Moving Forward With Minimalism

[MinimalistMommi]

This is a new thread following on from the previous 'm' thread on Good Housekeeping!

All Minimalists or aspiring minimalists welcome!

Cadence we use these. They are quite pricey but work well on our runny windows

Dressing tables are such clutter-magnets.

Cadence Questions all welcome. Useful answers can't be guaranteed

Funnily enough... didn't get anything for either so far! In terms of vacuum bags I was overwhelmingly recommended the cheapie ones from Poundland, only problem is I don't go anywhere near Poundland or similar stores in my day-to-day so it has be a deliberate trip, I will probably do that this week (thanks for reminding me actually!) as I will be in the same area of the nearest one in order to get these bins. As for the windows, we found that due to our odd windows the insulating film wouldn't work so well so instead we've just had to go for a basic approach of ventilating the rooms regularly and heating intermittently. So far it's been okay actually, some condensation but manageable and disappears. I was also recommended the Karcher wet vac, if you get a very wet bathroom then you can use it to dry up the bathroom and the windows (and, I guess, anything else that's wet?). Not investing in one myself as it's only the windows that get wet and bathroom dries quickly, but it sounded good if you get lots of build up.

My task is to stick to these short goals and keep creating and meeting them, I can't help but look at all of the things that I think I could do and try and do them all at once! So hopefully this will keep me on track a bit better

Thanks guys. Good thing is dd's room is now decorated so I get to be selective about what goes back in there (already got rid of loads of stuff when we moved it all out)

Hello. Back for some more motivation. Dh has been buying Christmas presents again. Which means I need to allocate them to people as we didn't really need them. "but they were a bargain!!". Hmm. The fact that we didn't need them means really, they weren't. But hey ho.

I can't remember who it was who was saying about waging war against the tides of clutter from their dh, but I can sympathise. Dh wants a tidy house, and is quick to grumble when the dc scatter their toys about. But the nick-nacks he puts down on top of my lovely clear cupboards, the piles of post he leaves once opened. Well it appears they don't count. He keeps wondering where things are as I rehome them in appropriate places

It seems a number of us have clutter happy DHs

To be fair to DH, he doesn't add to it with buying things anymore. It just doesn't help when he leaves things in all sorts of random places. Been hunting for one of his socks for days now (they're colour coded so ha! I can tell when you've lost one, DH!). Found it behind a bedside table... nowhere near where he usually takes off his socks and shoes...

Well, got to a bit of a breaking point last night and just had to do something. 3 DVD towers gone, boxes gone, cleared out a unit in spare doom we have one too, filled up said unit with Useful Things needing a home and previously kept on the floor in the kitchen. Then cleared out a freestanding unit that was in the kitchen and put it in the spare room for other Useful Things. I've decided the spare room is going to become a useful space for drying and ironing and all sorts, a sort of faux-tility room.

delasi my spare doom is a faux-tility room too and a space for me to do crafts even though they tend to spill over into the living room and I always iron in front of the telly anyway!

I love the term - just imagine on an estate agent's blurb
"faux-tility room come spare doom" I think I'd go and view, wouldn't you?

Thanks delasi, I'll be near a Poundland on Wed so will see if I can see any vacuum bags. That was a nice surprise, was expecting you to say they were ££ :). Thanks pixie for that suggestion too, will look into it this week and hopefully no more wet windows for us :)

Wowzers, has anyone been on the Black Friday thread? It's like the complete antithesis to this thread! They can't get rid of their money fast enough.

I just had a peep, pixie, hilarious. Posters debating on whether they should buy the fake pig and if they did, what they could do with it . It seems that the window vac delasi mentioned was on there though, maybe I should've checked in this morning!

I've been on the Christmas Bargain thread but I've been very good and stuck to my list. You see people getting carried away with the hype a bit but it is a lovely friendly thread with people helping one another out, finding specific things on people's lists for bargainous prices, hunting down rare items etc. It's been making me feel all festive and excited

Afternoon all. I did a quick trawl of the charity shops near me this morning, looking for a specific paperback for ds2's stocking. I was very taken with a Christmas pudding teapot... but when I turned it over to look at the price, I saw this: 'Warning: decorative use only. Not to be used as a teapot.' About as anti-minimalist as it gets!

What's the Black Friday thread? Are they planning out their bargainous shopping? I still remember Amazon's first Black Friday event about 3 years ago, people got very angry about not being able to get the mega cheap Wiis... lots of parents apparently 'promised' them to their DC and then were infuriated that Amazon didn't in fact have 100s of 1000s of them in stock at the drastically reduced price

I also don't understand why we have Black Friday in the UK now too, afaik it really has no significance to anything here whatsoever, but hey ho

Did a touch more today! Just some small bits here and there (cables! Tackled some cables!), but feeling better to see some progress again. Just got a new bit of kit after having cleared but it was necessary - high chair for DS, he's been in a floor seat since we started weaning but at nearly 1yo and right at the top of the range for height, well, he's a big lad! And he worked out how to get out of the floor seat ILs very sweetly bought the chair for him as a gift. It's in nice unisex tones with a cool pattern (I'm not one for pastels or 'boy/girl' things, DS is a bit of a multicolour baby!), it folds so at least it has the potential for taking up less space not that it ever will. So all in all very happy with that.

