~Minimalism~

A while ago, I heard about a Netflix documentary on reducing clutter and unnecessary 'stuff' in people’s homes, lives...and more importantly, minds. I am so utterly intrigued by this topic. To be less than tactful....I can't understand how some people end up accumulating so much shit in their homes, garages, vehicles, offices, storage lockers.....just stuff that they've held on to over the years that they can't simply bear to part from. Stuff that they never, ever use. I have always been a very neat and tidy person. I'm obsessed with clean floors and counter tops. I don't like clutter, junk and having multiples of things. How many mixing bowls and mugs does one person need? Seriously? So I sat down one night with a glass of wine and watched "Minimalism" and it was so inspiring!! More recently, I watched each and every episode of Marie Kondo's 'Tidying Up" which has made me think differently about everything that I own and everything that I purchase. Even more than before, I think about what I am bringing into my life and what I was to let go of. The KonMari method is so interesting! Both the documentary on minimalism and Marie’s show are totally worthy of your time in my opinion.

Over the last 2 years or so, I have sorted through, organized, purged and gotten rid of items that I no longer need. I've donated clothing, purged all of my mismatched dishes and consolidated with one simple matching set, I've given my daughters outgrown items to friends, I've sold household items that I no longer use....but I still feel like I have work to do! I feel like I still have a lot of 'stuff'. It is a long process....but once the end result is in sight, I know it will totally be worth it. Once you get to that place, it is a place that you need to work to stay in.

I agree with Marie who believes that everything should have a purpose and that if an item doesn't bring you joy, you should get rid of it. Brilliant thinking!! Her clothing folding method is interesting and while I don't think that I would completely follow her 'Tidying Up' methodology 100%, I believe that she is a very smart woman who is able to teach us some lessons that we all need to learn. For me, I want to live more simply in this crazy, complex world full of pressure to buy, buy, buy and to have everything, when that isn't what we need. There is no amount of 'stuff' that will ever make a person happy. The age old saying 'money can't buy you happiness' is entirely accurate.

My Bedroom:

I painted my walls a fresh white tone, with a navy blue accent wall behind my bed. I went through most of my clothing (with the exception of a tote full of clothes in my basement) and donated what I hadn't worn in at least a year and what I knew I wouldn't wear again. I donated shoes that I was hanging on to ‘in case’ there was an outfit that I might need them for. Over the last 6 months, I have purchased more neutral shoes that could be worn with all different types of outfits; ex. nude heels, black heeled booties, black flats, neutral sneakers that could be worn with jeans, shorts or capri pants. I went through my jewelry and got rid of earrings, bracelets and necklaces that I haven't worn in a long time. I organized my clothes by type: Pants, skirts, sweaters, dresses - all to be hung and sweaters, tee-shirts, tank tops, active wear - all to be folded. The items that hang in my closet are all sorted by type by also by colour which I am finding much easier to locate pieces of clothing when I want to wear them!

My Bathroom:

I went through each drawer and cabinet and threw out every single item that was nearly empty or that I haven’t used in quite some time. I organized my linen closet with the method of placing sheet sets inside one of the matching pillowcases, which helps to keep the whole set together. I rolled towels and placed face clothes and hand towels in small decorative boxes to keep them together.

My Kitchen:

This is a work in progress! I still have much to go through in here. My spice cabinet was recently organized, placing and labeling spices in their own separate stackable containers. I purchased small plastic bins to gather food packages of the same size in and have organized foods in groups in my cupboard. My cabinet under the sink has been reorganized with all of my cleaning supplies placed in bins. I donated all of my mismatched dishes, ugly items that I’ve accumulated over the years (I hope I never receive a Christmas gravy boats again...) and multitude of mugs and replaced them with a simple dinnerware set.

I still have some kitchen appliances to sort through and a few drawers to organize....but I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to be organized and own LESS.

More to come......

xo

#minimalism #reduceclutter #eliminatejunk #konmari #tidyingup #mariekondo