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Mimimalist Mamas

8K views 151 replies 29 participants last post by  Mommel 
#1 ·
Minimalist Mamas take de-cluttering to the extreme! Chat about projects in progress, emotional detachment to stuff, our accomplishments and set-backs, helping people understand our lifestyle etc.

Welcome!
 
#102 ·
that's awesome paige! :D

i was rather forced to have short hair by my mother growing up, so now i wear it long and love it. i don't color it, and the cut is so good that it's really no effort at all for me to take care of it. it always looks great and I only need shampoo and conditioner (i don't use anything else), and I only wash my hair every 2nd or third day, unless i get really sweaty/dirty over a day.

i have to buy this child more shoes. poor kid, he's just running right out of this pair. :)
 
#103 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoebird View Post

i have to buy this child more shoes. poor kid, he's just running right out of this pair. :)
Don't you love that feeling though, when you use something to death and then buy a new pair when you actually need to? I love that feeling of not consuming in excess and getting things that will be really well used :)
 
#104 ·
yes, but also no.

here in NZ, it is hard to find children's shoes. Yes, there are shoes available, but they aren't the quality or fit that we are often seeking. And, they are expensive. So, we have to order from the US, and timing is everything.

I'm actually on a path of ordering two sizes -- the size he needs now and will use for about 6 months -- and the next size up. then, i can order ahead again. It's a lot though. :)
 
#105 ·
Uh well, I decided against coloring. My un-dyed roots blend so well with the old colored parts and I've gone a year so why ruin the effort. The first year is the hardest anyway! I just get bored sometimes.

Long hair is not un-minimalist to me as I don't do anything to it, and it's easy to braid or put up, but commitment to coloring definitely isn't and if I would color I KNOW I'd regret it and start growing out again.

One major reason for me is that I want to give my daughter an example of accepting myself as I am and not being too vain ;)

And it will be interesting to see my natural color long, as I've pretty much had it colored since I was 13 or so with a couple of periods of no-dye in-between. I'm naturally a dark blonde I guess, but it really is obvious only after my natural hair get a bit longer than the 4-5" that I have now. I was a light blonde kid. My DD was born dark and already her hair is as dark as mine is now and she will probably be a total brunette in a few years. My mom and grandmom were dark and I suit dark hair very well so I've colored my hair darker most of the time (with bouts of red and blonde in there somewhere hehe). I really love dark hair on me so I struggle with the blonde, LOL!

Anyway.. I think the only way to handle my natural color is to have super long hair, so I'm growing it to my hip. Then perhaps I can go without the drama of being dark, or a redhead, LOL!!

On to other subjects.. (Boy do I love this forum, having you guys is great!)

We have started dreaming about how we could make it possible to travel more or live six months of the year abroad. We'd probably move somewhere warm, and cheap where I'd do volunteer work, and we would move full time I think if we didn't think DD needed here extended family now that she has just started to let them in and get friendly with them.. She may not have siblings so she needs her cousins around, whom she adores.. Also I love the summer here, and spring and early autumn too, so if there was a way we could live here for the summery months and live somewhere far away for the other six, it would be a great compromise, or rather, best of both worlds.

I volunteered in an orphanage in Cambodia and I miss it.. the country and taking care of the children. I'm an artist by the way so my work is not a hindrance. DH's work is.. But he has his own "business" too which is more like a hobby that makes money and we could support ourselves on that if we lived somewhere cheap, but living six months here would still be costly, especially if we kept the apartment. I think it could only happen if we could in a few years buy a home with cash so we'd not have to pay rent or mortgage. We currently have about usd 100K but it's not enough in here, we'd need at least another 100K, probably like 150K to buy something small here!

My brother's fiance is from Thailand and I sometimes I say we should all move there. Yeah, not likely to happen.

I haven't made any donations, but I'm slowly collecting stuff to donate when I have a full bag to take. Gave a couple of tops to DH to use as rags to clean his bike. Oh, and I sold 4 chairs :) I tried to sell only two of them but no one would buy two so I sold all four. We now have 3 chairs in the kitchen plus DD's Stokke.