My new tasks now are: clear final box (found another one ), sort through a few random bags, clear some RO stuff, and just generally create a better space in the fauxtility room (yes arti, I think that'd be a must see!).

Hi all,

I cleared the top cupboards in my bedroom, woohoo! we have a huge built in wardrobe running the length of the bedroom and the top cupboards were stuffed full of my pre dc clothes. Over the past few months I've been clearing it bit by bit but progress was really slow because I'm such a ditherer and just wasn't sure whether to part with certain beloved things - even though none of fits! Anyway, something shifted in me this week, possibly finding inspiration from this thread, but I went in with 2 black bags and filled them for charity. If I eBay them I know I'll be ditherering again as I'm photographing and listing it and ill probably ending up keeping some of it. I also thought of the charity and perhaps someone less fortunate benefiting and that helped me decide.

I feel like a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm so weird when it comes it clothes, I feel like I have to keep outfits from occasions - my 18th and 21st birthdays, what I wore for my first holiday with my friends and what I wore to the dc christenings, I mean, wtf is that about?! I have binned all those but I did hang on to the band t shirts I've picked up at different gigs. That's okay isn't it ? ( I haven't got loads but they remind me of special times)

I have now filled the cupboards with Christmas presents which has freed up a bit of stuff in the spare room :).

delasi, I bought my vacuum bags :) haven't tried them out yet. Feeling weirdly excited about it .

The Black Friday threads are where people chat about what they're buying/hoping to buy/have bought on the Black Friday event on amazon. I did have a quick look at the deals on amazon (Black Friday runs from Monday bizarrely) but there didn't seem to be any decent savings or anything that I need/want. In fact, I've been organised this year and almost finished my Christmas shopping, woohoo!

harriet your non-teapot teapot made me laugh

Good work!
Our house is a complete mess due to two major home improvement projects, one DIY and the plumber redoing the bathroom. There is furniture and stuff in the wrong places (our upstairs toilet is currently in the garage and DDs bike in the living room!) and dust everywhere. Plus there are boxes of DCs stuff they have prepared to sell at a car boot sale next year, and I don't know where to put them. On the upside there is less stuff in their rooms!
I have run out of decluttering steam. It seems pointless in the chaos. I think I will concentrate on mindful Christmas gift shopping and go back to sorting and reducing when we are able to tidy the house again. I'm excited about how it'll be looking by the end of next month.

Is less really more ?

michelle I wouldn't go in for completely spartan living myself, but less certainly can mean more. For example, I have a small home cluttered with all sorts plus stuff stored in boxes/hard to reach cupboards etc. It's been this way in the last 3 properties that I've lived in! This tells me that, a. I don't really need or want all of this stuff, and b. I can't really use the stuff that I do want or need because of the lack of space. By considering things properly and letting go of some things, I now have both more space and am able to use more things, so in my case less really has meant more!

In a wider sense of things, I have a greater disposable income by being more thoughtful of my purchases, I enjoy things more because of that consideration, we have more opportunities for 'experiences' or 'special purchases' with that income and we generally have a better quality of life. If you go beyond that, to the mentality of minimalism, then you have a greater sense of comfort, relaxation and freedom as you're not tying yourself to amounts of money or certain gifts etc out of expectation, which is a very stressful aspect of life and particularly the holidays for a lot of people.

That was a bit of an essay

Cadence do share your review of the bags! not using you as a guinnea pig, certainly not

Morning everyone!
somme I think your strategy is wise.
delasi I'm another not totally spartan ( by any means) living person. I just would love there to be less piles of stuff ( mainly paperwork) around that I don't really know what to do with. I'm struggling to do much more than the basics of everyday living at the moment, however saying that, my current chazza bag is slowly getting fuller and I've also identified a couple of tea towels to donate to the church kitchen.

In other news - I have managed to get ear infections in both ears! It is connected to having eczema in my ears ( but I'll spare you the gory details). I have drops to put in but I also have to go to the hospital to get my ears vacuumed* out ! Ah well- at least I'll be doing a bit of ear decluttering and hopefully I'll be able to hear properly again too. Meanwhile I'm dosed up on ibuprofen and trying to keep going!

*not the accepted medical term

Of course I will delasi when I get round to using them

I completely agree with what you said above. Since finding this thread and applying minimalism to my home and life I feel less stressed and more content. Like you I now have more disposable income and I also have more time to spend with dh and the dc and I find I am valuing and appreciating that time more.

