Minimalism

spiderlashes5000

Is minimalism a goal or important value in your life? Have you ever deliberately taken any steps to "de-clutter," "simplify" or "scale back" your life in some way? If so, how? Why? Or do you prefer have lots of...stuff (physically, mentally, socially, digitally)?

SereneCurls

For me, this is a regular goal, and one which takes regular effort. I am a minimalist because I hate stuff. The more stuff there is in my home, the more irritated and stressed out I feel. If you're one of those people who looks through your stuff and keeps thinking, "Oh I might need that at some yet to be determined time in the future," minimalism might not be for you. Go through one room each week, and only keep things in that room that you absolutely need or love. For everything else, donate or give away what you can and throw out anything that's useless. If there isn't a place for something in the house, it has to go.

sew and sew

SereneCurls wrote: »

For me, this is a regular goal, and one which takes regular effort. I am a minimalist because I hate stuff. The more stuff there is in my home, the more irritated and stressed out I feel. If you're one of those people who looks through your stuff and keeps thinking, "Oh I might need that at some yet to be determined time in the future," minimalism might not be for you. Go through one room each week, and only keep things in that room that you absolutely need or love. For everything else, donate or give away what you can and throw out anything that's useless. If there isn't a place for something in the house, it has to go.

The bolded is definitely a problem of mine. You know how a clothes purging tip is to put clothes that you're on the fence about aside for 6 months (or as long as the season it fits into comes and passes)? I'm going to try that with some of my stuff...come back to it 6 months later and throw out anything I didn't miss at all.

I hate the look and inconvenience of clutter but it often irrationally makes me sad parting with stuff, which I'm pretty sure is legit hoarder behavior.

Fifi.G

I was thinking about things I need to scale back on the other day but I do not know if it would do any good or not. I am not really minimalist. That goes double when talking about clothes and movies. I own a small video store. I keep my favorite movies, blu rays, 3D movies and tv shows in the living room, in 2 different small book shelves, and have a huge book shelf full of movies I like in the hall. It's crazy. Only one book shelf out of 4 in my house has books in it. We won't even talk about clothes. Other than that, I do pretty good.

My Aunt and Uncle are serious minimalists. She won't bring anything new in the house without getting rid of three other items.

PerriP

I work on this. I am still purging, it's a continual journey.
My parents moved to Texas nearly two years ago. They have so much stuff. They still are not unpacked and two rooms upstairs (and the garage) are filled with boxes "to go through". This spurred me into action because I never, ever want to have that much crap.

Currently I'm working on (by working on I mean struggling with) kitchen stuff. I live alone but I have a dozen plates, I won't tell you how many mugs.

secret_karma

I'm working on being a minimalist. I get nervous if things aren't organized or if I have too much stuff. I've gotten rid of tons of clothes and shoes over the past few years. I actually would like to get rid of almost everything and just start over which I will be doing once I sell my house. I plan to sell all my furniture and sell/donate the clothes I don't wear.

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SereneCurls

sew and sew wrote: »

SereneCurls wrote: »

For me, this is a regular goal, and one which takes regular effort. I am a minimalist because I hate stuff. The more stuff there is in my home, the more irritated and stressed out I feel. If you're one of those people who looks through your stuff and keeps thinking, "Oh I might need that at some yet to be determined time in the future," minimalism might not be for you. Go through one room each week, and only keep things in that room that you absolutely need or love. For everything else, donate or give away what you can and throw out anything that's useless. If there isn't a place for something in the house, it has to go.

The bolded is definitely a problem of mine. You know how a clothes purging tip is to put clothes that you're on the fence about aside for 6 months (or as long as the season it fits into comes and passes)? I'm going to try that with some of my stuff...come back to it 6 months later and throw out anything I didn't miss at all.

I hate the look and inconvenience of clutter but it often irrationally makes me sad parting with stuff, which I'm pretty sure is legit hoarder behavior.

Oh for sure it can be hard. That's a good idea though, especially for seasonal clothing. My mom has stuff in her closet she hasn't worn for five years, I keep trying to convince her she doesn't need it when she complains about not having enough closet space.