And I bought 5 bras. but they replaced my old ill-fitting nursing bras.. I think I should only have bought 3 or 4 but oh well...

Okay DD wants to go outside. more later.

I do enjoy everyone's posts!!!!
 
#106 ·
Minimum, I'm also thinking of becoming semi-nomadic.
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Like have only a suitcase or so each and spend 3 months (the shortest leases you can get here) here and then move on to a new place for 3 months. The seasons drive me crazy so I am thinking of spending the cold parts of the year where there is snow, then summer in tropical paradise hehe and just move with the seasons. I hate my home city so I'm hoping to find some places around the country I can really say I love.

I read a blog where the mother travels with her daughter all the time and I thought it was the perfect life! International airfares here are crazy if you have several kids- cause anywhere out of Australia is a huge distance! So I think we will have to stick to going around the country for now. Maybe put stuff we will need when we resettle at a friends house- we have very little at the moment so it wouldn't take up hardly any room. Although I'm planning another baby so just have to wait and see where it will all fit in. Most of the stuff we still have is being saved for the next baby, nappies, hand-me-down clothes, etc. So if I weren't having another we wouldn't have anything much to leave stored.
 
#107 ·
I have long hair and I just was it with Dr. Bronners and brush it and put it in a clip or braid. I've always thought short hair takes much more maintenance, just from what I'v seen in my family.

We are trying to become kind of semi-nomadic. I am sick and tired of the rain here in Oregon and miss my family in California. So we are renting out our house and moving down there, by my DH really loves Oregon and doesn't want to move, so we want to build a Tumbleweed house and just live in both states as well as do some traveling.
 
#108 ·
It's really cold and dark here in the winter, with epic amounts of snow. Which is fun, for like two weeks :) I really struggled last winter. It's just too darn long, dark and cold!

I could come here for Christmas with the family every year. :)

DD is easily agitated by new stuff though so I don't think changing homes all the time would be good for her. More like, have two homes.. Or one home and then extended travel.

I do want her to have roots somewhere, and see her extended family. But I bet they'd visit us too if we lived somewhere tropical ;)
 
#109 ·
i love being a minimalist. i got all cranky this morning because I woke up and there were several little messes left behind by the good ole DH, and I was like, DUDE! because i have to get out pretty quickly on thursday mornings.

well, it took 30 minutes to clean the place up. lol! all that complaining in my mind over 30 minutes! so funny. and, we still got out early. go figure. ha!

seriously, that was DS's toys, making the bed and daybed (in the lounge), hanging the washing on the line, doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, decluttering the paper pile, and packing up for play group and an afternoon at the office. Yay me. :) Yay minimalism!
 
#110 ·
Yeah I find my house still looks way messy once the kids are done with it :) But once I actually try to clean up I'm always shocked by how quick it is now to pick everything up. I even manage to vacuum most days now which is big achievement for me :p

Minimum you could always get a caravan (like one of those small ones attached to a car) instead and make it really homey. Then she could have her home wherever she goes! :) Or just keep a home base and travel when you like and rest when you like. If we owned a home I would probably do that- but since we are renters it would be better to just take everything with us and get to stay as long as we like in new places.
 
#111 ·
Haha, I chopped my waist length hair to chin :) I was annoyed by the layers I had and the old color that I'd been growing out for a year, plus I had chin length bangs growing out.. So I lopped it off right at chin :)

It feels so light and fresh.

I'm going to start washing my hair with shampoo bars. Super minimalistic as you can wash your whole self with the same bar :D Also no plastic packaging or transporting water in a bottle all over the world, so ecological to boot.
 
