Any minamalists in the house? - Page 2

[zoebird]

Awesome about the garden!

We are starting our garden, too! I'm using found things as the foundation! First, pallet gardens! my only addition or subtraction is to use coffee bags as the backing, rather than landscape fabric. Why? because a client works at a coffee roasting place (and coffee shop), and she can bring me many many many for free! We will be starting some seedlings soon! 

I have two pallets so far. One will be for herbs and the other for microgreens because, quite honestly, we eat a lot of salad. I'm also thinking of doing cherry tomatoes, small sweet peppers, and cucumbers in them if I can. :) if i find some more pallets (and i'm sure I will), i'm going to do one of strawberries as well, and perhaps several with flowers. :) I love the idea of it, really -- reusing things! :D

i'm also hoping to hack a few pallets and make some planter boxes, for larger plants.

i'm so psyched about this. I know. it's easy to make me happy. LOL

[Calliope84]

I desperately want to be a minimalist, but DH doesn't go for it. He still talks about how I got rid of a bunch of stuff when he was on deployment and I had to move by myself (3 years ago.) He only noticed like 1 thing missing out of the 7 or so garbage bags of crap I got rid of.

He sees empty space and says "There is an empty space, we can put something there." I see something on a counter top and I try to figure out where I can hide it. My mom is a packrat, though her home is always spotless. She won't quit bringing crap to my house. I have clothes for DD that are size 4T and up! She is 9 months!

My in-laws have knick knacks everywhere. Their walls are covered with interesting things from their diplomat days (things with lots of dust...) and even their kitchen cabinets have tons of knick knacks and stuff on the top of them. I'd go batty if that was our house.

My favorite home I ever had was a studio apartment when I was 19. It had a twin bed, a loveseat, and a dresser I painted sea foam green. I had a sort of beach theme. My washer and dryer were tiny stacked ones in my kitchen and I had a small bathroom. It was so simple. Also, my apt was brand new. I hate living in old places with dirt on the baseboards and stuff. We bought a brand new home, so if I can get it simplified, I will be able to keep it nice looking for the most part. Already the grout in our tile is grimy looking though because we didn't seal it. ;(

Our house looks like a tornado hit it right now. We can't even walk in our garage.

I am working on this decluttering stuff, but now I feel like I can't get rid of anything... like.. I have all these different sized clothes because I've been 130lbs all the way up to 220lbs when 9 months preggo! What if that happens again next time? It was really expensive buying all those clothes. Same issue with the huge tubs of baby clothes we have already.

We also are very committed to our home library. That is not a place that can be minimized. We'll buy more shelves first, lol.

[Imakcerka]

Oh heck yes, I have so much time for so many other things.  I have a couch, three beds a dining room table/chairs and TV... that's it.  If it can't fit into our walk in closet and that's clothes for all of us then it gets bagged and donated.  The only thing I still hold onto is my books.  Though I will go through and reread them all and loan them out as well. 

[velochic]

We are minimalists and both of us have been for our whole lives.  It's not something we learned as adults, it's just part of who we've always been.  It was actually one of the things that attracted me to dh.  Our home is simply and tastefully (if somewhat outdated) decorated.  No curtains, but designer blinds, simple bedding.  Our furniture is all simple, European (mostly Danish), clean modern designs made of naturally stained cherry wood.  Hardwood floors and simple rugs that are easy to maintain.  A few things on walls, and some pictures on a book case, but no tchotchkes sitting around gathering dust.  The nice thing is that our house is always tidy (except for dh's study, which is his domain and I rarely touch because he's a university professor and it's his second office).  I like clean lines, clean surfaces.  Like the OP, my dad was a Navy man, and my mother kept a very tidy house.  I can't live in clutter and housekeeping is important to me.  Our house is still inviting, I think.  It's not stark or antiseptic... just not cluttered or busy.  I will also add that I absolutely ABHOR shopping.  I don't go into a store to look around (and thereby acquire thing I don't really need).  I go in, get what I need and leave.

[ecomama2two]

I am IN LOVE with this thread...as I'm tripping over laundry and books. Let's see if I can switch up this lifestyle for a minimal one. I'll start with our main room I think.....thanks for the motivation!

[clutterwarrior]

Originally Posted by velochic 

I will also add that I absolutely ABHOR shopping.  I don't go into a store to look around (and thereby acquire thing I don't really need).  I go in, get what I need and leave.

One thing I have discovered to my delight, is that it is possible to go from loving shopping to not loving shopping. I used to really love spending hours browsing stores, but since I have been doing so much decluttering in the last 18 months, I really don't enjoy it anymore... unless I have a particular thing I need to buy I don't go to the shops just for the heck of it. I get very uncomfortable in shops now and I find all the stuff around me saying buy me, buy me, is just plain irritating.