"The Joy of Less"

[2sunshines]

I just got finished reading "The Joy of Less" by Francine Jay and "The Simple Living Handbook" by Lorilee Lippincott and MAN! My life is forever altered!!!

Most amazing books I've read. Life changing.

Dh and I have always been minimalists at heart but apparently the "at heart" part has never fully taken over "our reality." :lol I mean, we don't have a ton of stuff, we're certainly not pack racks, and we probably have less than the average person, but still, I've been going through our things and I've purged literal multiple van loads! It's incredible how much STUFF I have!!!

Anyone else on this "joy of less" minimalism road? I'd love to chat with you. :heart

[mommylove]

I thought we were minimalist-ish until we moved. Ha! I'm taking a break this moment...right now thus feels like a never ending task.

Since I have boxes of stuff lining the walks of my new place, perhaps I should read these books as I unbox.

:popcorn

[Aerynne]

We try to be minimalists. It is hard with a big family. But I know we have a lot less than most families our size. I love minimalism! Purging feels so good! It is my Black Friday tradition to go through the whole house and purge everything we don't want. I have a few boxes for the thrift store sitting in my bedroom right now. They will go tomorrow. Now that I do it every year I don't get a ton each year anymore, but I do get some.

[2sunshines]

for me, I have found the key is to donate things right away when I purge. Because I can put things in a donate box, but if they sit there too long, I start second guessing and sometimes pull them back. :doh

So I've found that the best course of action, for me, is to fill up those boxes and immediately put them in dh's van. :rockon He donates them for me, and I never have a chance to pull anything back. :rockon

The funny thing is that I grew up with a hoarder. I think that's part of what makes me a minimalist at heart, with hoarding tendencies. :heart Thank God I married a minimalist. :rockon

[Leslie]

I read the KonMari book, and people on her Facebook group keep saying, "the point isn't minimalism, it's to be deliberate about loving what you keep." But for me, I think the point is minimalism. Like you said in your post, I think I've been minimalist at heart, but that's not yet been my reality. But I'm actively moving in that direction.

[ECingMama]

I read the KonMari book, and people on her Facebook group keep saying, "the point isn't minimalism, it's to be deliberate about loving what you keep." But for me, I think the point is minimalism. Like you said in your post, I think I've been minimalist at heart, but that's not yet been my reality. But I'm actively moving in that direction.

I much prefer being deliberate about loving what I keep than being a minimalist. Thanks for sharing that quote.

I really enjoy reading the minimalist books even though I really don't aspire to be one. I'm so weird!

I'll have to check these out!

[Mother of Sons]

I am and I'm not. It's kind of a constant war within myself. Like I love being seasonal. It appeals to me in a huge way and boosts me emotionally but It doesn't feel right to store things. So which do I do kwim? Same thing with hospitality. I'd like to have guests but being able to have guests means having extra dishes, linens etc. how does that fit with minimalism? I like a minimalist kitchen but I can't deny that some of the unnecessary things makes my life easier. One of the worst areas for me is creativity. It's a part of me but minimalism demands that I not own things for crafting, certainly not enough to be creative with it. Yet I hate managing stuff. I like the idea of a simple, basic home. Less stuff means less work and less on my mind. Never having to endlessly rearrange and organize. I love that. My husband on the other hand cannot comprehend not having what you may need and not having enough to share when someone else has a need. We are definitely not compatible in this area. One plus is that my kids won't play with toys so we don't really have many and what we do have never comes out.

[ECingMama]

Yet I hate managing stuff. I like the idea of a simple, basic home. Less stuff means less work and less on my mind. Never having to endlessly rearrange and organize. I love that.

This is the most appealing thing about minimalism to me. :rockon

..................

I haven't kept clothes past 18 months, and it's been a true joy to share them with our friends and see the kids wearing our former treasures.

I enjoyed KonMari-ing my clothes, but I realized I liked most of what I had because I got rid of anything that wasn't Type 4 last year.

[kiloyd]

Now I want to read those books!

[2sunshines]

I am and I'm not. It's kind of a constant war within myself. Like I love being seasonal. It appeals to me in a huge way and boosts me emotionally but It doesn't feel right to store things. So which do I do kwim? Same thing with hospitality. I'd like to have guests but being able to have guests means having extra dishes, linens etc. how does that fit with minimalism? I like a minimalist kitchen but I can't deny that some of the unnecessary things makes my life easier. One of the worst areas for me is creativity. It's a part of me but minimalism demands that I not own things for crafting, certainly not enough to be creative with it. Yet I hate managing stuff. I like the idea of a simple, basic home. Less stuff means less work and less on my mind. Never having to endlessly rearrange and organize. I love that. My husband on the other hand cannot comprehend not having what you may need and not having enough to share when someone else has a need. We are definitely not compatible in this area. One plus is that my kids won't play with toys so we don't really have many and what we do have never comes out.