#114 ·
I'm finally back at home after 5 weeks of traveling! It was fun but it feels good to be back. I'm now starting a super clean-out kick. I think I've been partly inspired by you all and partly by the homes we were visiting. Both my and DH's parents have sooo much stuff it's crazy. I thought about it on the plane and I want to go room-by-room and take the time to really figure out what I need, what I can give away and what I can sell. My previous purges have usually been one crazy day of loading stuff up in the trunk and dropping it off at the thrift shop, so I want to take my time now. I think I'll start a thread over on "Decluttering, Organizing, Simplifying" and start with the kitchen! Join in and lend me your minimalist wisdom!

As for the haircut lol I did the same thing a few weeks ago. I thought it would be easier to take care of-- and it is-- but now I have the urge to use/buy more little clips and stuff because they look so cute
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Oh well!
 
#115 ·
what did you do for your minimalism today?

today, i gave my boppy pillow, the moby wrap, and too-small woolies to my friend, whose baby is due in Sept/Oct.

in addition, on saturday, some friends came over with a box of hand-me-down toys/books for hawk. I've already cleared out the "character" books (disney, thomas, etc) as a matter of preference, but have kept several others, and i'm in the process of culling the soft toys. DS seems to have become attached to several of them (about four or so small ones -- fish, shark, whale, small dog is what i can remember off the top of my head). So, those can stay but the rest will be passed along as well.

it was so funny to me. we said big 'thank you' to our friends for bringing these things over -- i know they were pleased to do so -- but man, so against my process. I'd just done a quick cull of anything too young for him, and his birthday is coming up so I know the family will want to send stuff. still, just setting things aside helps.

oh, and DS loves the box. it's his "convertible!" he likes to zoom around in it. LOL cute, really.
 
#116 ·
I finished my kitchen!
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(before and after pics on the other thread)

All the food is together in one set of cabinets so that I can quickly see what I have. It makes meal planning for the week SO much easier.

The dishes are pared down to daily use essentials: 2 plates, 2 half plates, 2 bowls, a few knives/spoons/forks, one mug and 3 glasses. They are stored in the dishwasher. The dishwasher is the new drying rack. Since we have so few dishes, they don't pile up and need to go in the dishwasher! The rest of my dishes are put away above the refrigerator for when people come over.

Baking and serving dishes and storage containers all fit in one cabinet.

I threw away my non-stick pot and loaf pans and a bunch of plastic boxes.

I am selling my useable but nonessential appliances and serving bowls (on Facebook).

I have counter space!!
 
#117 ·
I took a bag of spices I don't use much to church and gave them away there. : ) I almost have all my food in one cupboard, and all my dishes in another. I've downsized over half my kitchen, cooking is SO much easier.
 
#118 ·
I have all the food in one upper cupboard (double doors, three shelves).

We did a quick walk-through this open air flea market wit DD. I bought one book for her and LOL, she started protesting that she doesn't want it! She was tired by then, but still. The seller thought she was so cute.

She then went on to offer DD to choose a stuffed toy from a cardboard box for free. DD just looked at them and didn't want any. The seller was like, wow, she is super cute, so unusual! I was relieved that DD didn't want anything, we have enough stuffed toys and these weren't particularly nice.. I was a bit annoyed that she took the liberty to offer her something without even asking me first. I wanted to tell her, look, we live in a small apartment. She does not have a room, her toys are in the living room. I have gone through trouble to keep her toys in check and I DO NOT WANT more random stuff she will not play with, but I can't take it away without her permission either.

Anyway, I'm so glad DD isn't into stuff that much.
 
#119 ·
Hi everyone! Joining! So glad I found this thread. Stumbled on the Zero Waste blog recently while looking for something else and was intrigued. Then starting reading the simplifying thread and found my way here. I am aspiring! I have become VERY minimal myself, getting rid of most of my clothes and books and toiletries, but it's a struggle with my packrat husband and my 2-year-old son.

So, I'm working on myself right now, and also trying to simplify routines with my son, but will have to tackle the rest of the house very, very slowly. My DH is open to the idea of getting rid of stuff, but when it comes to putting in practice, he struggles. For example, last night I tried to pare down our bags. We have five suitcases and a ton of duffel bags and overnight bags. I was hoping we could pare down to three suitcases (one each) and one carry-on. My DH says, "But what if we go to Europe?" LOL!!! I finally convinced him to let me get rid of ONE small carry-on, the one that was mine.

