Minimalism has had huge moments in the decluttering world, in particular the idea of getting rid of almost everything you own in order to have a peaceful home. But it can make a home feel so empty and cold somehow.
Minimalism to me is not about being ready for visitors at any given notice, it’s about being able to use your stuff at the moment you need it, knowing where it is, easily finding it, and putting it away after using it. So the house may still seem full to some, but the goal is to make it functional for me.
The reality of being organized and clutter free
Decluttering isn’t really about getting rid of EVERYTHING. It’s not even about only keeping the things you love, because, really, who loves their kids’ toys or their light bulbs!? Ok, there are some cool light bulbs out there these days – what I really mean is that there are some things you just need to keep. There are also some things that are just more practical to hold onto rather than buy again. Suggesting that there is, in fact, a certain amount of clutter that you just need to hold on to. The key is having an exclusive home for the stuff – even if it’s extra stuff or rainy day stuff. If you don’t have the space, you may need to reconsider keeping it.
Decluttering is about only keeping one extra or one back up of something, getting rid of broken things that you don’t have time to fix, or getting rid of things that you truly no longer use. Be honest with yourself here!
Organizing is about keeping everything in a specific spot AND putting it away in that same spot after using it.
The two together create this idea of perfect minimalism or an almost show room like look to your home. And, to pile it on, Pinterest and other social media sites post pictures of empty rooms or kitchens to show what the minimalist’s kitchen or bedroom is and how it should look.
Images like these also suggest that our homes need to be ready to be on display at a moments notice, like it’s ready for an open house! But that is just not reality if you actually LIVE in your home! It also creates way too much pressure on young families who are probably just struggling to survive the day, let alone have a show room of a house!
The real-life goal of decluttering and organizing is more about ease of use of your stuff. It’s about knowing where something is, going to where it is to easily get it, using it, then easily putting it back to where it belongs!
This is actually the dream!
Note the word ‘easily’ when you are getting your stuff or putting it away. If you need to move even one thing out of the way first – chances are you will stop using whatever that thing is and maybe even buy a second one and keep it somewhere else ‘handier’ instead. If you need to crawl, reach, or climb a ladder to get the things you need, you will be less likely to properly and quickly put it away.
The piles of stuff that you ‘put on hold’ rather than put away is what creates clutter and mess and disorder and chaos in your home. If you can minimize these piles by having enough stuff to feel satisfied rather than overloaded AND you have the right kind of organizing systems that keep your stuff easy to use, then you will feel more content in your home! You will get that relaxed feeling, EVEN IF YOU HAVE STUFF!
Like I said before, it’s not about having a staged home. It’s about decluttering and organizing so that you have useful items that are stored in a functional way in your home!
The limit is the space in the house and size of your storage areas. There’s no need to turn your whole house into a storage unit, just to keep stuff. You can actually have a bookshelf in a room with books on it. You don’t have to only have a plant with nothing else on the shelves to give it a minimal look. You also might not want it to be cluttered with stuff shoved in all directions. The middle ground would be to have a big look at your shelves and what is on each one, try to get rid of up to half of the stuff, then set it up in a pleasing way. Especially eliminate anything that requires something else on the shelf being structural. For example, a row of books shouldn’t rely on a boardgame box to keep the books standing up. Get a simple, basic, book end, then use a separate shelf for your games. It will make it feel tidier and make it more likely for you to pull out a book to read or to grab that game to play with friends.
My goal, when it comes to decluttering and organizing, is more about keeping the house functional and keeping my stuff easy to find and use than it is to actually own nothing.
It’s about spending less time looking for your stuff and more time enjoying the things you love. Everything should live where it’s meant to live, and each item should only ‘visit’ other places for the duration of its use, then it needs to be returned to its home!
That’s the magical house I want to live in!
It takes continual effort, but it provides continual ease of use and peace of mind!
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