container would live (no point in ruining somebody’s fun).
RE gifts: we do give and receive gifts, but they are almost all gift certificates or experiential gifts. For example: practical every day gift certificates for grocery stores that are regularly shopped at, or a simple card with movie passes in it (and an offer to host the movie goers for dinner). For the children in our lives we almost always give them museum passes/memberships or a certificate to an ice cream shop near where they live. We only gift physical things when we know they are needed.
We decorate an indoor plant we have all year, and we have a few special ornaments, not hundreds. We have a couple of figurines we display on a focal point. I still have some GIANT tree candlesticks, cookie jar, and welcome mat my mother in law passed on to me, but husband has promised we can let them go after this Christmas, and then my shelf space will return!
As for gifts, I try to do experiences (such as Groupons) as much as possible, or things like itunes.
I don’t decorate for Christmas, since I’m Jewish. I guess I could decorate for Halloween, but I’m lazy, so I don’t. Since my minimalism was caused by a fairly severe case of burnout, anything that adds work to my life (acquiring and putting up decorations, taking them down, putting them away) is something I avoid.
I do own a pair of Shabbat candlesticks, and do intend to start having regular Shabbat rituals soon; but those don’t take up a lot of space.
As for gifts – since the point of a gift is to please the recipient, I give whatever the recipient would find most pleasant. That may be a cheesy Precious Moments figurine (some of my friends are elderly ladies who really would enjoy something like that). Just because I live a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t mean I intend to impose it on others. My favorite gifts to receive, though, are experiences or gift certificates. Or edibles.
We decorate for holidays! I recently got rid of just about everything in my house, anticipating a move into an RV after the sale of said abode. But I’m such a holiday junkie – I love the celebrations around these times of year. What I have done is this: I used to decorate ALL OVER with trees and leaves and plants and feathers and tablecloths and toilet paper holders etc etc etc. Now, in keeping with my new minimalist attitude, I have picked ONE space in the house to decorate – the top of my refrigerator. I have just as much fun finding ways to design those two-and-a-half feet of space as I ever did decorating the whole house! Plus, anything new I buy can be donated at the end of the season with little-to-no guilt.
Don’t give up the fun of the holidays just to match your lifestyle! Just pare it down. Everything in moderation. :)
We decorate for Christmas. We just limit it to one tote to contain the tree, one for decorations we set out, and one for ornaments. We go through these each year and only keep what we really love. Other holidays are kept very simple.
we do decorate, but we use things that are easy and natural. for example, at christmas, we do some origami stars and hang them in the windows. We go and cut flowers (we live in the southern hemisphere, so it’s summer) and we bring them in the house. at the end of our celebration period, everything is put into the worm compost bin!
for gifts, we give consumables to family members and friends — usually either home made soaps, lotions, cooking oils, etc or locally made, speciality items. within our own family — DH, DS and myself — we go for experiences rather than objects. DS just had his third birthday, and so we went and saw the movie African Cats. He really loved it. We also had cake and ginger ale at the near-by cafe that he loves. It cost us about $50 all around (for the three of us), and he had a great experience.
for my birthday, my DH and I signed up for a series of local foraging-and-cooking classes with a local, well renowned chef. it’s once a month and DH and I go with the chef to a location here in our home city and are taken through the foraging process. The last time, we fished for local fish, got herbs and veggies (fiddleheads, some kind of succulent, and another leafy plant that we could saute), and added some pantry items (garlic, butter, etc) and cooked over a camp stove/fire. I think the next lesson is diving for paua (abalone). This has not only changed our food budget (we are now eating a couple of foraged veg with our meals), but also how we think about and cook our foods. it’s thrilling!
These are the gifts we love, which fill our minds and hearts with joy, rather than having more objects. it works great for us. :D
I love this entry because it really speaks to me. Due to a recent significant life change, more than half the items in my house were removed + I love all the open space. One blogger wrote about space to breathe + that’s how I look at all the walls without pictures, corners without furniture, and even an entire closet with NOTHING in it. My house is 1190 sq ft and I swept the entire space in less than 10 minutes, barely having to move anything.
