Striving For A More Simple/Minimalist Life Tribe - Page 8

[Pariah]

we just moved and im starting to unpack and everything seems to have a place BUT my crafting supplies (and canning jars ) and I live for making things. I need a studio where I can set up my sewing machine, spinning wheel ect..but i dont have one..I dont have a spare room or even really a space..

I have art/craft/sewing stuff too. I bought two rectangular tables from Ikea and put them in a corner...if that makes sense...so the tables make a 90 degree angle? I hope that is worded right. Anyway, I have a file box for important papers and two Rubbermaid bins for supplies that fit under the tables. The sewing machine is on one table top all the way on the right, a printer in the middle, and all the way on the left is a box of pencils and a little container of pens, paperclips, etc. I keep the space as empty as possible so it looks neat, and I have that space free for crafty stuff or cutting fabric.

It is a tight squeeze, but it is doable in our little space.

[CultivatingMyRoots]

So Introduce yourself...
I am a single mother of two, living in a 450 sq ft one bedroom apartment! I have both my daughters fulltime, although I am lucky that I have an ex who is doing his best to be a parent and my oldest is going to preschool four days a week. My teeny apartment has to serve as home, office(for a start-up sewing/etsy biz, which is actually starting to work, but is getting constrained by space and storage!), and school (half online, half on campus). While I got over any pack-rat issues I may have had about a year and a half ago, staying in a space this small with two growing girls and still having people over (three or four times a week, sometimes even overnights!) means staying vigilant and on top of the clutter and storage solutions. I do have a storage spot, that is a block away, and is a non-negotiable business expense. It's much cheaper to rent storage than have an office or upgrade to a two bedroom, and I love that I can put away my biz stuff and not have to store inventory and bulk supplies in a closet or something crazy and inefficient.

What brought you to this place?
Wanting to remain in my healthy positive lifestyle, regardless of my square footage. My one year old is starting to get cabin fever, and I need extra support and discipline in order to stay on top of the apartment and also be a mom all day. I'm hoping that she will get childcare for my school, however, I have still been struggling with keeping up my morale.

Is it material things, an overabundance of too much in your life or something else?
Lack of space, and some emotional issues surrounding giving my children what they need despite frugal means. I am balancing my feelings of guilt over separation with my ex with the obvious benefits that have resulted for myself and my children. The emotional turmoil has resulted in all sorts of changes for me, and I have noticed some good and bad changes. The bad being that I am having trouble reconciling my small apartment (that I love for what it is) with the three bedroom house I left. I want my daughters to have more than this. But this is the step I'm on, and I want to do it right so I can move on without the baggage!

[MusicalMeg]

Can I join, too?

Hello there, I am new to MDC (though I will admit to being a longtime lurker ) and I came across this thread. I have been working hard to simplify our lives for a couple years now, getting rid of all the extra stuff we had cluttering our lives, and learning how to fill my life with the few things we really need and truly enjoy, instead of letting our house overflow with things we don't use to the point where the things that bring us real joy are buried too deep to find!! I have found more and more that the more clutter there is around me, the more cluttered my head feels, and then I feel lost- like I can't focus on anything because there is too much around me.

[quantumleap]

Originally Posted by Pariah

I know Ikea has inexpensive easels for kids, too. I'd love that and a big pad of paper for him.

I really wanted an easel for dd, but we're also in an apartment with limited space and we live an 18hour drive from the nearest Ikea...
anyway, I would up buying a big roll of butcher paper instead. The roll fits nicely into one of our totally uselessly sized cupboards (3.5' tall and about 6" wide. seriously. who does that?!), and we just roll out a big piece and tape it onto the wall.
There's always a big chunk of paper up for dd to use, and we just flip it over or tape up a new piece whenever she asks or when it gets full. We like the system a *lot* because it's cheap, out of the way, always available, not taking up floor space, and still allows the at dd's level space for sticker sticking/colouring/painting, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with an easel, just thought I'd share because it was a good solution for our small space. I'd like to track down a roll of newsprint paper for next time though as the brown of the butcher paper doesn't lend itself to seeing the true colours of some markers, etc.