PerriP

SereneCurls wrote: »

sew and sew wrote: »

SereneCurls wrote: »

For me, this is a regular goal, and one which takes regular effort. I am a minimalist because I hate stuff. The more stuff there is in my home, the more irritated and stressed out I feel. If you're one of those people who looks through your stuff and keeps thinking, "Oh I might need that at some yet to be determined time in the future," minimalism might not be for you. Go through one room each week, and only keep things in that room that you absolutely need or love. For everything else, donate or give away what you can and throw out anything that's useless. If there isn't a place for something in the house, it has to go.

The bolded is definitely a problem of mine. You know how a clothes purging tip is to put clothes that you're on the fence about aside for 6 months (or as long as the season it fits into comes and passes)? I'm going to try that with some of my stuff...come back to it 6 months later and throw out anything I didn't miss at all.

I hate the look and inconvenience of clutter but it often irrationally makes me sad parting with stuff, which I'm pretty sure is legit hoarder behavior.

Oh for sure it can be hard. That's a good idea though, especially for seasonal clothing. My mom has stuff in her closet she hasn't worn for five years, I keep trying to convince her she doesn't need it when she complains about not having enough closet space.

THIS^ My mom, same thing with her clothes, also boxes of "important papers","recipes" etc that she NEEDS that have been in those boxes for (in some cases) more than 20 years. I know she's not at hoarder level yet, but dear Lord. This is what I am striving to avoid.

Also, I didn't add this on my first post:one thing I did this holiday season was to tell people that I really only wanted consumable gifts or items I directly requested. Not everyone listened but it helped. I've given away too many picture frames, figurines, etc in the past year or two. There is no reason for people to waste money on something I will most likely donate.

scrills

I really, really try. I'm not a neat person by nature, but once my house gets too bad, I go crazy and purge like a mad woman. It could be "tolerable" one day and the next someone leaves out a cup and it pushes it to my breaking point and I am purging like crazy


I do a couple of things
- I like to take EVERYTHING out the closet/drawer/room and only add the things back that I need. Everything else has to go
- I put all that stuff aside and go through it after a couple of months. I allow myself the "save" a set number of things and then everything else goes to goodwill.


I had some clutter that I realized that I had just been moving from room to room. It filled my whole small bedroom. It is now down to 4 moving boxes (and shrinking). I now have a room just for my fabric crafts and that room makes me happy.

CurlyCanadian

Lord no, I hang on to everything!

SereneCurls

PerriP wrote: »

SereneCurls wrote: »

sew and sew wrote: »

The bolded is definitely a problem of mine. You know how a clothes purging tip is to put clothes that you're on the fence about aside for 6 months (or as long as the season it fits into comes and passes)? I'm going to try that with some of my stuff...come back to it 6 months later and throw out anything I didn't miss at all.

I hate the look and inconvenience of clutter but it often irrationally makes me sad parting with stuff, which I'm pretty sure is legit hoarder behavior.

Oh for sure it can be hard. That's a good idea though, especially for seasonal clothing. My mom has stuff in her closet she hasn't worn for five years, I keep trying to convince her she doesn't need it when she complains about not having enough closet space.

THIS^ My mom, same thing with her clothes, also boxes of "important papers","recipes" etc that she NEEDS that have been in those boxes for (in some cases) more than 20 years. I know she's not at hoarder level yet, but dear Lord. This is what I am striving to avoid.

Also, I didn't add this on my first post:one thing I did this holiday season was to tell people that I really only wanted consumable gifts or items I directly requested. Not everyone listened but it helped. I've given away too many picture frames, figurines, etc in the past year or two. There is no reason for people to waste money on something I will most likely donate.

Oh good idea. Ornaments and all that sort of thing as gifts drive me crazy, because I just have to find someone else who wants them. If they're part of a collection or something that works, I collect bells which all go in their own cabinet, but I'm not a fan of random nicknacks.
As for parents, mine are moving this year after 22 years in the same house, so it's finally forcing them to get rid of whatever they don't need. Moving is good for that.

PerriP

SereneCurls wrote: »

PerriP wrote: »

SereneCurls wrote: »

Oh for sure it can be hard. That's a good idea though, especially for seasonal clothing. My mom has stuff in her closet she hasn't worn for five years, I keep trying to convince her she doesn't need it when she complains about not having enough closet space.

THIS^ My mom, same thing with her clothes, also boxes of "important papers","recipes" etc that she NEEDS that have been in those boxes for (in some cases) more than 20 years. I know she's not at hoarder level yet, but dear Lord. This is what I am striving to avoid.