I would LOVE to get to that point – where I can sweep everything quickly. I have 4 cats and hardwood floors, and the dust bunnies gather along the edges and under things.
Shona and Darlena, I love easy sweeping! It sounds silly, but I used to dream of what it would be like to someday have a spacious open floor to sweep instead of dust bunnies clinging to a hundred different things. I’m still kind of amazed at how easy it is to keep a minimalist space clean. Yay for that!
Oh, how I wish I could sweep! The previous owners had white carpet installed in the entire house except in the kitchen and bathrooms. White! Now I know lots of minimalists do love white, but for carpet it is a complete nuisance with two young kids and a black dog. We’re hoping to relocate and downsize within a year so we’d rather not go through the expense of having hardwoods installed throughout. And so I vacuum and vacuum….
I’m glad that this really spoke to you, Shona. Having the empty space is amazing! Isn’t it great to sweep (or vacuum) quickly and not move stuff!
It is so easy to keep a minimalist space clean. Cath, white carpet is not fun. I did have that in one bedroom, and didn’t like it.
It is so freeing to be able to remove a large % of belongings and free up space for living. It makes the upkeep SO much easier! I am working on this constantly, although it is easier now that my children have moved out! :)
Bernice
Reducing clutter to reduce stress
I just answered my own questions by doing a little searching on this blog :)
Great post–and good for you. I also grew up acquiring things and was raised to believe that collecting was a part of life. When I was 9 my parents redecorated my bedroom, and I remember feeling a huge sense of freedom/relief when my room had only a few things in it during painting and wallpapering. 34 years later, I’m finally acting on my gut and de-cluttering.
Thanks! One of the great things as a parent, is hearing “thanks, Mom” every time I empty more from the kids’ room! I truly hope that they carry this with them. Congratulations on finally de-cluttering!
Shell- I just love and completely relate! I too have found that I’m enjoying more cooking and baking. I’ve found that creating less food waste (like from packaging) also helps reduce the cluttered feeling. I can’t wait to hop over to your blog and read more!
Thanks! Isn’t being in the kitchen so rewarding? Less packaging for food (or anything else) and less leftovers do help the cluttered feeling.
Thanks for sharing Shell! I can identify with you, remembering when I created a “collection” as a girl because I too thought “collecting was a part of life”. My collection never gave me please and I felt a sense of guilt because I didn’t really want it, guilt again when I finally let it go, then an enormous sense of freedom when it was gone.
You’re welcome! So glad that you got to experience the sense of freedom. :)
Thanks for sharing, Shell.
I was also raised to believe that collecting stuff was just an inevitable part of life. We moved country when I was 8, and I can’t believe how much stuff my parents shipped halfway around the world. Funnily enough, that was my first experience with minimalism, because I was down to a few toys and a few books. I had very little, and I kept my room immaculate and loved it. But as I grew, had birthdays etc. I collected as most of us do, and lost that minimalist tendency, but I still remember how happy it made me, even at age 8. Ironically, when I moved country 27 years later, I made the same mistakes my parents made (egged on by a well-meaning relative who insisted I’d regret paring down too much). I am still ridding myself of stuff in boxes 3 years later…the sentimental stuff is hardest for me. I’m digitizing my clutter now, but at least it will not have to be swept around :)
I’m so impressed by you giving up the decorative shower curtain. It is like a yardstick I can measure myself against, because I am nowhere near ready to give mine up!
You give me hope that minimalism with children is actually possible – thank you.
Henny, I could not imagine moving a lot to another country. Keep up the good work now! Thanks about the shower curtain. It was such a simple move that took me years to reach but made a big impact. You’ll get there. I’m glad to give you hope about minimalism with children.
