Small house / simple living. Please talk to me about your experience and advice!

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I have my heart set on living in a certain area and it's becoming very apparent that my budget won't buy me much house. I also kinda want a more simple lifestyle and a big motivator for moving house has been to have less Stuff.

However, the realities are starting to feel quite daunting. My main questions are:

• How do I cut down on clothing? Day-to-day I wear a very limited wardrobe, but I also have a lot of out-of-season clothes and clothes for "special occasions" like beach holidays and funerals. I am not really in to shoes, but I still need wellies and trainers and sandals and shoes for work, hiking boots... How do I cut down on clothing and shoes?
• Hobby stuff?? Camping equipment, bread maker, wet suits and body boards, huge collection of Lego - do I just need to accept that if I've not used these in a decade couple of years I probably need to get rid?
• Toiletries and cleaning stuff that I've bought because I saw a bargain? Do I just stop grabbing a good deal from now on?
• Books, books, books.

For years I was shocking with books but I ended up donating so many. I've only got the ones I reread now. I've got a lot of clothing but there's quite a lot of storage here. I have a garage so eventually when the remodelling is done I'll have two boxes for my craft stuff.

I lived for years in a small 2 bed terraced house and they've got big lofts to put stuff in.

But I am a minimalist and getting more so. You do have to reconcile having much less just in case stuff.

If you don't enjoy camping any longer you could get rid of it?

You have to take emotions out of it. Or nothing will get done!

Isn’t it best to sell the camping equipment so it’s being used? Same with books you won’t read again, because otherwise it’s just camping ornaments?

It depends on what you can store, if there is an attic you could get a carpenter to install a bad ass set of storage shelves in (if it would take the weight) or outside space which could house some waterproof storage.

If you want to keep all your things you can’t move
If the location is what you want most you need to be ruthless.

Hence a halfway house small storage unit you aim to clear within a year say, giving you some breathing space on what you will or won’t keep.

Thank you everyone. I'm still reading every post but feeling a bit overwhelmed (I'm having one of those days).

DP and I are in different places financially. We can't go in 50:50.

Books are mostly non-fiction that are work-related.

You think you would fill a two up two down with just your stuff ! Wow lots of stuff !

those houses tens of have small kitchens so consider storage in the dining area for plates and bigger stuff you can’t do without

and lots of storage in the second bedroom to
avoid the clutter feeling.

books - kindle is your friend. Very few people reread more than a handful of books

clothes - I have smarts, every day , summer and winter , occasion wear and loads of hiking and sports gear and it’s all in one floor to ceiling double wardrobe -use the full height of the room always - so storage boxes // well laundry baskets // below the hanging rail and a shelf above. To be honest I could get the tent and sleeping bag in there too , I have an empty suitcase in there that could be put to use.

If you don't enjoy camping any longer you could get rid of it? I would have, but DP hankers after going camping again. I quite fancy it, but it's not the cheap weekend getaway that it used to be.

We need to decide whether to live together or apart, really. I'm torn .

You think you would fill a two up two down with just your stuff ! Wow lots of stuff !

Respectfully, you say that and then go on to mention a dining room and a second bedroom. Not all of the houses in my budget have a second bedroom and most have only one reception room.

Thoroughly recommend the book Not Needing New, and giving her a follow on Instagram. She’s done exactly what you describe here and actively promotes the “joy of enough” - that we don’t need a big house or lots of material possessions.

https://www.instagram.com/not.needing.new?igsh=bnQzZW85MzlrMXlw

I recently downsized to live alone from a huge 4 bedroom Victorian terrace set other 4 floors, to a tiny 2 bed flat. I am not a minimalist and previously had a room just for clothes….

I had to be brutal on the clothes (most I didn’t wear and was just hanging onto them).

My furniture is all space saving stuff, lift up divan beds, under sofa storage, slim line side boards, corner cabinets, lots of shelves with pretty boxes, hidden storage in my coffee table and dining table.

I work from home and my desk is a vintage cabinet that I can shut the doors at night so I am not starting at my computer in my living room - it’s lovely actually and looks like a nice bit of furniture rather than an office space in my living space.

I have embraced the vintage look so can have a bit of organised clutter.

Wellies, hiking boots, umbrella, rain coat, all live in the boot of my car now.