[Astrea]

Originally Posted by MusicalMeg

Hello there, I am new to MDC (though I will admit to being a longtime lurker ) and I came across this thread. I have been working hard to simplify our lives for a couple years now, getting rid of all the extra stuff we had cluttering our lives, and learning how to fill my life with the few things we really need and truly enjoy, instead of letting our house overflow with things we don't use to the point where the things that bring us real joy are buried too deep to find!! I have found more and more that the more clutter there is around me, the more cluttered my head feels, and then I feel lost- like I can't focus on anything because there is too much around me.

Welcome!

The bit that I bolded in your quote up there is exactly how I feel. Thanks for articulating it so well--I've never managed to do that! It really clarifies my desire to simplify and minimalize.

[accountclosed3]

yeah, it' not technically against my religion--as i technically don't have one. it's just a way of saying i'm adamantly against them, personally. LOL

uhm, and we found some nice wool blankets, so, we are good.

we instead were able to buy a coat rack that has just about everything we need (shelves for shoes, a rod for coats, a shelf on top), and it's nice. we are super happy with it!

[lillyfire]

[QUOTE=selkat;15585989]I really wanted an easel for dd, but we're also in an apartment with limited space and we live an 18hour drive from the nearest Ikea...
anyway, I would up buying a big roll of butcher paper instead. The roll fits nicely into one of our totally uselessly sized cupboards (3.5' tall and about 6" wide. seriously. who does that?!), and we just roll out a big piece and tape it onto the wall.


We had the Ikea easel, and while it was great, it was also big and bulky. I just sold it! I love just taking the roll of paper or old wrapping paper that I'll never use upside-down (white side up) and taping it to our coffee table with blue painter's tape. It seems easier for my 1.5 y.o to color on the papered table than on the wall.

[WindyCityMom]

Glad I found this!

So glad I stumbled upon this

So Introduce yourself!!
Okay! I'm Megan, young mama to 2 girls (2y8mo & 8mo) and wife to my amazing husband I SAH.
-discuss what brought you to this place
We're living in my MILs less than 500sq ft basement apt. 'Nuff said.
Is it material things, an overabundance of too much in your life or something else?
The lack of space, mainly. My hate for clutter and an overabundance of material things and the need to purge is a close second.

[SaraCate]

Joining in!


So Introduce yourself and..

Sara, homemaker/SAHM to Gareth (19mo), Lachlan (coming in Dec.), and sometimes Calum (14 yrs.). Enjoy far too many things - all kinds of needlework/crafts, kitchen skills, veg/herb gardeing, etc. I hope to become certified as a doula and possibly childbirth/breastfeeding educator over the next...five years? Slowly working through doula reading material in prep for eventually taking the courses. Intend to homeschool our little ones.

-discuss what brought you to this place

I think it boils down to a desire for time and space. Freedom. I want to feel able to, say, read a little or do needlework during DS naps, or take walks and go to the park w/ DS and not feel like there's 17,000 other things I 'ought' to be doing. To feel able to have folks knock on the door unannounced and invite them in w/o any qualms. To have the amount of stuff that actually fits, comfortably, into the spaces we *have*, rather than what we *might* have, someday. For our physical spaces to feel restful and nurturing.

Part of theis is physical - i.e., decluttering material stuff - and part of it (a lot of it?) is mental/emotional. I feel I've made lots of progress on both fronts - letting go of housework sometimes, but also starting to get to a point where the spaces *are* feeling less crowded, etc.

-how is this path and what has it taken you to?

See above. Have some ways to go, but am starting to feel really good about our physical space and about life in general - I didn't feel 'bad' about life, but...maybe it's like the difference between being 'not sick' and being healthy? Or even healthy vs. optimum body condition/function? (Not there yet! )

Is it material things, an overabundance of too much in your life or something else?

A little of both - but mostly material things right now, I think. In the past couple weeks, I've attacked decluttering, cleaning, culling, organizing with a new enthusiasm and am really feeling the positive results. I'm actively seeing the lower-maintenance of having less crowded space, and feeling the physical and mental energy that comes with not having clutter draining you.

So...I guess I'm here for like-mindedness, for sharing the journey...I see 'rhythm' and continuing to establish good habits being a big theme in the next few months to a year, as the physical spaces get closer to our ideal. Also, with a new baby, establishing a new rhythm that works for us all will go a long way toward our days feeling 'simpler', I think!

[clutterwarrior]

I have already done a short introduction at the beginning of this thread, but wanted to add something.

how is this path and what has it taken you to?