Shell, I did the same thing you did this last weekend. I felt the bathroom wasn’t “light” enough with all the textiles and the smell from the fabrics that never quite dry in a windowless room got to me. I tossed out the fabric outer curtain. I tossed the clear plastic gross inside curtain and bought a microfiber curtain that stays inside but is material and waterproof and makes the bathroom look finished. I also tossed the rubber mat out that I think might have added to the stagnant smell and lastly, tossed the thick carpeted rubber back rug and replaced it with one I recently saw in a hotel. It’s called “Quick Dri” and it’s a small towel that dries fast on the floor but has a beveled decor so it doesn’t look like you threw a bath towel down. It dries fast and now the bathroom feels lighter and there is hardly anything that would collect humidity and give off a musty smell. Who knew there was so much to change in a bathroom. I love my bathroom now.
It’s amazing how much is in a bathroom. I like the idea of the “Quick Dri” towel. Congratulations on changing and loving your bathroom now.
The concept of removing stuff to make the house feel bigger really speaks to me. Last year we got rid of some large pieces of furniture which really opened up the living/dining room (including 2 extra dining chairs, we had 6 there are 2 of us in the house!!) But the most exciting thing now is that after patiently not pushing it my husband has finally started to come round to my way of thinking. I think he is appreciating the space as we find it. We are now getting rid of the huge Victorian Iron bed and getting a simple wood frame instead, he suggested we move one stand-alone wardrobe into the study to act as a stationery cupboard (it has shelves in) which really opens up the bedroom and best of all his 6 drawers of T-shirts has been sorted through and reduced to 3 not very full drawers!!!!!!
Bonglecat,
That sounds very exciting! :)
when we moved to another country, we were blessed to get rid of pretty much everything. it’s been amazing!
we currently live in a very small cottage — we estimate it’s about 500 sq ft. it feels HUGE to us — it’s a lot of space. and, it’s right on the sea (view of the sea!), so we are quite blessed.
many of my US friends — and others — think we are pretty much nuts! we keep a minimalist house, and it’s open, uncluttered and comfortable. it’s exciting for us to live this way. It may not be for everyone, but we love it!
Jenifer,
Your place sounds amazing. A cottage by the sea is my dream home! How wonderful. :)
Shell,
I distinctly remember the feeling of openness and space when I removed the decorative shower curtain in my bathroom. I also removed the wall decorations and completely cleared off the vanity counter-top except for the hand soap. Decluttering the bathrooms was my first forage into the minimalist world, and I enjoyed the results, both physically and mentally, so much that I have continued on this path. I hope your journey into minimalism proves successful. Thanks for the memory!
Tere,
You’re welcome for the memory. :)
Yes, minimalists decorate. I like to use “real” things, like twigs from trees (all over the ground, usually) real pinecones, real leaves in Fall. I love twinkly lights, too, and usually a strand or two will work for every season. Real flowers, real plants, all are wonderful and recyclable.
It seems to me that one or two things in a simple environment are all you need. They stand out better, and when I’m tired of them – out they go!
Still downsizing, trying to get ready to move in to an RV.
When my kids were little they made dough ornaments and paper chains. Since we’re Jewish and the major holidays come in the fall, I would buy some artificial flowers like sunflowers and put a few around the house in earthenware vases. The last few years we’ve gone to a relative’s house and helped her decorate her sukkah with all kinds of ornaments.
This year we had a lot of company for Chanukah. We had 5 children play dreidel for pennies. When the game was over, each child got $1. I usually give small gifts like a box of crayons or some Pokemon cards or a couple of toy cars to my grandsons so my great niece and nephews got the same kind of gifts. Chanukah isn’t the traditional gift holiday, Passover there is a gift for finding the middle matzoh so all the kids get money then.
I have been shredding old papers I found my husband was saving. Bank statements from 2001, etc. I can’t stand clutter and mess. I gave away more dishes, my husband gave away shoes. I gave away some art books and magazines to a cousin who also does crafts. I keep finding more things to pass on. A big box of books is going and a bag.
I finished a Sudoku book so that got recycled. The kids got me adult coloring books so as I complete them, they get recycled, too. I copy pages I really love. I have a few magazines I got at a craft swap. I will copy some articles and pass the magazines on.
I keep sorting and getting rid of things. A neighbor gave me some necklaces which I passed to a friend who makes
elaborate headed projects. I emptied a big bookcase and a dresser. Then I filled two more bags with clothes for the
local food pantry.