Also, I didn't add this on my first post:one thing I did this holiday season was to tell people that I really only wanted consumable gifts or items I directly requested. Not everyone listened but it helped. I've given away too many picture frames, figurines, etc in the past year or two. There is no reason for people to waste money on something I will most likely donate.

Oh good idea. Ornaments and all that sort of thing as gifts drive me crazy, because I just have to find someone else who wants them. If they're part of a collection or something that works, I collect bells which all go in their own cabinet, but I'm not a fan of random nicknacks.
As for parents, mine are moving this year after 22 years in the same house, so it's finally forcing them to get rid of whatever they don't need. Moving is good for that.

^mine brought all of their crap with them!!!

SereneCurls

lol Oh dear. Mine are moving to a much smaller house, so thankfully they have no choice. The more stuff they get rid of the happier and more relieved they seem to be so far.

spiderlashes5000

(No offense to anyone...) but I just don't get how anyone can live in a house packed with tiny figurines, milk glass vases, Hummels, Precious Moments, Waterford crystal, those blue dishes (what do you call them?), anything made of pine cones, mismatched beer mugs/shot glasses on display, etc? The WORST is small stacked antique books that are NEVER READ but solely used as decoration. GTFOOHWTHS! :roll:

What about minimalism in dress? Emotional decluttering? Is anyone completely or nearly paperless?

ultracurlz

I thought you were talking about art from the title and was like YES THIS THREAD WAS MADE FOR ME but that's what you meant XD

I think I do. Or I did? I don't like having a lot of stuff. If I don't need it then I don't want it. Like lots of furnature in my house or lots of decorations and stuff. But at the same time I love collecting things that make me happy. Windchimes and dreamcatchers and stuffed animals are at the top of the list XD

I'm planning on moving soon and since I'm mailing most of my stuff to my new address I'm going to have to get rid of a lot of it cause I don't have much money to spend. I have already started parting with stuffed things of mine and getting rid of my old art work is going to be painful.

But I don't want to be bogged down by all this junk I don't do anything with. I will get rid of most of my clothes, I won't even be taking a bed XD I'mma sleep on a floor futon type thing. I'll have my windchimes and books and dreamcatchers of course. and a few stuffed things and clothes. but other than that...

I think I will like it. I have never had this much junk before- I was always kinda proud about how I didn't ask for anything I didn't need- and I feel like it's making my life heavy? The more stuff I have the more reliant I am on it and the less happy I am because experiences are much more fulfilling than any object should be.

also my room is trashed all the time cause I don't know what to do with it all. I hope this new beginning will be as fun as I want it to be

spiderlashes5000

ultracurlz wrote: »

I thought you were talking about art from the title and was like YES THIS THREAD WAS MADE FOR ME but that's what you meant XD

I think I do. Or I did? I don't like having a lot of stuff. If I don't need it then I don't want it. Like lots of furnature in my house or lots of decorations and stuff. But at the same time I love collecting things that make me happy. Windchimes and dreamcatchers and stuffed animals are at the top of the list XD

I'm planning on moving soon and since I'm mailing most of my stuff to my new address I'm going to have to get rid of a lot of it cause I don't have much money to spend. I have already started parting with stuffed things of mine and getting rid of my old art work is going to be painful.

But I don't want to be bogged down by all this junk I don't do anything with. I will get rid of most of my clothes, I won't even be taking a bed XD I'mma sleep on a floor futon type thing. I'll have my windchimes and books and dreamcatchers of course. and a few stuffed things and clothes. but other than that...

I think I will like it. I have never had this much junk before- I was always kinda proud about how I didn't ask for anything I didn't need- and I feel like it's making my life heavy? The more stuff I have the more reliant I am on it and the less happy I am because experiences are much more fulfilling than any object should be.

also my room is trashed all the time cause I don't know what to do with it all. I hope this new beginning will be as fun as I want it to be

I actually was thinking about art and had started typing about minimalist art and feng shui but then I deleted that bc it seemed a bit tangential. But feel free to weigh in on minimalism in art, too!