I just felt that I wanted to say how much this forum has helped me immensely.

I never realised how much decluttering, organising, & simplifying my home, would have such a spin-off effect on my whole life!

I joined this forum in March, started doing the 2010 things, then discovered Motivated Moms and started doing that....and as a result, my home is a completely different place, it is so much nicer for my husband and children and myself to live in. I have not finished decluttering or simplifying by any means, but am certainly seeing the results of my efforts.

I used to be a bit of a compulsive shopper, with borderline hoarding tendencies. Because removing clutter and cleaning takes time, it means I now have less time to go out shopping. Looking back I realise I was trapped in a cycle of spending, acquiring, cluttering....which made me feel miserable and depressed and hopeless. The more results I see here, the less I need the buzz of shopping, as I am getting more of a buzz from feeling happy at home.

It is not just the house being cleaner and less cluttered, it actually feels like my MIND is less cluttered. I no longer feel burdened by a sense of hopelessness, I have lost that 'brain irritation' caused by never feeling in control.

Anyway just wanted to share my progress.

[IsaFrench]

thank you for sharing your experience !

it helps me keep on believing that I'll get there too ... one day, although progress seems so slow to me

I suppose if I was ruthless about the physical side of decluttering only , THEN the emotional side would be too much in shock and not able to catch up easily .... I need to feel good as I go along, which makes for a rather slow pace !

[aquarius aspiring]

So Introduce yourself and..

Hi, I'm Sara. I'm not a mama yet, but maybe in a few years.

-discuss what brought you to this place

I'm getting sick of the clutter in our apartment. I figure less stuff, less clutter, right? At least that's what I'm shooting for.

-how is this path and what has it taken you to?
Is it material things, an overabundance of too much in your life or something else?

I just started working on de-cluttering the bedroom. My plan is to do a little each day before I go to work and I will have a de-cluttered apartment sooner or later.

I don't want to have a lot of stuff, but the stuff I do have, I want to use.

Edited by aquarius aspiring - 12/31/11 at 5:29pm

[sosurreal09]

Hello everyone I am Kami. Im a SAHM to DD 11 m/o, and soon to be wife to my long term partner of 8 years.

I a just starting my journey to de-cluttering materialistic things as well as emotional/mind things...get my life together...

i am in the process of trying to live happier ,healthier, simpler, more eco-friendly, and un-materialistic life.

[sosurreal09]

sooo no one said anything yet but i wanted to add we started family cloth today!! im a convert already!

[crpsmnwife]

Hi there :-) I've ended up here ultimately because we adopted. Yes, I know that sounds odd, but when we were paying for our son's adoption, we sold everything that wasn't nailed down. That was the start of simplifying our lives. It was amazing how we would have one yard sale, and then 2 weeks later, we would have another with the stuff that we weren't quite ready to part with before... we did that over and over again for 9 months. Well, now my son is home from Africa, and the reality of his former life has not left me. I would like to let it change me and my family. I don't want unused toys overflowing into the hallway when someone else could be playing with them, why do I need 13 t-shirts that I don't even wear, and why are there piles of STUFF on my kitchen counters? It's time to purge again!

[sosurreal09]

congrts on the adoption!

[Juvysen]

I'm doing the "holiday grandplan" again and going through the house top to bottom over the next few months (hopefully... not as easy as it sounds when I have a baby in the house ) so I'm hoping to purge a lot more stuff this year, like I did last year...

Shocking how much can build up...

[sosurreal09]

seriously we are moving and i told DH im getting rid of EVERYTHING

[AngelBee]

[southernmommie]

So Introduce yourself and..
Hi everyone! I'm not new to MDC at all but am recently going through a life change. My whole attitude about our way of living is changing and adapting.
-discuss what brought you to this place
Looking for inspiration and ideas for simplifying my life and making it more creative rather than materialistic.
-how is this path and what has it taken you to?
I have just started not too long ago on this path, so still learning so much. It has broaden my views on living on less and with less. How to do it, what you can actually do without, and how you don't really need those expensive technologies!
Is it material things, an overabundance of too much in your life or something else?
Too many material things that started cluttering my home and making me crazy. Literally. Also, with the addition of more kids, the family expanding beyond the "normal" standards of society has brought me to realize that I like not being like regular society and wasn't really all that connected to "regular society" in my heart to begin with.