The minimalist quiche

[educatingarti]

This is a new thread to replace the minimalist journey one which is nearly full!

Not posted for ages but just checking in prior to ascending into the loft of doom.

Boonjinkies I second your determination to stop 'stuff' coming into the house - the only way in which we can insure ourselves against future de-cluttering trauma!

This week I have had a light-bulb moment. I'm sure all you experienced de-cluttered organisers already knew this ages ago, but LABELLING is the key to being organised!!

I don't know why it's taken me so long to learn this. It's all well & good to have 6 x smart looking identical storage boxes on the garage shelf but if they're not labelled you can guarantee that the one thing you need is in the 6th box. I've always kind of smirked at labelling queens before, now I am a zealous convert.

So, this week I have tackled the cupboard outside ds1's bedroom, chucked loads & clearly labled that the bags contain 3 x single duvets, 2 x singe duvet covers etc etc. we don't even have any single beds in the house anymore so a more ruthless woman would chuck, but they are useful for when cousins sleep over etc.

Dreading the loft, which I seem to try to sort at least every 6 months, but end up just re-arranging. Today I have a completely clear day so I'm going the extreme route. That means taking (almost) everything OUT of the loft and then deciding very carefully what to put back. Obvious to some I know but I need to actually commit to that statement & now it's on MN I will have to stick to it!

Thanks for all the help & tips on this thread, it's a huge help!

Thanks for the book selling tips Antoinette and Harriet. I am now in that annoying situation where WBB want three books and FatBrain want two different ones and neither make up a full basket! I am going to have to pester the life out of DH to add to my collection.

Good luck with your loft NQP. I am in the exact same situation with my basement. You have just inspired me to plonk DD in front of a film and empty it into the hallway. If we cant get down the hall then we will HAVE to do something about it!

Change of plan as DD is taking a rare nap and her room is opposite the basement door. I have been forced into having a cup of tea and a Cadburys Creme Egg instead.

oh pixie! Haven't thought about creme eggs
for years and now i want one!

Wow loads going on here. Welcome lurkers, the more stories I hear the more it inspires me to continue.

Hobnob DD was a clingy baby and I also had days where nothing got done. In fact she is now 19 mths and my DSes still haven't had their bedroom decorated. I was going to do it on ML.

I find Ebay a lot of effort tbh and the postage etc is making it harder to sell stuff, so I will only sell things that I know will sell well and for good money. Our local facebook page is good for other things.

I am actually going to look at a coat to buy off the FB page which seems to go against the whole decluttering thing. But this coat is what I need for the summer and if I get it then I will chuck out about 4 other coats that aren't quite right. Wrong length, no hood, not waterproof etc. I am definitely thinking about what I bring into the house now.

I think tomorrow I will go through the end of my wardrobe that I rarely open, most of the stuff in there can probably go.

bec I look forward to seeing your pics.

boonyjinkies I totally relate to your comment:

'I've noticed that a lot of stuff I'm getting rid of were either impulse buys, cheap, stuff that I didn't try on in the shops, or items that I thought I should own (despite not living a lifestyle to use them).'

That describes me and I hate shopping. I'm finding I'm going back to a lot of old stuff and the common theme is that it was stuff I bought mindfully. The answer seems to be not to worry about buying stuff but to think it through first and understand how it will bring benefit rather than shiny, shiny, I want.

pixie I find that it is very important to declutter any creme eggs that might somehow have made their way into your house! Well done!

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking since the beginning of the first thread and I have really enjoyed all your comments and the links to other interesting stuff. I have never been a hoarder and always thought of myself as quite minimalist until I read some of the blogs linked on here.

So, over the last few weeks I have been trying to decrease all our "stuff" and live a more mindful existence. I have 4DCs so taking that into account I think I have done very well

What has promted me to join in with your discussion is that I had a bit of a "moment" this morning, which may sound bonkers so just bear with me I had the realisation that the world is only made up of so many molecules that can be made into stuff and these just keep getting recycled into new stuff. So everything on earth now was around as other stuff millions of years ago (I think and happy to be corrected, a scientist I ain't!). This then made me realise that by keeping things that I don't need, I was stopping the things getting recycled into other stuff more useful and it is rather selfish as their are people who are in need of other things and there is only so much to go round. As a consequence I have had a big sort out today and parting with things that I was keeping "just incase" has been so much easier.