Truthfully tho, minimalism *is* going to look different for every household. And the book addresses that. :yes It's not that you have to own only so many sheet sets, it's that you only own however many sheet sets you actually need (taking your lifestyle in to consideration -- knowing what you will and won't use), and don't keep the extra. :yes (using sheets just as an example ;) )

[believer]

I keep reading minimalism books and every time I read one I get rid of more stuff, but I still have a lot more that I could get rid of. Three years ago we "downsized" moving from a 3650 square foot home to our current 2500 square foot one. It is still larger than the first two homes we lived in, but works well for us. This thread reminds me that I need to donate and throw out some things. We just went on a vacation over Thanksgiving and visited my MIL. She is 92 and has given away most of her "treasures" to her children and grandchildren and is a very frugal person. She saves barely used napkins to clean with later and washes out and reuses ziploc bags.

[Leslie]

I much prefer being deliberate about loving what I keep than being a minimalist. Thanks for sharing that quote.


It's not an exact quote; it's a paraphrase of the gist of what I'm hearing people saying on the KonMari Facebook group.

---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------

I've always loved small -- my favorite scene in "The Wizard of Oz" was when Dorothy met that magician in the woods -- because I wanted to live in his traveling wagon! I love the part in "Scuppers the Sailor Dog" where he lives on a ship and he has a hook on the wall for each of his few belongings. I love the idea of backpacking and having everything you use in a single pack -- except that I don't really love the hiking part, just the backpack part. And I've always been fascinated by historical one-room cabins and wished I could live in one. For me, decluttering feels like a way towards that -- simplicity, and traveling through life with nothing more than I can carry.

[Aerynne]

It's not an exact quote; it's a paraphrase of the gist of what I'm hearing people saying on the KonMari Facebook group.

---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------

I've always loved small -- my favorite scene in "The Wizard of Oz" was when Dorothy met that magician in the woods -- because I wanted to live in his traveling wagon! I love the part in "Scuppers the Sailor Dog" where he lives on a ship and he has a hook on the wall for each of his few belongings. I love the idea of backpacking and having everything you use in a single pack -- except that I don't really love the hiking part, just the backpack part. And I've always been fascinated by historical one-room cabins and wished I could live in one. For me, decluttering feels like a way towards that -- simplicity, and traveling through life with nothing more than I can carry.

That is attractive to me, too, but I also love it that when my dd has an idea about a sewing project she wants to do, I probably have the stuff for it already. I have two boxes of sewing stuff- one small one that is just fabric and one medium-sized box with batting, lots of wool felt, embroidery hoops, embroidery floss, etc. I also have a sewing machine in a small vintage sewing table. We love to make stuff and I love having things on hand for what we want to make. So that's just an anti-minimalism example from my life.

[Leslie]

That is attractive to me, too, but I also love it that when my dd has an idea about a sewing project she wants to do, I probably have the stuff for it already. I have two boxes of sewing stuff- one small one that is just fabric and one medium-sized box with batting, lots of wool felt, embroidery hoops, embroidery floss, etc. I also have a sewing machine in a small vintage sewing table. We love to make stuff and I love having things on hand for what we want to make. So that's just an anti-minimalism example from my life.

:yes I hoarded fabric, paper, books, curios for my kids for the very reason you state. Now that my homeschooling days are coming to end, I feel like I'm returning to my "small living" roots. It's been really easy discarding most of the stuff I hung onto for them. What's hard is the memories -- deciding how many digital pictures to save. I don't want so many thousands of pictures that the thought of looking at them is an overwhelming burden, but it's really, really hard to part with even the mediocre snapshots.

[Beth1231]

I don't think having lots of crafty supplies on hand to make things and memories with your children is anti-minimalism. Especially since crafty things tend to be consumable or given away as gifts. Same for homeschooling supplies.
For me,it's when I realize I have three of nearly the same thing and I realize I only need one,only use one (a favorite winter hat,for example). That's when I gather the other two,three or four and either toss or donate them. I love having less and I definitely find joy in having a place for everything and having less to manage,clean,organize.

