Sunday, June 22, 2014

Minimalism Maintenance

It has nearly been 2 years since I embarked on my journey towards minimalism.  I have gotten rid of a lot of belongings and cut down on what I purchase and bring into the home.  All my clothing, both for summer and winter can fit into one suitcase, all of our books fit onto two shelves on a bookcase, and paper clutter is at an all time low.  Even with all of these goals accomplished, even a minimalist needs to do some maintenance every now and again.

This weekend I found that some minimalist maintenance was in order in my home.  I took the plunge and got rid of the rest of my makeup and toiletries I was hanging onto and not using, I went through our lone junk drawer in our coffee table, reviewed our paper files, chose two more books to donate to the local library and found 2 more items of clothing to give away.

Even though this wasn't a huge purge or a massive overhaul with shocking before and after photos, it felt good to check in with how my home is functioning and how it makes me feel.  Do you have the feeling that you need some simple living maintenance?  Here are some tips I lead my Your Simple Home clients through:

1) Sit in each space and reflect on how the space currently functions and how it makes you feel.
2) Think about how you WANT the space to function and how you WANT to feel in your space.
3) Do the answers to 1 and 2 match?  If they do, fantastic! If not, some maintenance may be in order.
4) Set goals for your space to help you with decision making on what to keep and what to purge.
5) Work one shelf, drawer, table, etc. at a time.  Take it slow, this is not a race.

What other maintenance tips and tricks do you use to keep your home simple and enjoyable?


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