Sorry for the epic first post, I had to share. I am sure some of you more experienced minimalists will have already had this thought too.

Ok, who mentioned creme eggs? Nearest shop is eight miles away and I'm not going put now!!!

I ended up going into WHSmith and buying 2 creme eggs for £1. That was not in my budget. .

Hello crockle!

crockle I love that way of looking at it!

Sorry!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask the seasoned minimalists, do you ever get to the point where you think: "We're done"

I have been trying to pare down the amount of stuff we have (DP had total hoarding tendencies so its an uphill battle!). I thought I was doing well and had the kitchen sorted then this week have changed my mind and there seems to be so much more "stuff" we could get rid of! I don't know when I will stop!

Yes I know what you mean Paint.

I often return to areas and give them another, more thorough, de-clutter. Then I look at things I 'saved' last time and wonder "what was I thinking?? I'm never going to wear/use that - out you go!"

Practice makes it easier to let go & liberate yourself from all those energy-sapping 'things'

Hi all, just checking in to keep myself accountable. I had a productive day and managed to fill the car with items for recycling centre / charity shop / friends. I even managed to actually take all the items to their new destinations. I also managed to clean and organise the annex thanks to a massive nap by DS2. It is a very good thing as my father arrives tomorrow for a month!

I also got the upstairs cupboard emptied, but realised that most of it is DH's stuff, so I can't really minimize any of it. I find this really frustrating and exhausting as it feels really out of my control, but I am always the one having to move / clean / work around all of his stuff. Thing is, it isn't stuff that is even important to him, mostly he just can't be bothered to actually think about whether to keep or let go, so he just throws it all in a box and leaves it wherever then asks me repeatedly where said stuff is. Someday he is going to have an AHA! moment and if he doesn't I am going to declutter it all for him and ban him to silence on the matter .

Hope you all have lovely weekends!

Evening everybody. wendy - well done - you've done loads. I think you should give your dh an ultimatum! If he hasn't sorted a box within a specified timescale you are going to ask each person that visits your house to take one item from the box to keep or dispose of until the box is empty! We will all come and visit!

Well - I've been very minimalist today. I went to my nearby very large shopping mall to get my hair cut and didn't buy anything else except some foundation that I did need more of. I even had a browse in the Muji, Paperchase. White Company and Cath Kidston sections of Selfridges (walked through on my way to car park rather than made a special visit) and did not buy anything!

Hi all!

wendybird - my DH was like that for the first year of my decluttering. But then he started to notice how much nicer things were in 'my' bits of the flat...!

So the 'Before' and 'After' pictures of my desk are on my profile for anyone who wants to see them! Three huge bags of paper went into the recycling bin and one bag of non-recyclables went in the bin.

I should mention that the 'Before' shot of my desk is from Thursday - it's not the state my desk was in two years ago, before we started decluttering. Back then I couldn't shut the doors of my desk and the seat lid wouldn't close at all.... (In answer to PaintYourBox, I think it's a lifelong process - I've been at this for two years and I'm nowhere near thinking 'I'm done! We've still got far too much stuff and more goes every week...)

The really exciting thing about my newly organised desk (well, it's exciting for me!) is that there is a system for all incoming paper and items that used to clutter up the surface of the desk. I've moved all my work-related books into my desk (some of them were in the living room before), so when I open my desk I'm at 'work' and when I close the doors 'work' is done.

Thanks harrietspy for the recommendation on the Muji boxes - I did do a bit of very un-minimalist shopping as you can see!

I'm back to freelancing in an office from Monday until the end of May so I won't get to spend my working day at this desk for a while...

