To think that a minimalist home means the person has minimal emotional baggage and unresolved issues, so they don’t need lots of stuff with emotional attachments?

[WryJadeWren]

Inspired by the other thread…

I believe a minimalist living space reflects someone with a clear mind and emotional clarity, someone who’s worked through their issues and doesn’t feel the need to hold on to material possessions for sentimental reasons. On the other hand, people who live in clutter or are hoarders are often holding onto things because of unresolved emotions or relationships. They tie meaning to their possessions as a way of keeping hold of the past and often struggle with letting go due to emotional or mental exhaustion. It seems like clutter is more about emotional baggage than about a lack of meaningful connections.

I don't know that I'm a true minimalist but I don't like clutter. By clutter I mean ornaments, pictures, stuff in general. I like a room that has space, clear surfaces, no curtains, no cushions.
I don't do introspection so maybe I am cold and unemotional.

Nope. The only minimalists I’ve known were that way as a means of coping with extreme anxiety around the concept of clutter. One couldn’t care about any possession because her parents had frequently used anything she cared about to punish her. One had extreme germ phobia based OCD (diagnosed) and Wouk panic about potential germy dust on top of things, or rats under things.

I think the stable people have a healthy balance.

I form sentimental attachments to inanimate objects. DH doesn't. He just isn't bothered about things that way.

Difficult to know whether that's true but it certainly makes sense to me. A bit like disordered eating can be over or undereating, or dramatic swings between the two.

I find minimalist homes uncomfortable to be in, although most of the ones I go in aren't by design, more that the person living there has a lack of finances to live any other way. I am not sure they are experiencing a clear mind and emotional clarity, more abject poverty ?

I’m a minimalist. I don’t think it’s because of anything particularly meaningful - I just don’t like crap everywhere. Life is just easier and more relaxed when you’re organised - and the less ‘stuff’ you have the easier it is.

I do know people who attach lots of emotional meaning to ‘stuff’ and find it impossible to let go of things. If you do this and you keep buying you’re going to end up cluttered.

I agree, like sometimes a person is a performative teetotaller because they struggle to manage alcohol.

You're talking about both extremes of the scale, I'd say both are likely to have some emotional reasons for being that way. The people in the middle are probably the least likely to have issues

No, some people don’t want their home cluttered with pictures, ornaments and trinkets gathering dust.

Its as simple as that really .

Load of nonsense @WryJadeWren

I think poverty and minimalism by choice are two very different things and I should’ve made that distinction clearer. I was more referring to deliberate minimalism rather than people who simply can’t afford to accumulate. There’s definitely a class layer to how we interpret minimalist spaces too.

No i have bipolar and have a really bad habit when im manic of clearing my house out which i end up regretting as I go to far then have to re buy.

Sometimes taste in decor is just taste in decor.

There is a huge difference between 'clutter' and a hoarded home. Hoarding is a significant mental illness. Anyone who has entered a hoarded home will understand the difference.

This really. Extremes of anything (even things we consider good and healthy) aren’t the sign of a happy, well adjusted person.

Depends what you consider clutter. We have lots of toys. I think that is healthier for children than a tidy minimalist house with nothing to do except screens and then the parents complain they won't play, only want grown up stuff etc.
We also have lots of musical instruments. That creates a bit of clutter. It's nothing to do with emotional reliance on items. And finally i dislike waste so don't automatically throw away everything I don't use very regularly. I keep things so I can re-use them in the future to avoid buying new every time (eg boxes of hand-me-down clothes for my youngest, camping gear, spare blankets, bags). Obviously not stored in full view but all take up space. Again this isn't an emotional thing. I feel like some of the people with minimalist type homes I see on social media must have either very boring lives or waste lots of money buying new items every time they want to do something.... eg the videos of moms buying and setting up all new stuff to create a movie night ... I just pull out my throws and blankets. But that's a financial and environmental issue for me, not emotional attachment to my sleeping bags or used school uniforms.

I believe a minimalist living space reflects someone with a clear mind and emotional clarity

those instagram reels and YouTube shorts have really done a number on you haven't they 😂

Honestly? No, though I can see where this train of thought comes from I really don't think the two things are related.

Tidy house = tidy mind (or well-hidden emotional turmoil) 🤔🙂

My home was very tidy and minimalist until I had DC! I think it can indicate a rigid mindset and a neurotic personality, tbh. Health Visitors do note homes that are ‘too tidy’ at the extreme end of it.

You could look at it the other way around – the minimalist doesn't want any emotional attachment as it has bad associations whereas the hoarder links 'stuff' to good memories.

Nice theory @WryJadeWren but doesn't hold up.

I think it’s the flip side of maximalism - emotional detachment and being ready to run.

My dad used to say that and it used to bug the crap out of me because I thrived in and on chaos. He used a ruler to make sure things were lined properly, I knew my eye liner was under the bed between my trainers and the jeans (amongst other crap). We clashed a lot.

Minimalists often have tons of stuff. they just don't sully their nice clean lines with it.
They put it all in cupboards or have a garage/storage unit bursting with the same type of crap that other people have.

I wonder what Japanese people would make of the opinions on this thread.
OP, you are assuming everyone must have some emotional turmoil to resolve. I can't believe this to be true. Some people just live their lives, get on with things, go through various experiences and move on to the next step.
As an aside, true minimalist interiors by design have incredibly well designed storage, and masses of it. So all the usual crap is hidden away, neatly stored or in a big mess, only the home owners and their cleaners know.

Haha fair enough, I’ll admit I do like a good YouTube flat tour 😅 But I wasn’t really talking about aesthetic minimalism, more the emotional impulse behind it. Like when someone actively chooses less because they’ve processed stuff and don’t need to hold on. Not saying it’s always true, just something I’ve noticed.