My pantry is a disaster, because my DH will not allow me to get rid of any food, period. So I'm trying to use things up. He does like the idea of eliminating packaging and plastic, so I took one small step of buying rice in bulk when we ran out and putting it in a glass canning jar. I love the way it looks in my pantry and can't wait to see things progress.

Baby steps!
 
#120 ·
Howdy Minimalist Mamas!!!! I love this subject. It's one of my favorites. I am not one to count how much I had but I think if I did, I wouldn't have much. I remember when I had 1 week to clean and clear out and move. It was quite the eye opener. AM VETS and Goodwill became my best friends that week.
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I hauled out stuff like a mad women for 3 days straight after I had an initial yardsale. I decided that I can always find what I need in a thrift shop or the dollar store. For instance. I got rid of the behemouth of a turkey cooker. It holds a 25 lb turkey. I hated storing it, cleaning it, lifting it...etc. I decided this year, we are going to go out for Thanksgiving and enjoy ourselves. Just DS and myself.

I also gave away a lot of vintage style items I was going to decorate my home with. They have been hauled around and I am going simple and chic now. Not much decoration with a pop of color here and there. Mostly get that from my red couch and turquoise and beige comforter. I have a few family pics on the walls and a large barn star that I salvaged out of a dumpster. It is about 3 feet wide and awesome. I just purchased to large lamps too--tall ones. I hate squatty ones and I hate overhead lighting, so I found some crystal ones that sparkle when the light hits them. I have one in the living room and one in my bedroom.

DS has his legos, cars, bike, dog, books and his art stuff. He is happy as clam at the beach. We spend a lot of time at the beach, so entertainment is simple with a bucket and a shovel.

I do love my clothes. I have work and play clothes and I like variety, though I tend to buy multiples of my favorite things. If I find a tank top that holds up, I buy 3-4 so I have them on hand. It's really the only area I tend to keep multiples. DS and I split the walk in the closet. He has the lower hanging rack for his clothes with smaller items in the top drawer of a shared dresser. His shoes are neatly on the floor, lined up. He has about 6-7 pairs and we purge religiously throughout the year, as he grows so fast.

One big area I rid myself of is storage items- bins, baskets, shelves, trunks, or otherwise. I just downsized and purged and now everything either fits in a drawer, cabinet or closet. The only exception in my son's toys. He has a small covered large basket for these. It is decorative and is a quick solution to hide his toys and I can leave it in the living room. Oh, and the laundry basket.

Just one. All we need.

Furniture wise we have the sleeper love seat, full mattress set, 2 lamps, 3 drawer dresser, small side table in living room, flat screen, round dining table with 4 chairs. I am adding another living room chair with hassock soon. I just picked out the fabric for it. The hassock has storage for my son's bedding. : )

Otherwise, I have basics in the kitchen and bath. I am not fancy and can cook up a storm with just a few things. I did invest in some nice glasses, dishware and silverware, as I like to entertain. I also have nice curtains, as this apartment needs privacy. I bought 3 pairs for the entire place and it looks nice.
 
#121 ·
today, i started for-real tackling the "garden."

I grant you, it's a stretch to call it a garden. it's a tiny little courtyard space a tthe back of my house, and two very narrow beds running along the side of the house (which is where the entrance is).

nevertheless, i got the place de-trashed and weeded. it wasn't a lot of trash, but it was a lot more trash than i expected. also, a lot of the plants are just in bad shape. I pruned several of them, but I don't know if many of those are going to make it.

