Why I’m Pursuing Minimalism + How It’s Going So Far

I’ve been decluttering and purging every single nook and cranny of this old farmhouse pursuing minimalism. I’m sharing what I’ve learned, and how it’s going so far!

Why am I pursuing minimalism, you may ask? For starters, I was exhausted. Every. single. day. By the time I got the laundry done, the dishes washed, and picked up eleventy billion messes day in and day out, I had no desire to do anything else. I was completely frustrated with the house. Even worse, with my kids. I can not even count how many times I threatened to throw every thing I owned away.

I started a mission to improve how the house functioned for us this year. (You can read more about that here and here.) I knew it involved figuring out how to make the house more functional for us. However, I had no idea it meant I would be pursuing minimalism.

I realized a few months ago that we had too much stuff and not enough house. My first instinct was to say “We’ve outgrown this house. Let’s move!”. I soon realized that this house is plenty big enough for the four of us. Moving to a larger house would only mean we would fill it up with more stuff. That didn’t make much sense to me. I started focusing on the rooms that really gave me the biggest struggle…the kitchen and the dining room. These two rooms were always a mess. If I could keep them clean I felt like it would change how I felt about the house.. I couldn’t get ahead. No matter how hard I tried to keep them clean, it didn’t matter.

I stumbled on The Minimal Mom on YouTube. She said everything I was feeling. She had been where I was. How did things get better for her? Minimalism. It didn’t take me long to jump on board, and really start a deep decluttering of our entire house.

What I’ve learned so far

Just start…

• Just start. I know it’s daunting, I KNOW. It was something I wanted to do, but I talked myself out of doing this for years. “I can’t be a minimalist. I love my stuff.” I said all the things. Made all the excuses. I was overwhelmed. One day I decided to pick one cabinet, and clean it out. After 30 minutes of a major purging, I was ecstatic. 30 minutes of work had made all the difference in one of my many trouble spots. It gave me the momentum to open the next cabinet, and the next cabinet…

Start a quarantine box…

• Start a quarantine box. I learned this from the Minimal Mom, and it was a game changer. If there’s something you have a hard time parting with put it in a box, and place that box out of sight for as long as you need. If you find yourself going to the box, and taking things out, you need to keep it. When you haven’t touched the things in the box, it’s safe to part with them. I have several glass storage dishes, and a few casserole dishes in my quarantine box as we speak. They’ve been out of sight for at least two weeks now, and you know what, I haven’t missed them once!

Be realistic…

• Be realistic. This is something that I’ve learned through the process. I am the worst at reasoning out why I keep certain things. “My loved one gave it to me.” “But I love it…” “I paid SO much for this.” Those may be valid reasons to keep something, but if it means THAT much to me I need to find a place to display it. I need to use it every single day. Not keep it tucked away in a cabinet. Also…keeping something that cost a lot that isn’t getting used doesn’t put the money back in your bank account. It’s best to try to sell the item, or donate it to someone who will benefit from it.

Set goals…

• I mad a goal to declutter my kitchen first. Starting with one cabinet, and working cabinet by cabinet was easiest for me. Once the kitchen was complete I moved to the dining room. Taking one piece of furniture at a time until they were all sorted through. Next the living room, and so on. Setting these room by room goals has helped me to not be totally overwhelmed by the whole house. I know I’ll get to each space eventually, and they will all feel as nice as the other rooms do.
• Set goals for how you want each room to feel. I want clean countertops, and tabletops. My goal was to remove the clutter, and keep them clean. It just helps me feel so much more focused and relaxed when there is very little visual clutter.

Here’s the thing about pursuing minimalism, it’s different for all of us. There’s not a certain number of items you must get rid of, or a limit on the things you can own. It’s completely up to you. You decide how much you want to get rid of, and how much is feasible for you to keep. I made a goal that I’d LOVE to be able to pick up the whole house in 15 minutes on its messiest days…I won’t even begin to guess how long it takes me now.

Another misconception that I had was that minimalism meant cold living spaces. This is another completely “up to you thing”. If you want a cold living space, by all means, get modern furnishings, and paint everything black and white. For me, cozy is a must. I’ll still keep the comfy, cozy décor…I’ll just have less to shove out of the way for pictures. 😉

The less stuff you have, the less mess you’ll have to clean up.

I have half of the house left to do, but we ran into a little bump in the road. Nick and I got sick with the new coronavirus, and it had me down for the count. I am hoping to get back at it as soon as I can. For now, it feels so good to have the living areas clean, and clutter free. Our bedroom and bathroom are next on my list. I am very excited to share how I sorted my clothes, and minimized my wardrobe.

I’ll keep you all posted how the progress goes! As always, thanks so much for stopping by the farm house.

Here’s an image to pin for later…