Anyone want to join me in a minimalist journey?

[lucysnowe]

I've been reading a load of minimalist mum blogs and have been brainwashed inspired . We are undergoing some building work at the mo and the amount of stuff everywhere is absolutely doing me head in. Once it is finished I want to have a ginormous sort and throw out. We are getting a tumble dryer and I plan to start culling clothes, sheets, towels etc, with the aim of getting ALL washing done each week and not have massive full up bins cluttering up the place. Next: toys, ornaments, and random bits of paper. Anyone fancy doing the same for the New Year?

minimalistmommi I have that monk's cell dream too! Did you by any chance love Heidi on the telly in the late 70s/early 80s or are you too young for that? I loved Heidi's hut: a bunk, a table, a chair, a stove, a rug. And eating bread and cheese up on the mountain out of a big hankie. Heidi didn't need a professional organiser to corral her stuff, o no.

Harriet too young for that, but what you've just written sounds awesome! Even the simple food...! I'm a big fan of The Little House in The Big Woods etc etc because of the absolute simplicity, although life must have been very hard for them in reality.

ahhhh Heidi - I always wanted to be her!

Yes, that's where the balance comes in, isn't it? I have no (real) desire to live off grid. I think what I'm aiming for is comfortable simplicity and to live intentionally.

4 bags and 20 cookbooks dispatched to charity this a.m., 2 boxes to webuybooks, 1 bag to school fete. Happy with that!

harriet that sounds amazing! How do you decide what to send to webuybooks? Do they only take certain titles?

mm you enter the barcode number and they tell you immediately what (if anything) they'll give you for it. When you've got at least £15 in your basket, you print off a label and postage is free. They pay up pretty quickly - cheque or transfer into bank account. I'll have got £120 this way in December!

I decide this way:

can I regift this book?
will I honestly read it or refer to it again? (I'm a writer so I do refer to some things quite a lot).

I don't decide by what they offer. I've sold some things for £0.35 when the book cost £7 new, but it all adds up.

Some of what you lot are saying is really fascinating. I don't think I'll ever be a real minimalist, but as I get older I'm getting more and more bogged down by stuff-it seems to weigh on me a lot, even when I don't notice it. This morning I chucked out an ancient bath brush that I haven't used for years. It's been sitting on the side of the bath for all that time, and even moved house with us in the summer, and I didn't realise until I picked it up and put it in the bin how much better the bathroom looks without it cluttering it up, and how much better I feel for not having it lying around being useless! Just a tiny thing but it makes so much difference.

I'm making an effort at the moment to throw out (or charity shop etc) at least one thing from whichever room I'm in. If I move room, I have to find another thing from the new room. Decluttering is going quite quickly!

Well done Harriet!

Hobnob- I know how you feel. Money tight and I'm an environmental degree student. I got rid of all but higher (£5+) stuff to charity. I worked out the 99p items were paying earning me less than 40p. The time it takes to store, photo, upload, write listing, answer questions, package up and go to post office to send REALLY wasn't worth 40p. At the start I was all " I have to squeeze every penny I can out if these" but tbh, my sanity is worth far more! It's not that my other stuff was junk or anything, but postage costs make some items too expensive via eBay. Eg board games will sell at my local charity shops for between £3-5. It will prob cost £4 to post them if sold on ebay. I'd rather donate and the charity get the few quid. I have a rag bag, and some clothes are kept for fabric. (Risk or hoarding but I'm addressing craft stuff separately!)

MM - felt good to get rid of the stuff :)

AC - like the idea of finding one thing on every room. :)

I was at a funeral this am and felt a bit low when I came home but an hour later dragged myself off sofa and started picking up bits from kitchen cupboards, gradually gathered speed and I now have 3 empty shelves and have learnt some conversational French (Michael Thomas language cd from library on in room) while I was at it.

What was really nice was I needed tape (taped fairy lights under wall cabinets) and blu tack (other brands are available ;) ) to stop the cutlery box moving when the drawer opens. I went upstairs to the nearly organised drawer that all my office bits are in and grabbed them within 20 secs of realising I needed them. This is good because 1) I knew where the stuff was instantly and 2) I didn't procrastinate. Normally I'd think "hmm, must find the blu tack" and "ill leave these lights on the counter til I find the tape."

I have a box of "maybe get rid" which is stuff I don't use daily or weekly. It still lives in my kitchen and anything still in it on June will be donated. I think most will come out but I might surprise myself :)

Only two cupboards left to go through, but dd is home and having a snack then we will watch an Xmas movie :) when she gets bored of me ill go do the last two while making dinner.

Going to dump and charity shop tomorrow morning on way to do other errands so trying to get enough to fill the car.

Love Heidi and Little House - mainly because of their living arrangements . Oh yeah, them and American Psycho.

Have halved the contents of DD's toybox and books downstairs - they're staying in the house as will be good for DS in a few months, but I still feel so much better looking now they're in the junk spare room. She's too young to ask where her toys are .

Am Pinterest addict, so PM me your minimalist boards.

I like a lot of these but its not mine and I haven't a clue how to use pinterest even though Im a member....
how do i link individual ones?