[ECingMama]

:yes I hoarded fabric, paper, books, curios for my kids for the very reason you state. Now that my homeschooling days are coming to end, I feel like I'm returning to my "small living" roots. It's been really easy discarding most of the stuff I hung onto for them. What's hard is the memories -- deciding how many digital pictures to save. I don't want so many thousands of pictures that the thought of looking at them is an overwhelming burden, but it's really, really hard to part with even the mediocre snapshots.

I made a photo book with our year in review. I take a lot. It's 8 X 10 and 100 pages long. It's an inch thick. :shifty

I don't think it matters how many you keep if they are organized in some way. I use google picasa, so they can be tagged. Tagging is ah-may-zing for organization.

[MrsHutch]

I am sorta-ish-wanna-be on this road, too. I've sold quite a bit of stuff, donated several large rubbermaid totes of stuff already, and have 2 or 3 more that have been sitting in the garage for months. :bag But I've learned since my first big donation about how charities sell clothes to poor countries and it's destroying their economies, and I don't feel good about just dropping stuff off at Goodwill like I used to. Maybe I could donate the stuff but I'd like to try to find a way to donate the clothes directly to a person or clothes closet. And that's why I haven't done anything with the stuff for months.

After coming home from a few days at our parents' house, I'm feeling REALLY good about our own lack of clutter, but there is still so much I could get rid of.

I know most people get into spring cleaning, but in the spring I just want to be outside instead of cleaning. But something about the impending claustrophobia of winter makes me declutter like crazy every fall.

[ECingMama]

I am sorta-ish-wanna-be on this road, too. I've sold quite a bit of stuff, donated several large rubbermaid totes of stuff already, and have 2 or 3 more that have been sitting in the garage for months. :bag But I've learned since my first big donation about how charities sell clothes to poor countries and it's destroying their economies, and I don't feel good about just dropping stuff off at Goodwill like I used to. Maybe I could donate the stuff but I'd like to try to find a way to donate the clothes directly to a person or clothes closet. And that's why I haven't done anything with the stuff for months.

After coming home from a few days at our parents' house, I'm feeling REALLY good about our own lack of clutter, but there is still so much I could get rid of.

I know most people get into spring cleaning, but in the spring I just want to be outside instead of cleaning. But something about the impending claustrophobia of winter makes me declutter like crazy every fall.

Oh, interesting. I prefer to do all my decluttering in the winter when there is nothing else to do!

[Mother of Sons]

I'm a fall cleaner too. After 6 months of snow I want to be outside, not inside cleaning. I also relate to what you said about donating to goodwill etc. I just got off the phone talking about the same thing. I want to fill a need not just get rid of stuff but it's hard to connect to people that really need things. Most people are just scammers who turn right around and resell.

[houseforjoy]

womens and homeless shelters are great places to donate clothes. also callin schools and saying i have a bag of this size clothes is there someone you could think of to get them to (u drop off at school and then school gives to kid/family

[LikeQuietDreams]

:cup

I strive to live a minimalist lifestyle. I love The Joy of Less.

[mummy2boys]

See......if I'm honest......the word "minimalist" has always conjured up ideas of cold, stark, empty spaces :bag But we need to do a clean out here over the Christmas holidays so maybe I should have a look into those books etc.

Anyone game enough to show me what their living rooms look like? :D

[Aerynne]

See......if I'm honest......the word "minimalist" has always conjured up ideas of cold, stark, empty spaces :bag But we need to do a clean out here over the Christmas holidays so maybe I should have a look into those books etc.

Anyone game enough to show me what their living rooms look like? :D

This is mine. We have since gotten rid of the desk (with the magazines and lamp on top), the ottoman, and the magazine holder. I could take a new picture but it is a mess right now from my decluttering.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/erinolson/IMG_3414_zpsc2e0f0d7.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/user/erinolson/media/IMG_3414_zpsc2e0f0d7.jpg.html)

[2sunshines]

I'll take a pic of my living room in a bit. :yes You should definitely read the book. She talks about keeping only the things you use and need AND things that bring you joy. So minimalism is not entirely about only having completely functional things. If a picture on the wall is one that you love, and brings you joy seeing it, then it deserves a place in your minimalist home. :heart

For example, I have a bunch of indoor plants in my living room. Even though they are not directly "useful" they do bring me great joy (and clean my air, so definitely partly useful) so they will remain in my aspiring minimalist home. :yes

[Leslie]

See......if I'm honest......the word "minimalist" has always conjured up ideas of cold, stark, empty spaces :bag :D

And that sounds so . . . restful.

