Let's Go Minimal

The minimalist movement has been taking over homes at a rapid rate in the past few years. Many people have woken up to the realization that less is more, and I personally have joined the movement. My closet use to pile over with clothes and shoes that I hadn't worn in years until I finally had enough. When moving into my new home I made it a point to only live with things I needed. Now of course some take it so drastic as getting rid of mostly all of their earthly possessions, but today I'll teach you how to do it on a smaller and manageable scale. So, here are 3 helpful tips to start your journey to minimalism.

1. Changing Your Mindset - The first step to minimalism is to change the way you feel about stuff. Many equate success and happiness with having things, and in minimalism that is the furthers thing from the truth. When practicing minimalism you are simply saying that things do not bring happiness or success, instead, people, relationships, and true happiness is what is most important. It is important to do some self inspection before moving forward with this journey. Ask yourself what makes you really happy? What could be different in your life if you had less stuff? These questions might be difficult to answer, but I can guarantee you will find out what you are really looking for in your life. A great film that changed my thinking about stuff was the documentary "Minimalism: A documentary about the important things". I HIGHLY suggest watching this documentary when deciding to make such a big lifestyle change. You will not regret doing this before making the physical changes that come with a minimal lifestyle.


2. Do a closet clean out - With Spring right around the corner it's time to clean out your closets. I'm sure like me you have so many clothes that you haven't worn or can't fit in any longer. I know it's tough to part with clothes sometimes, but it's always necessary. In the popular book "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" author Marie Kondo speaks to loving each item you own. She explains that this will help with actually getting to clothing that you need instead of simply holding onto every item in your closet. To do this she suggests taking all of your clothes out of your closet and going through each article of clothing one by one. This can be a daunting task, but in the end TRUST ME it's worth it. When you go through each item ask yourself "does this bring me joy" if the answer is "yes", keep it, if not, toss it! Simply as that. This method will help you surely get to your minimal goals and help with tidying up your closet just in time for Spring.

3. Remove the clutter under the kitchen sink - This task can be a challenge especially for the hoarder that lives inside most people. I personally would keep household cleaning supplies, tools, books etc. that don't have any place in my home. This is when I realized that I could do without a lot of it and just began tossing. It's easier than you think. The number one thing I found was half used cleaning bottles, hair products, and many more things that were just taking up space. Honestly, you can just get a big trash bag and go to town under your sink. You're not going to use that last bit of conditioner in that bottle for emergency, and you probably will never use that 4 year old 409 so, let it go! Things like this take up much needed space in your home that you could use for better more efficient things.

4. Switch to digital - Now, this might be hard for my people that love to write out everything, or keep VHS video tapes. BUT I think I can help you with that. The Internet is filled with almost everything you need so that you never have to purchase a physical copy of anything again. My biggest suggestion is using itunes to download movies you like to clear the clutter of DVDs and BluRays in your home. Of course, some movies you will want to keep for family movie nights, but the ones that are your personal favorite you can chuck the physical copy and have it only on your computer. The same can be done with books, cds and your planner. Make time in your schedule to transfer all of your needs to digital. To do this of course having a great cell phone or computer is necessary. I also suggest regularly updating your programs on your computer to make sure you will have all of your stuff for a long time.


And that's it! These 4 tips are sure to get you ready for Spring and open you up to the world of minimalism. Let me know what your thoughts are on them, and if you have any suggestions of your own to add! I look forward to knowing what you do to stay minimal. Have a fantastic week and welcome to minimalism.

-Patrice