A lot of people really like the idea of going minimalist with their household. Of course, you may not be too familiar with minimalism! Put simply, it’s creating a home that isn’t loaded with unnecessary stuff. It also tends to feature pretty smooth and simple design. It helps people bring a sense of calm to their home. A lot of people are attracted to a more minimalist approach to their home, but they also think that it’s quite a lot of work. After all, it’s not quite as simple as stripping away everything you don’t want!
So here’s a quick guide that will help you get started. If you’re interested in bringing minimalism to your home, this is a must-read.
One room at a time is the key
Name a home improvement project and this advice applies pretty well to it. If you try to improve the whole house at once, you’re going to get overwhelmed very quickly. Even trying to work on two rooms at the same time can get you a bit stressed. And if you’re trying to minimalist, then this is definitely the wrong way of going about it. After all, being overwhelmed is basically the opposite of what minimalism is supposed to achieve!
When people decide to go minimalist, many of them get the urge to get it all done as quickly as possible. But this is a project that will take time. Take it one room at a time. Don’t start working on one room before you’ve finished another, unless it’s absolutely necessary for temporary storage purposes. You should also consider spreading the work on each room over the course of a few days, instead of aiming to get an entire room done in one day.
Unessential? Get rid of it
The first thing to do is to work on all those belongings. Most of us end up with far more possessions than we really need. In fact, if you have a thorough review of everything, you’ll find you have more than you even want! Take each item in the room, one by one. You can get a good list of examples of items to check at http://www.becomingminimalist.com/. Ask yourself: do I really need this? If you don’t really need it, you need to ask why you’re keeping it. Maybe you’re keeping a particular item because it’s fun. Maybe it reminds you of something special in your past. You don’t necessarily have going to get rid of such things; there’s definitely something to be said for the sentimental value of particular items, after all. But try to be strict.
If you end up with a lot of items that aren’t particular useful but you don’t want to throw away, then you’ll need to find a strategic way of storing them. If you’re finding stuff you don’t need and don’t love, however, then it doesn’t sound like there’s much reason to keep it!
What to do with the ‘inessentials’
Many minimalism fans would say that if you definitely don’t need it to live your life, then you should get rid of it. If you can get by without it, then there’s no need to keep it, right? Well, maybe you’ll want to take a more ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach. If there’s a storage place in your home that won’t get too cluttered, then consider putting those items in there, out of sight. You could also consider hiring storage space outside of your home. Some may accuse you of brushing the problem under the carpet. But clutter isn’t necessarily all useless, right? The key is to get things cleaned up and out the way. Of course, if you do end up with a lot of items you need to get rid of, then you’ll need to get it all disposed of responsibility.
Apply the minimalist aesthetic
With minimalism being largely about the art of choosing to live well with less, especially in the material possessions department, you may wonder if there’s any room for beautiful furniture or appliances. Surely the minimalist approach would dictate that you select whatever is cheapest and works and simply use that? Well, the minimalist aesthetic doesn’t mean you can’t buy really nice home assets; it simply means you want to keep them relatively simple and, if possible, small. Consider heating appliances, for example. Stores such as http://www.onlyradiators.co.uk/ offer radiators and other items that are simple while remaining stylish and eschewing bulkiness. This is the sort of thing you want to look for. That approach to design has been applied to pretty much any home item you could think of.
Keep those decorations simple
So, you’ve whittled everything down to a bare minimum. This might be perfect for you. But for some people, this kind of look just feels a little boring and lifeless! This is partly when some people spice things up with the minimalist furniture and appliances mentioned in the previous section; they’re beautiful while keeping simplicity in the spotlight. But maybe you want to take it a step further with some artwork, then the artwork should itself be pretty minimalist. Online stores such as https://www.etsy.com/ offer paintings that can easily fit this aesthetic. If you want other types of decorations, you should keep them small. Bright colours won’t violate minimalist principles, though; they add energy to the look of a pretty bare-bones room.
Minimalism with children?
I am personally on a big clutter free quest...it’s taking time, but I am getting there…
How about you?
Love Happy x!
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