[Aerynne]

Oh, I want to add that my living room is much browner than I would like it to be, but I didn't do that on purpose. So it's not mandatory for minimalism.

[ECingMama]

Oh, I want to add that my living room is much browner than I would like it to be, but I didn't do that on purpose. So it's not mandatory for minimalism.

Do your kids play in this room or is it for adults only? (we had an adults only room growing up)

[mummy2boys]

:ty3 Erin. Your living room does not look like my descriptions at all :no

[MrsHutch]

I'll try to get one of mine soon. I like my living room a lot, but it's in rearrange-the-furniture-to-put-up-the-tree chaos right now.

[CelticJourney]

We had an interesting opportunity this past year. Because of the flooding in our area, people lost many things - some vital, some not so vital. One thing my mother's church is doing is gathering Christmas decorations. It's something we take for granted and not vital by any measure, but still probably salt in the wounds of those whose lives have been turned upside down. This is also something I've been wanting very much to reduce at my house. This situation allowed me to donate nice, usable items to people who could use them without feeling like I was just adding to some thrift stores pile of 'stuff'.

[2sunshines]

We had an interesting opportunity this past year. Because of the flooding in our area, people lost many things - some vital, some not so vital. One thing my mother's church is doing is gathering Christmas decorations. It's something we take for granted and not vital by any measure, but still probably salt in the wounds of those whose lives have been turned upside down. This is also something I've been wanting very much to reduce at my house. This situation allowed me to donate nice, usable items to people who could use them without feeling like I was just adding to some thrift stores pile of 'stuff'.

What a great opportunity! We are also reducing our Christmas decorations. The idea of storing things for 11 months to use for 1 is totally unappealing to me. Not to mention a waste of valuable storage space. :yes

We are working towards keeping the decorations that really mean something to us. :yes Are either used (such as stockings or the tree itself) or have a memory attached (such as our special annual ornaments that we pick out as a family). Getting rid of some of the extraneous decorations that seem to collect over the years...

[CelticJourney]

What a great opportunity! We are also reducing our Christmas decorations. The idea of storing things for 11 months to use for 1 is totally unappealing to me. Not to mention a waste of valuable storage space. :yes

We are working towards keeping the decorations that really mean something to us. :yes Are either used (such as stockings or the tree itself) or have a memory attached (such as our special annual ornaments that we pick out as a family). Getting rid of some of the extraneous decorations that seem to collect over the years...Or worst - storing things for 11 months, stressing about getting it all out and in place and then stressing for one month about how much work it will be to get it all stored again.

One thing we have done that has worked beautifully on this issue is to invest in the nice Christmas gift boxes. We use them to store the ornaments and other items (then in bigger boxes) and then they are either filled or used as decorations themselves during Dec. No more rolls of paper or trash on Christmas morning. One item, three uses.

[Mother of Sons]

We have a simple system for organizing Christmas stuff. I have one full size bin of our nativities (some are larger) and then one half size bin of ornaments. Eventually we will probably add one more half bin because we make a new nativity every year but otherwise that's it. Every year I weed out anything that was given to us that I don't care about (not much) and I rarely buy decorations. They never hold up so I just enjoy them in stores and businesses.

[Aerynne]

We have two apple boxes for our Christmas stuff. One is our advent box- it has stuff for the advent wreath, our tiny fake tree, our advent books and Christmas cups. The other box is for the tree- our tree skirt, lights, ornaments, and stockings. I figure 2 apple boxes is a nice minimalist amount without going overboard, but still enough to make our home feel decorated. I try not to buy holiday-specific stuff like towels and things (our cups were given to us) and I also weed stuff out every time I put it away. Since we buy a real tree and real advent wreath every year, those do not need to be stored. We do also have a tree stand that doesn't fit in our boxes- I just keep it in the garage.

All the other holidays (well, that's just Easter and fall, which I realize isn't a holiday) just have one small box each.

[ECingMama]

I went through all my Christmas decorations one June. I spread it out all over the front porch. It was a much easier time to reduce it. We're down to three, large bins. I'm okay with that. My Type 1 daughter LOVES our decorations so much.

