Community Chat

[queendiva]

DS and his GF are minimalists. She wears a capsule wardrobe of neutrals and now will be working from home nearly 100%.  Other DS: I told him he and DDIL had an insane number of clothes which they did not have room to adequately store. They got new (to them) bedroom furniture. They listened and I took at least a half dozen large trash bags full of their cast offs to a school clothes recycling fundraiser.

I am trying to be more mindful of shopping. I have done very well this year with not buying beauty products unless I am on my last one of an item. My stash used to be ridiculous- all those little lotions and potions. when I moved I gave it all to my friend. I am doing better with clothes & shoes. Better, with room for improvement. Household is under control and purging will begin again in January. 

I always allow myself to go a little crazy in December and January, when prices on many items are as low as they will be all year. I need to cut back further on the amount of food I buy- too much as it's just me here. I admit to having a long-term, unnatural attraction to handbags, with Dooneys being a favorite.

Minimalism means something different to everyone..

[golding76]

When I think of how much I own of individual categories of things (clothes, jewelry, handbags, coats and jackets, etc.), I feel somewhat sick to my stomach.  I am not exaggerating.

Suddenly, I don't want anything much anymore. 

[catwhisperer]

I don't like clutter and am a clean/neat freak. I believe in just keeping only what I really need. My DH is recently deceased and the only furniture I have is two 20 yr.old recliners that my cats have taken over. I could get a couch, but the cats would just destroy it, so why bother. I just make do with what I have and that is fine with me. 

[dex]

I am not stocking up on anything.I buy what I need when I need it.I am lucky to be just five minute from three grocery stores so I don’t have to have food in my fridge going bad when I can’t get to it.I am not buying much clothing as I don’t get to the mall and my online shopping has not been successful.I don’t need kitchen things but will replace items that break or wear out only if it is a item I use often.

I am spending more time at the gym,visiting,cooking or online instead of shopping.

[Shanus]

I never liked clutter and am quite organized. I love the feeling I get in a hotel when the surfaces only have what you absolutely need. I find it restful, peaceful. When I started doing that in my bathroom, I put skincare in smaller jars so it all fit my medicine cabinet and off the counter. On my vanity, brushes, liners that don't do well laying in a drawer are in glass mugs organized by face brushes, eye brushes and pencils in separate mugs. I put my makeup away in top drawer. I cleared off all surfaces in the bedroom except a box of Kleenex, notepad/pen next to phone and we each have a clock. That's it. Just like in a hotel.  

Next up is the kitchen and family room (aka sunroom). I started a few weeks ago. Lots of stuff to go through.

[Porcelain]

I can't stand having a bunch of junk around that never gets used. Wasting space bugs me a lot. So that part of minimalism appeals to me. But I like having backups of the items I consider important. And I like variety and flexibility. So being too strict about limiting numbers of things doesn't appeal either.

[Porcelain]

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@Shanus wrote:

I never liked clutter and am quite organized. I love the feeling I get in a hotel when the surfaces only have what you absolutely need. I find it restful, peaceful. When I started doing that in my bathroom, I put skincare in smaller jars so it all fit my medicine cabinet and off the counter. On my vanity, brushes, liners that don't do well laying in a drawer are in glass mugs organized by face brushes, eye brushes and pencils in separate mugs. I put my makeup away in top drawer. I cleared off all surfaces in the bedroom except a box of Kleenex, notepad/pen next to phone and we each have a clock. That's it. Just like in a hotel.  

Next up is the kitchen and family room (aka sunroom). I started a few weeks ago. Lots of stuff to go through.

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I like how restful the bedroom part of hotel rooms feel, but I don't love the empty bathroom area. The experience feels sort of like camping out because I can't possibly take all my favorite skincare and makeup with me on trips, so I have to make do with whatever I decided to pack. It's very slightly anxiety inducing. And then, since there is usually no place to put everything away, all my stuff has to just sit there on the counter. And that looks way worse than my nice organized setup at home.

Clean clear surfaces are really nice, though. Totally agree on that.

[Shanus]

My DIL was complaining about not enough room on her bathroom counter for all her "stuff". We went to her Dollar Store and purchased 3 glass, cake stands with pedestals. With glue for china, we glued them together making a 3 level stand. She now has room for jars and makeup brushes on all levels. You can also find these stands at yard sales. 

[Shanus]

My new motto is "If I need to purchase more containers or bins to store stuff, I have too much stuff".

[Porcelain]

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@Shanus wrote:

My DIL was complaining about not enough room on her bathroom counter for all her "stuff". We went to her Dollar Store and purchased 3 glass, cake stands with pedestals. With glue for china, we glued them together making a 3 level stand. She now has room for jars and makeup brushes on all levels. You can also find these stands at yard sales. 

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I got a giant white spice rack that is meant to hang on a pantry door. Put it on the inside of my bathroom door. I have all of my skincare and haircare in there on different levels, all in order of application and easy to access and nothing on the countertop. Plenty of room for occasional use items and extras on their own levels, so I don't have to be too minimalist about it. It does require regular pruning of non used items, though, like any system.

The cake tiers sound nice looking too.