my landlady is also helpful. she's going to remove the stuff in the back that we can't use, so that we can have the space. I'd managed already, this morning, to go through the shelf unit of paint cans and chemicals and figure out that 90% of them were not useable or simply empty cans (and rusted through pretty good). since she is building the house next door, the workmen are able to take care of those cans for us. I put the good paints/etc (used just before we moved in to spruce the place up) into our 'secure storage' area, but she said she'd be happy to take them when her garage is finished (week or two?). So, that means we'll be free of all of those chemicals! In addition, she'll be removing drawers (plastic) and a workbench.

we, then, will be able to garden! i'm going to transplant some agapanthus from the front walk to the hillside at the back of our house -- that is the back "wall" of our garden. I'm going to mix agapanthus with some local grasses, too, and hope that those grasses just start to take over so I don't have to weed out clover so frequently. but, clover is great green manure, so I don't mind so much. i plan on putting down gravel so that the mud from the hillside isn't so much of a problem (it rains a lot, so we get a fair bit of soil down there).

i think that will work.

then it's a matter of just putting in some potted plants, building a swing and sand box, and putting a bench out in the same area with the sand box and swing.
 
#122 ·
continued work on the garden space today.

DH helped me pile the landlady's things into one corner, and from there, I was able to sweep out the greenhouse. we decided to keep the floating floor on the one side, as it keeps the place level and was difficult to move. I measured out the sand box space, and I plan on putting pallets as planters along the back wall behind the sandbox space. This will be a space for herbs and lettuces! , along one side, I'll also put some potted plants along the sides -- but not so large that they would block the ability to get to the herb/lettuce pallets.

Across from this space, I put the long bench that we have -- which DS largely uses as a play kitchen. This will be a much better space for him to play. I have space at both ends for some potted plants on the ground, and I'll probably put a few on the bench to stabilize it a bit. I haven't decided what I want to plant yet, but I'm thinking that perhaps a blueberry bush (DS's favorite!) might be a good option for the corner.

Under the kitchen window -- which looks out into the space -- I'll put in a flower box. I'm thinking of hanging a couple of tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber plants as well -- since we eat a lot of those and hanging goes well. I'll plant herbs on top, even though they'll be hung too high up to really use. The pallets will be for use, these are simply to cover and prevent pests.

I think the toughest part, at this point, will be making the sandbox.

it's winter here. i'm hoping to get this room set up by end of august, so that i can start planting in early spring. that's when there are good deals on started plants. i don't really want to start from seed (some things I will, though -- like lettuces).

then, i'll get to work on the outdoor space between the protected/covered space (which is quickly becoming a more utilitarian space), and the greenhouse/playroom (as ds calls it) started. it's a small space -- perhaps about 9 ft by about 5 feet, leading into the hillside. I found a space with a lot of native grasses and flaxes growing wild, and was able to easily draw out several bulbs. I brought them back here and temporarily planted them, and I think i'll plug them into the hillside to hold the soil. Then more containers in this section, and it should look really nice. :)
 
#123 ·
Your plans sound wonderful! I bet you are having lots of fun doing all that.

We cleaned out dad's storage (because he plans to sell the house in the near future) and most of the stuff went into donation pick up pile in the garage floor. Some stuff he wanted to keep. My sis took a few things. I took a pair of hardly used snowboarding gloves, because just last winter I thought that I really need waterproof gloves for winter, my only pair is leather and they get soaked playing in snow...

So yes, once again I was looking at the truth that is that almost all the stuff we keep in storage is something completely useless.. A lot of it was mom's fabrics and old curtains and such, and then clothes, and then more clothes dad put in there after mom had died..

There was one "memory box" of mine that I didn't finish looking through. I didn't bring it home since I plan to burn most everything in dad's oven. I will keep a few letters from my family when I was overseas as an exchange student. I have my SMALL memory box at home which has hardly anything in it so I will put them there. And a few photographs that I plan to take out of the albums and then trash the albums and burn the pics I don't want. Burn my old diaries. I will perhaps look through them, I'm not sure yet if I even want to.

There was also two boxes of old fashion magazines - I don't even read any magazines anymore and I don't want my daughter to be around any. And I sure as heck don't want to store them and move them! I was using my parents storage for that LOL!