[Kirkie]

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[MrsHutch]

Here's a panorama of my living room, as seen from the papasan chair where I drink my coffee and do my internets in the morning. It's not perfectly picked up, but hey, we do live here after all:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh233/stacyleighhutchens/IMG_0496_zpssmgc2bye.jpg (http://s257.photobucket.com/user/stacyleighhutchens/media/IMG_0496_zpssmgc2bye.jpg.html)

We did have the couch under the window and a loveseat that doesn't match under the shelves, but moved the loveseat to the basement to make room for the tree (which we're finally putting up today). I'm thinking I'll keep it this way even after we take the tree down, though, because Big J likes to climb on the back of the couch when it's under the window, and we're afraid he's going to knock the window out one day. Nobody ever really sat on the loveseat anyway, and I'd forgotten how much I like having the window open to stand in front of.

[Kirkie]

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[believer]

I was inspired! I cleaned the cabinets under the sinks in the bathroom and the drawers in the bathrooms and threw away quite a bit of stuff. I also donated two bags of stuff to the SPCA and called for bulk pick up and put the torn up love seat and ancient TV set out for them to pick up tomorrow.

[Kirkie]

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[HuggaBuggaMommy]

We only have one small box of Christmas decorations - ornaments, nativity, stockings. We're not seasonal decorators here. I usually grab some evergreen branches from outside. We don't have decorations for any other holiday.

We're already fairly minimal, but I'd love to have less.

I always do a pre-Christmas purge (:shifty) and this year I've put away three big totes of toys. (I keep the toys a few months, just in case they are asked for...but honestly they never are.) Each child gets three gifts under the tree, so I removed more than will be brought in. That's actually my personal rule - if something comes into the house, something or equal size or purpose leaves the house.

[Kirkie]

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[purity4God]

I so want to do this too! Love the pics that some of the women posted of their homes. I was just thinking of this the other day, it's time to declutter! (But I haven't yet had time!) I was really proud of myself for just going through my 2 yr olds clothes & my baby's clothes, sorting what fits & doesn't. Sometimes, housework for me is an ESCAPE! Like I seriously would love a mommy day where someone would watch my kiddos just so I can catch up on housework lol- it would be so refreshing! I think less definitely is more.

[mummy2boys]

That looks very restful Stacey :) Thank you

[2sunshines]

I am upping my game. ;) I am currently reading "The life changing magic of tidying up.": http://www.tidyingup.com/

So far a fantastic read. :yes I LOVE how she is framing a mindset change from "what should/can I get rid of (declutter)" which is my typical mindset to "what do I love? What should I keep?" I also really like how she addresses those difficult to get rid of things. Because that's usually my hold up. Mostly clothes that I paid too much for and they have only sat in the closet and never worn. I should get rid of them because I never wear them BUT I paid $ for them and they're brand new! And it's HARD!!! So in my closet they sit. She addresses things like this which is really helpful to me.

I haven't implemented any of her ideas yet because I first want to read the whole book. :yes

[Soliloquy]

I did 40 bags in 40 days last spring. It was wonderful.

I downloaded samples of two Francine Jay books. One is $10, the other is $0.99. My dh really needs to read it, too, so I'm looking for one that I think will speak to him.

The biggest issues I have right now are things that he can't let go of. Like the huge sun lamp he bought in 2007 that he used for a few months and we still own but hasn't been used in 8 users years. The Stairmaster that doesn't get used and takes up a huge amount of space. His treasured toys from his childhood-- he gave them to the kids and they just have too much stuff. He collected GI Joe and Star Wars for years and years. So.much.stuff.

[ECingMama]

I did 40 bags in 40 days last spring. It was wonderful.

I downloaded samples of two Francine Jay books. One is $10, the other is $0.99. My dh really needs to read it, too, so I'm looking for one that I think will speak to him.

The biggest issues I have right now are things that he can't let go of. Like the huge sun lamp he bought in 2007 that he used for a few months and we still own but hasn't been used in 8 users years. The Stairmaster that doesn't get used and takes up a huge amount of space. His treasured toys from his childhood-- he gave them to the kids and they just have too much stuff. He collected GI Joe and Star Wars for years and years. So.much.stuff.

The Star Wars stuff is worth money. Sell it! ;) My mom sold all my brother's stuff at a garage sale. 25 years ago. He's still kinda upset. lol

[houseforjoy]

Yep Dh selling his star wars figures helped us when he was unemployed... actually several of his old toys got sold and most brought in a surprising amount of money.

[Soliloquy]

He won't sell it. He did sell all his Transformers a few years ago and all his comic books and we got a bundle! I don't mind him keeping the Star Wars and GI Joe if he puts them in a bin in the garage. It's just way too much for the kids. Picking up a bazillion pieces results in tears and fits every time.