How does your life feel heavy (when you have a bunch of clutter)? how can you tell? Is it your own original artwork you're planning to get rid of?! :sad7:

ultracurlz

spiderlashes5000 wrote: »

I actually was thinking about art and had started typing about minimalist art and feng shui but then I deleted that bc it seemed a bit tangential. But feel free to weigh in on minimalism in art, too!

How does your life feel heavy (when you have a bunch of clutter)? how can you tell? Is it your own original artwork you're planning to get rid of?! :sad7:

Well, I tend to spend a lot of time in my room because I am currently living with my parents and four foster kids and my brother and my sister and her bf all on one, admittedly large, house. And it gets crowded. And then I go into my room and it's also crowded because I've just accumulated all this junk. I really dislike it.

I also have a habit of thinking about escaping or traveling to a far away place but I wouldn't be able to do that because I have a bunch of junk. I feel like I'm chained to all my stuff and it's keeping me stuck here. I know that's not completely true but it's definitely a factor I have to consider when planning to move. Up until three years ago I only had enough stuff to fill a suitcase. Now I have boxes and boxes of things. It kinda feels like I'm trying to settle down and that weirds me out because i'm not ready for it. I've never DONE anything so how can I settle down?

and Yes. All my art from high school is hanging on my wall and I don't want to leave it or toss it but I can't/won't take it. I don't really have opinions on minimalist art cause I never really thought about it until recently, but I do know that I like what i've seen of it and was hoping to learn more XD

Curlybee1

You can take pics of your art & take those to remember them by :-)

spiderlashes5000

ultracurlz wrote: »

spiderlashes5000 wrote: »

I actually was thinking about art and had started typing about minimalist art and feng shui but then I deleted that bc it seemed a bit tangential. But feel free to weigh in on minimalism in art, too!

How does your life feel heavy (when you have a bunch of clutter)? how can you tell? Is it your own original artwork you're planning to get rid of?! :sad7:

Well, I tend to spend a lot of time in my room because I am currently living with my parents and four foster kids and my brother and my sister and her bf all on one, admittedly large, house. And it gets crowded. And then I go into my room and it's also crowded because I've just accumulated all this junk. I really dislike it.

I also have a habit of thinking about escaping or traveling to a far away place but I wouldn't be able to do that because I have a bunch of junk. I feel like I'm chained to all my stuff and it's keeping me stuck here. I know that's not completely true but it's definitely a factor I have to consider when planning to move. Up until three years ago I only had enough stuff to fill a suitcase. Now I have boxes and boxes of things. It kinda feels like I'm trying to settle down and that weirds me out because i'm not ready for it. I've never DONE anything so how can I settle down?

and Yes. All my art from high school is hanging on my wall and I don't want to leave it or toss it but I can't/won't take it. I don't really have opinions on minimalist art cause I never really thought about it until recently, but I do know that I like what i've seen of it and was hoping to learn more XD

Don't throw away your art!

Why can't you pack it up and keep it at your parents' house?

ultracurlz

spiderlashes5000 wrote: »

Don't throw away your art!

Why can't you pack it up and keep it at your parents' house?

I was half planning on it but I'd rather not leave my junk in their place to take up space. It's not like I need it.

I dunno. It may survive yet.

amy51373

Not sure I would say I'm a minimalist but last year I moved from a 3 bedroom house with a basement to my grandfather's spare bedroom. I gave away a lot of stuff obviously. Now I'm in a one bedroom apartment and getting ready to move again in about a month to a duplex. It's certainly been easier to purge things this go round, especially stuff that hasn't been unpacked in the year I've been back in Missouri.

Fifi.G

spiderlashes5000 wrote: »

(No offense to anyone...) but I just don't get how anyone can live in a house packed with tiny figurines, milk glass vases, Hummels, Precious Moments, Waterford crystal, those blue dishes (what do you call them?), anything made of pine cones, mismatched beer mugs/shot glasses on display, etc? The WORST is small stacked antique books that are NEVER READ but solely used as decoration. GTFOOHWTHS! :roll:

What about minimalism in dress? Emotional decluttering? Is anyone completely or nearly paperless?

I don't either. I have a few pigd in my kitchen but keep it at a small number and they are spaced out on the counter. I have a few collectors muppets dolls, etc and I keep them on a shelf in the closet. Mass doll collections on display weird me out. Not much is on display, other than some of my favorite pottery pieces. Again, spaced out.