My snowboarding boots went into donation, I just don't see myself snowboarding that much anymore. And if I do I can rent..

When my dad sells the house there will be lots more work, but not so bad. The house is only like 1200 sf and it is not packed full by any means. Of course we'll help dad with it, since he can't take all the furniture and there is many antique pieces my sis at least wants and who knows, maybe my brother and I will take something. Also all the other mom's stuff still there, dad just doesn't want to make decisions about it which I understand.

Honestly I don't know what I would take. My sis already says she wants this antique tableware, a very full set :) It will be perfect for them as they have the biggest house (still only like 1600-1800sf plus storage) and they host Christmases and Easters and big birthdays etc. And there is this large wooden antique "chest", that is used like a credenza for tableware storage and such but it's higher than a credenza.. She want that too. It's gorgeous, but big and heavy and we don't need it. There is still two wooden sofas/pull out daybeds.. a writing desk.. and so on. But I think my sis will actually find room for a lot of it, she says she can get rid of some IKEA pieces or whatever.. But they do have antiques already as well.

There is this one small wall-hanging cabinet with glass doors, it's very old and quite cute. It wouldn't take any floor space either. But my brother already said that he'd like that one, and that's the only thing he's mentioned, so he can have it. I already have those green velvet upholstered antique chairs in the attic (that go with our sofa) that we have no room for. And the couch is hardly ever used. Only when we have company someone will sit there..

I offered the set to my brother, LOL, but he said that they are afraid their cat will destroy them, and they are not too keen on unpractical furniture either.. :D

My sis already has an antique "dining room sofa" and green is not her color anyway... But I KNOW that she would want to keep it in case her daughters would want it when they grow up (the oldest is 8 now). Oh well. We do have room for couch for now.. If my dad didn't just spend a small fortune in upholstering the set for me I'd get rid of it..

I'm rambling now.

This is the last day of DH's vacation, sigh. At least there's still lots of summer left.
 
#124 ·
I loved the pallet planter idea, I have three pallets now waiting to become strawberry planters. Last night we loaded up a friends pickup truck with nasty wood leftovers and broken tile we ripped out of the kitchen. Dh took it too the dump this morning, it was 1800 pounds! It's nice to have my garage back now!
 
#125 ·
it is awesome to have a room back!

i priced out a good veggie box for the sand box for DS -- should make a nice one. Price is good (for NZ) at $129 for the kit, the fabric to go beneath, and the cover to keep the cats out. :D And, found some *really cool* planters at a really great price so that I can plant the shade/cottage garden. so, i think it's going to be pretty great overall. I'm excited about it!

In addition, we are moving forward with some interior work.

our first step, actually, is to put shelving in the lounge and also in the "closet room" which is quickly morphing into a library. We will curtain off the closet side of the room, and then put shelving on the long wall for our books and DH's writing materials. I'm also greatly considering home/unschooling again, so we would need space for those supplies as well.

I'm bringing the two mid-century modern chairs from the office into the house. One will be in the corner by the shelving in the living room (which will mostly house DH's toys, some of our most-used books, and perhaps a nature table) across from and facing the day bed. Then, both the chair and the bed will need to be dressed.

The second chair will go into the "library" (the new working title for the closet room) with a mid-century modern stool which would be a table or footstool depending upon need. I think this will be great for DH -- a place for him to read, study, write, work on his stuff, but also just a comfortable spot overall. I'm excited to see it come together. It's a very chilly room, so I"ll have to recover the chair in something warm and also make sure there's a blanket or 3 in there. LOL

So, i'm excited about that as well. :)

Oh, and business is growing again. Such awesomeness!
 
#126 ·
I've been watching a show called Small Space, Big Style (it's on Hulu if you don't have tv/cable like me). It definitely not all minimalists, but some are and it gives great ideas for using a small space to it's maximum. The first episode featured this cool portable home I think like some of you were talking about. It made me think of yall anyway...
 
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