BC just saw this on your link, it looks a like the modern equivalent of a monks bedroom pinterest.com/pin/200902833348247541/

harriet sad that I didn't know about that book website before I did my book declutter last month thank you for explaining it to me.

BC click on Pinterest image that like, once the page loads with that single image on just copy from address bar and paste onto here.

AC I think sometimes people live with an object for so long it becomes part of the furniture even though its never used. Something can sit on a windowsill for months for example that isn't used or touched, it's just left there. That's the sort of visual clutter I hate. Congrats for getting rid of the brush!

Antoinette I don't think there is any such thing as a real minimalist. It's about having what you need and that's different for everyone and also changes at different stages of your life.

I personally wouldn't want white walls and limited decoration. I'm a very visual person and also like warm colours and textures. What I don't want are cupboards full of sheets and towels - we've only had one bath towel and a hand towel each for years.

Little and often works best for me so I tend to do two or three things then stop. My attention span is about 15-20 minutes so I'll never do a whole room and then a charity shop run like some of you.

I am sort of opposite to queen in that If I do little bits at a time, I don't feel it's really got me anywhere! Occasionally I do an overhaul but never on this scale. For the future, I've cleared out under the stairs and placed a trofast unit with boxes labelled "charity" , "give away" (as in I have a specific person in mind) and "maybe". I'd like to think ill use them but it might be a case of grabbing box and walking round house finding stuff, rather than noticing something and placing it in box under stairs.

This evening I've emptied 32 boxes. 4 are refilled for charity, 10 bin bags of stuff for dump and about two bin bags full of cardboard for recycling. A lot of the cardboard was from the games that I thought we would find the pieces for. In June 2010! (dd and I had built all then stuck a post it to say why was missing plus date.) I figure nows the time to let go.

I also dumped the contents of the odd sock box. DD has just gone into te next size bracket and I have 10 pairs that are fine. I didn't even bother checking for matches.

I have also started "decluttering" the wine cupboard. ;)

Rarely, you do of course make sense! But my sentimental (sentiMENTAL!) selfs feels torn! I get you re clothes being out of style, but hey, I like a bit of 2012 retro! And yes, he may not have children! Toys-wise, wouldn't keep everything, but I bought a couple of really special things, e.g. some really gorgeous handmade alphabet blocks. I overpaid for them, thinking they'd last forever as an heirloom. Hmmm!
I am also questioning the new tree decoration every year. Part of why we are doing this minimalist thing is so DS doesn't grow up learning how to be attached to things, is not materialistic. Yet here I am, trying to imbue a tree decoration with some sentimentality. I do have impeccable taste though, he can't not love the decorations I choose! Maybe I can buy a new decoration each year but keep them, and if he wants some of them, he can choose. Our tree is decorated in a less is more style as it is, so it wouldn't be too bad if I added one or two a year.
We already do lots of festive baking, making memories etc. I need to let go!

I think I'd like a clear, simple, white-painted home! How cute is this!?

I am going to get rid of more clothes later. Tonight or tomorrow, depending on when DS sleeps, as I have yet to wrap his too many Xmas presents.

queen I love colour and texture too, although one creamy, quiet room like the pinterest one mm posted would be glorious.

I've just come across a tub of painted glittery fir cones while unpacking Christmas decorations. I actually bought these, from a proper shop. Nngh. I have a bag lined up to take to charity shop after school run tomorrow so I'll put them in there, along with 3 spools of horrible ribbon I never use and only bought to shut someone up. (We walk the mile to school but we're always late, so it is the school run).

bluecarrot you are on fire! 32 boxes!

Off to finish clearing the hall before doing some wrapping with Last Tango in Halifax.

Advice, please: we have two Mousetrap games, neither bought by me, neither of which have all their parts. They get dragged out once a year and ds2 tries to put it together and gets cross. Do I bin the whole lot or do I save the pieces so that he can stick em together (he wants to be an inventor)? Just writing this I suspect I know what the consensus will be...

Bin both harriet!

I'd like a calm house, perhaps painted shades of grey (NOT 50 ;) or pale green. No ornaments, but artwork on the wall, blankets on the sofa, lots of plants.

Hello, I think I belong here! Am in the middle of a flat full of chaos. The final straw came yesterday when I had to go out and buy a Christmas tree stand, knowing full well there is one somewhere in this house, amongst all the crap and dust. Four bags off to the charity shop this morning, another two for tomorrow, and have started to read Simplicity Parenting. Now I just need to keep up the momentum!

Yep, thought so, rarely. Bin men come tomorrow. Away with the mice.

Calm house. Yes. That's it. Calm and authentic, by which I mean a home that doesn't harbour stuff that's aspirational stuff, guilt-ridden or trying to fulfill unmet need. Only stuff I love and honestly need. Blankets, artwork, plants - that sounds gorgeous and nourishing.

Haha, harriet! I walked past some glittery fircones today, was tempted, but resisted!
If he's going to play with it, I'd merge them. I hate waste. If they are going to be used, keep. Otherwise, bin!

Hi, pixie! Welcome to the uncluttered madhouse!

Gorgeous and nourishing. Perfect way of putting it. Must remember that!

Hello pixiestix! I have 2 Christmas tree stands too for the same reason!