Hello again.
I have been becoming a minimalist for years now. I say becoming, because it has been a slow, slow journey into minimalism.
This year, I decided to jump start my journey and do the Minimalism challenge. Why? My house was, is, driving me a little crazy. It was hard to get things out of the drawers, the cabinets were disorganized, and the closets are better left shut they are such a mess. I dislike mess. I have always been drawn to minimalism because it is so clean. You don’t have to clean it if you don’t own it. So, after some thought, I decided to take on the Minimalist challenge to get some order back into my home.
As a quick explanation of the Minimalist Challenge, whenever you start (we started on the first of the month), you get rid of one thing, the next day, you get rid of two things, and on you go until you reach day 30 when you get rid of 30 things. It doesn’t seem like much every day, but it adds up quick! If you want to know more, you can find the rules and more from the guys who started the challenge here.
We are already halfway through the month, so I thought I would write a little post on how it is going, and what I have learned so far.
My husband and I are doing it together. As in, we are discussing what we want to get rid of together. Because it is a team effort, we do it in the evenings when he is home. I love doing it with him because it is a little extra accountability and camaraderie. However, I think the hardest part for me is not deciding what we are decluttering without him, because I am home all day and the stuff is staring me right in the face!
It has not been as hard as I thought it would be, so far anyway. I figured the second week would be rough, but we are plugging right along. We find things to get rid of pretty quickly every day. I think it will get harder soon though, because we are on the last room of the house. But it is a very full room… So we shall see!
I think we did end up tweaking the rules a little. For example, I don’t usually count trash. I am trying to get rid of things, not just throw things away. But we do sometimes, so I think it depends on the day and how motivated we are. Heh. Also, if we skip a day, we make up for it the next day. For example, yesterday we had to get rid of 31 things because we were making up for the 15th and the 16th.
Already, I can see a difference in my house. Drawers open easier, I was able to declutter my hall closet enough to have a pantry! Yay! The corners of my house look livable and pretty, not a dumping ground of clutter and unmade decisions. I love my house again, and the beautiful rooms we have already gone through have given me the strength to keep going through the rest of the house.
A quick note, if you or your spouse tends to hold onto things that might be useful, someday, do not start in the kitchen. I know, everyone says start in the kitchen. But if you are a ‘we will need it one day’ person, start in the living room. I say this because my husband is that kind of person, and the kitchen was the absolute hardest room for us to declutter so far. It might have been because we started in that room, and beginning wasn’t easy. But for ourselves, I think it would have been easier if we had started in the living room.
Thanks for coming to my talk, see you next time!
Shaina Merrick
The Beauty of a Story 