So he can store the camping stuff in his house
That’s that lot sorted

Seems to me you need to decide if you actually want the stuff. You don’t sound sure. If not, get rid!

Living with the DP is a separate but related question.

The answer to where to keep the stuff is a shed and ottoman beds etc etc.

Loft or shed for storage ? Will you be able to have beds with underneath storage ?
I’ve got lots of clothes. I vacuum pack the winter ones in summer and put them under the bed.
Books 😬 still a work in progress. I worked out if I lived another 30 years I won’t read all I’ve got. Huge problem.
If your books are non fiction and work related can you look at the relevant info on line ?

Realistically you need one dress for funerals, one or two for weddings, a few sarongs, some shorts and some swimwear.
Tents - when did you last go camping? You need one tent anyway.
Body boards - when did you last used? You need one anyway.
Bread machine - unless you use weekly get rid. Bread can be made by hand.
Lego - when was it last played with?

Shoes - how many do you own?

Toiletries - yes, stop hoarding.

Books - how many of the books you own do you expect to reread?

Op have you read miss decemer thread i think its called i had a huge declutter.
Really good advice on there.

Im a minimalist only have what i use and need, my home looks empty, and i love it.

You need to come at it from both sides. Maximize storage. Minimise stuff.

Our house isn't big but has a decent boarded loft, garage (well , enclosed carport) and we added a garden cabin (my sewing hobby stuff). Everywhere decently shelved out so things are easy to store and find.

Then strip down your things to sensible levels. Camping, just the one tent and basic kit. Books, get rid of outdated ones or novels , can you use ebooks for work?

Furniture, bedding clothes etc: pick out what you need going forward, let the rest go. Getting rid of duplicates is a win.

So he can store the camping stuff in his house
That’s that lot sorted

Yes, agreed, and it's absolutely an option. But I think I'd miss him.

Miss who?
Do you live together currently?

I can't tell if this thread is about decluttering or the relationship!

How much stuff do you have or even need?? Mr Monkey and I live in a 2 bedroom flat and while we are not minimalists, neither do we live in clutter.

Forgot to say i once dated a clutter bug it drove me mad, i had to end it with him he just had way to much stuff.

This conversation is making me realise a couple of things:

Firstly, we are missing my bed with underneath storage. Will definitely want that in future.

Books, I feel I have to keep for writing and referencing. Fiction I happily read once and pass on. I only have a few fiction books due to loving them and rereading them, and some are sentimental.

Actually you may need more than one tent - backpacking is very light and small, a weekend or a festival medium and a family holiday needs a big comfy tent

although if you never go camping anymore , the tent is likely to suffer UV degradation and be useless when you finally decide you want to go

I can't tell if this thread is about decluttering or the relationship! Me neither. DP and I lived for 10 years in my house. I've sold it and we're now living in his much smaller house whilst I shop for my new house. Whether we live together or apart is still TBD.

Will there be a loft and a shed? A good dry shed will keep your camping things.

I think there is lots of stuff online about small spaces ideas. Things like bookshelves higher up in hall ways.
Furniture needs to be useful, beds with storage, coffee tables that open up. As a single person you might have space in the kitchen to store items.

The argument I am currently having with DH is your home isn’t a storage facility and just keeping things that you don’t need and have no intention of using is a waste of space. Yes you’ve spent money on these things but just keeping them doesn’t change that.

That's only necessary if you camp a lot, and if you have a family.

Most people can manage with one set-up, especially if trying to live simply.

I spent many years carting books from house to house...until I realised that they weren't actually doing anything other than making a statement about my taste in books!

What I did was to buy two very beautiful book-cases and reduce my collection to fit...anything that I won't re-read or which doesn't have huge sentimental value just doesn't stay.

I have since reduced to just one book-case and the system still works well...a new book has to justify staying by ousting something else.

Oh and having had a DP whose way of living was not at all compatible with my simpler, less-cluttered tastes, if it's more important to live with him then buy somewhere where the majority of his stuff can live in his own rooms or at least out of sight, so that the overall aesthetic for your house is still pleasing to you.

Is your storage-based furniture the most efficient it can be? My furniture was initially accumulated over the course of my life. Then more recently I started from scratch and got stuff that worked better for my current life, i.e. fitted wardrobes and drawers, fitted book shelves, etc.