And when I finished I had a creme egg. (pixiestix...! I'm really impressed that you've minimised down to four empty and two half-filled notebooks. Notebooks are my clutter kryptonite! I'm not telling you how many I've got. But I haven't bought any for six months - going to work through all of my empty ones before I buy another one... And as for half-filled ones... I will only say that I now have about a hundredth as many I used to have!!)

Just wondering whether you are 'minimalist' in your design choices?
We don't have many items of furniture that we've chosen ourselves. A fair amount was inherited, pieces with barley twist legs etc. But I've realised that everything we've chosen ourselves has very simple lines.

Evening all. I went through half of my clothes incredibly ruthlessly yesterday. There were so many items that I had kept for ages because they were expensive and hadn't been worn much. I filled a black sack and more.

Also dh found a place in a nearby town that buys clothes by the weight. So I'm sending it all there. Anything is better than nothing. :)

Wendy I know what you mean about cleaning and tidying around other peoples clutter. DH is starting to get more on board with it as I think he sees the improvements to the house since I started this.

I put two magazine-holders worth of out of date computer mags in the recycling before MrNC could change his mind! And in fact he then looked at the CDs that went with and agreed I can recycle the lot! And added a couple more later mags!! And asked me to do the same in the lounge!!!
His new mantra is "can I find this more easily on the internet?" which means all those "useful" mags can go - as he's severely dyslexic it's far easier for him to sift the net than flick through one sheet of paper.

I'm back at work so slowing down on the house. But dd had a minimalist 1st birthday, with going out for lunch (bowl of peas was the best possible present anyway), few cards, and a cake that's been mainly decluttered already! And bringing out the Megablocks and walkers. Can't wait to chuck out the Megablocks which get everywhere...

Have also found the camera cable so hope to do Ebay again soon - actually first the local parents Facebook group. Great advantage over Freecycle and Ebay is everyone sees your real name, so they Actually Turn Up when they say they will!

I'm still plugging away with 'forcing' myself to wear bits in my wardrobe. I almost got rid of a skirt today but I've put it in the dressing up box. It's a long black jersey tube so with a scarf could be a strapless evening dress for DD and friends or be cut into a cape. At least I'm sure it'll be used.

My name is sokmonsta and I live in a tip!

Well. Not literally but it feels like it. I was directed to here from a thread I posted.

Quick intro: we live in a 2 bed house and have 4 children. We are drowning under a mass of 'stuff' at the moment and I need inspiration to keep me going. At the moment lots is ending up in the loft 'to sort out later'. My intention being to get on top of the rest of the house and then tackle a bag/box a day from there.

So far it's taken me two days to do what amounts to half a bedroom. Last night I got criticised for my side of the bed being clean and tidy while dh's just has stuff there. It's all his/stuff he's put there. And it's not that I won't do it, more a) he'll grumble he can't find anything b) I don't know what to do with it anyway.

I decided regardless, his stuff will be tidied/organised and if he can't find it, tough. He'll get used to my way of organising and lump it.

It really doesn't help that he's recently started running a business from home and we've got boxes of paperwork. They were ins cupboard, and will be going back. But I need to spend money we don't have on decent boxes as mine are falling apart. Any ideas folks?

Hope you don't mind me joining but I really, really need some help to become a domestic goddess.

Ooh, sokmonsta your minimalism project should sound daunting but to my ears it sounds an exciting challenge! I'm new to this having just delurked on this thread myself, but if you read back through this and the previous thread there's tons of tips and information. There are some posters here who have large families with children room sharing.

One thing that strikes me is that you seem to have a lot of stuff. Can any of it be sold to raise cash to buy the new storage boxes you need? Or maybe check free ads or eBay to see if anyone is decluttering the items you want?

Oh and btw, on my predictive text your nickname changes to 'dominates', which might be fitting for getting your dh on board!

Sokmonsta, looking on the bright side, if your DH is grumbling that his side of the room is messy whilst yours is organised, he obviously can appreciate the benefits of a clear space.

If your loft is big enough to cope, I think your plan is a good one because you'll probably find as you sort through it, that you realise you've been without it for months and don't really need it.