After I posted yesterday I went a bit mad in the bedroom and just got rid of loads and loads of stuff. I have built in shelves that were chock-a-block with all sorts. Top shelf with fashion jewellery that I mostly havent touched for a long time.I kept special bits dd1 has bought me - she's 10 and buys me a little preset in the gift shop whenever she goes on a school trip, bless her, and quite often it's a piece of jewellery - I know that doesn't sound very minimalist but tbf they are all lovely pieces and so much thought goes into what she chooses. Anyway, apart from those bits and 2 chunky necklaces that I love and wear often, it all went in the charity bag. I also kept 2 rings that I love but haven't worn for a longtime. If I don't wear them in the next month they can go too. When that was done I did a big tidy up in the bedroom, arranging and rearranging things in the walk in wardrobe so that now my bedroom is perfectly minimalist :) - I have a bed, a dressing table with a mirror and 2 photo frames on it and a built in wardrobe. That's it. Nothing else. Can't tell you how lovely it was to wake up this morning and see a beautiful, clean, tidy, spacious, minimalist bedroom :) wonder how long it will last before it gets filled with junk

When I opened the door to the built in shelves I saw dd's jewellery gifts and I chose a bracelet to wear today. Before now I just wouldn't go near that shelf because it was cluttered and disorganised so it was lovely to open the door and choose a special item to wear. I love it and dd was so pleased to finally see me wear it :)

I also blitzed the junk counter in the kitchen which was just a counter strewn with receipts, junk mail and the children's art work. The kitchen now looks lovely and minimalist too - as long as no one opens the cupboard doors because some of them are brimming with clutter. That's my next job this week, to clear some of them.

clearsommespace, I don't blame you for putting the decluttering on hold for a bit, I think I would too. I bet the minimalist philosophy will be at work in other areas of your life though, such as the gift shopping. Good luck with the work, it is exciting isn't it.

Xpost arti, hope your ears are better soon, sounds painful. My dd3 suffers from eczema, can't imagine how painful it must be to have it in your ear.

Oh arti, really hope it clears up and you feel better soon, hopefully it will be a good time for you to have some rest!

Cadence I used to buy my mum jewellery or trinkets on outings or for special days, I even made quite a bit of stuff in a workshop at school. Looking back it was all rather questionable but I did put a lot of thought into it and it meant so much to me when my mum wore them or put things on display, so I think that's a wonderful reason to hold onto something. When she's older she'll likely forget or not care and you might consider clearing them out, but right now I think it's lovely that you're showing her your appreciation

My DD's had a letter home requesting items for the school Christmas fair, so I've been through my cupbpoard and got rid of a carrier bag full of smellies (I can't use them) and some books and a couple of necklaces.

Reading Cadence's jewellery has made me think of a ring that was left to me by my Gran. I'd like to have it enlarged so I can actually wear it. It's beautiful, a gold band with diamonds and sapphires.
Up til now it has sat in a drawer. I want to use it and enjoy it!

My parents are coming to stay for 4 nights at New Year and we don't have a spare room so we give them ours. We sleep downstairs on the sofa cushions. I like to sort out the chest of drawers downstairs to fit our clothes in, beacuse last time they stayed, I felt out of sorts the whole time as there's nowhere to put anything. We're in a tiny 3 bed semi with no spare space at all.

That sounds like a challenge Mazzi.

Hope you're feeling better arti. I have psoriasis in my ears and have had loads of ear infections so feel your pain.

Cadence you are inspiring me - our house is pretty open plan and my DD1 invites everyone into her room, so the only place that is private is our bedroom. This means that whenever we have visitors all the clutter gets shoved into there. I am desperate to have a bedroom that is a haven. Your room sounds blissful.

Hi again all! Had to search for the thread as it had fallen off TIO. Haven't been here in a while - winter is really rough on my mental (and as it turns out, physical) health and I have somewhat stalled. I think in winter because I want to hibernate I feel more inclined to surround myself in comforting Things, rather than wanting the lightness and air that comes in the summer when I get rid of stuff. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I have still kept my minimalist mindset in other ways, in particular Xmas gifts, I've put so much thought into presents and I'm really pleased with myself. No picking up anything just because it's a bargain.

What prompted me to look up this thread again was the need to rant. I haven't looked at the Black Friday thread (intrigued now though) but OMG I really wanted to start a separate thread but am too much of a wimp, so I thought I'd post on here among like minded folk :o

I was totally shocked (although in a way not that shocked) to see that a woman was hospitalised because of stampeding at the Black Friday sales in asda FFS! DH experienced similar when he worked for boots, he had actual scratches on his hands from when crowds were fighting when a new No7 product was released. The new must-have toy (bear and hare from the JL Xmas ad) sold out so fast they made the news and are now being sold on eBay for as much as 10 times the price.

It is just Stuff and yet it causes all this aggro in various ways. STUFF is ruling people's hearts and minds right now.