Simplifying Life - Mark II

alec_eiffel

I don't only have functional stuff as I love to have lots of art about the place but I am a believer in "form follows function" so only have things that work for me and things that do their job efficiently.

After decluttering my junk filled house I started looking at things differently, single use items don't work hard enough for me, wherever possible I'll buy things that do two or more things - a knife instead of a garlic press, flat sheets instead of fitted, cupboards and wardrobes with flexibility rather than fitted shoe racks and widgets. The more flexible the more the things in the home can change to my needs.

themull1

I'm not a hoarder, but i like ornaments and pics, cushions and rugs etc, i would hate my house to look all stark and boring like a doctors waiting room!

System

I'm a minimalist. No clutter, no ornaments, no excess and that suits me fine.

This is one of my favourite blogs at the moment.

valk_scot

My mum was a bit of a minimalist. That's why I've gone the other way I think, I got totally and utterly hacked off with her throwing out my things because "You don't really need them". I put a padlock on my bedroom door when I was sixteen..

So yes while I've got no problem with minimalism, please don't assume you've got the right to inflict it on unwilling family members. Let them keep their own rooms in the way they want, even if it is hip deep in the kind of clutter that makes your toes curl.

mmmsnow

themull1 wrote: »

I'm not a hoarder, but i like ornaments and pics, cushions and rugs etc, i would hate my house to look all stark and boring like a doctors waiting room!

Mum, is that you?

System

So yes while I've got no problem with minimalism, please don't assume you've got the right to inflict it on unwilling family members. Let them keep their own rooms in the way they want, even if it is hip deep in the kind of clutter that makes your toes curl.

I said to my daughter when she lived at home, keep as much rubbish as you want but:

a)dont ask me to go into your room to put clothes away
b) if your rubbish affects others... time to get the pitchfork in.

PasturesNew

Everybody I knew used to call my house "Bleak House" .... I never had anything, including furniture/curtains usually .... and then I seriously downsized. My stuff's currently in storage, occupying a total space of 2 cubic metres - and I have 2 small/medium suitcases of clothes/linens/things etc with me.

One day I'll have a house .... but not many things.

Ben84

I'm not a minimalist - but I can say that I use almost everything in the house regularly or that it is essential at least a few times a year, and that I do gather up unused things for the charity shop or eBay quite often.

However, my trouble is fitting things in. I like useful things and I like space too. So, I try to have things which are compact or perform multiple tasks, or to find uses for existing things so I can get rid of other items. For example I gave away the pastry cutters when I realised I could just use a glass to cut circles. I've also just replaced a bulky egg poacher with those little plastic cups that go in a saucepan with water, and I'm currently replacing the record and CD collection with a digital music player.

GreyQueen

I'd like to be a minimalist but I'm not one. I have one of the tiniest flats you can imagine and it's a running gag among friends and acquaintances about how silly-small my home is. The acquaintances who haven't been over here yet think the rest of us are pulling their legs when we're riffing on the smallness of this place. We ain't joking, hun.

I don't actually own a lot of stuff; everything can fit into a Transit van inc furniture and appliances, but I would like to own less than I do. I'm paring down and quite a lot of my stuff is being used up and shipped out. I have more cotton sheets than I really need but they're all second-hand and patched so I figure if I donated them to a c.s. they'd just rag them, so I shall use them up and eventually end up with 2-3 and that will be plenty. Decluttering by natural attrition. All the linens fit into one small cupboard which is only 24 inches wide.

As I wander through this life, I see more and more examples of people being stressed out and imprisoned by their belongings and feel that the minimalists are onto something.

But I absolutely agree with leaving others to do their own thing, in their own areas of shared living spaces.

miffy257

I try to be minimalist but the rest of the family conspire against me. I'm desperately trying to de-clutter and keep to the William Morris maxim. Judi I read that blog and have subscribed , thanks for the link.:)