Becoming a Minimalist

This post is about minimizing, but it's about to get a LOT deeper. 2017 is all about soul work. The best place to start is on the outside. So get out your trash bags and join in the fun. Trust me... it will be worth it.

First let me tell you why I decided to start becoming a minimalist.
There are three key reasons why it makes sense right now:

1. We are planning another move at the beginning of June.
2. This move will involve major downsizing, possibly into a 2 bedroom apartment.
3. Now is not the time to even attempt to accumulate more stuff.

Now here are three key reasons for anyone to start minimizing:

1. You are tired of organizing the same crap over and over.
2. Your stuff makes you more stressed than happy.
3. You want to start enjoying the people in your life, not the stuff that has taken over your life.

Where to begin? 

The Closet




This is very close to what my side of the closet looked like before I began.

Your closet is the ideal place to start. The closet is a place of accumulation. It doesn't matter who you are, or what your lifestyle consists of, you could stand a good closet clean out. As a matter of fact, the next time you are really stressed out or had a bad day, do not pick up that bag of chips, or that open that beer. Do not sit on your butt and start watching TV to zone out. Get your ass in that closet and start taking control. It will leave you feeling accomplished and relieve some of the stress you are carrying.

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I googled closet minimizing and found a great site Project 333.

Without going into great detail, I basically cut all but my favorite 40 items. This includes shoes, accessories, purses, etc. I will need to find a job in Seattle so I had to keep a few interview type outfits and dressy clothes that I would have probably donated, so I added another 10 work related items.

The keepers. Another round of cuts before we officially leave this state.



Empty hangers. ALL of these were being used before I
started + a handful of other crappy ones I threw away.

The difference with my plan and with Project 333 is that I am not boxing up my clothes to go through another day. They are gone. Done. Adios.

Now what?

The Bathroom
After that initial clean out, I was thirsty for more. I went right for the bathroom cupboards and threw away all of the lotion except one. One single lotion that I use every day. All of the half used smelly lotions were removed. 20 hair brushes, combs, and picks were removed. I have a single hair brush and a single comb. The 50+ contact cases were tossed leaving only 2. It is amazing what you hold onto in a bathroom. You need one toothpaste, one toothbrush, one floss, one bottle of contact solution. I could have stocked a Costco with all of the crap I was hoarding in the bathroom.

Now take one minute to run over to your bathroom (or visualize that lotion storage location) and count how many bottles of lotion you have. This includes travel bottles you will never ever use. Go ahead, I'll wait...

See?!  WTF is wrong with us?!

I am left with one single caboodle full of my bathroom items like makeup, accessories, nail polish, hair ties, etc. + 1 bin of bigger hair stuff, like my curling iron, blow dryer, hair dye stuff and a few counter items I use every day... tooth stuff, deodorant, a single lotion bottle and some self tanner. Hey, I can be a minimalist and still care about how I look.



Caboodle! I know your jealous.

The Office
While I was on this minimizing high I went right for where it hurts me the most... office supplies. I had 5 bins that moved from Michigan to Florida to Colorado and everywhere in between. I never touched any of it. If I wanted something I would just go out and buy it again because I love office supply stores and I am just an incredible nerd... I hear it now.

I have 2 bins left and I know when I make my second rounds of cutting, I will be left with one solitary 20 quart bin.

The Kitchen
I hit the kitchen and went through every cupboard, every drawer. Duplicate items were tossed. I kept a fair amount of kitchen stuff, but I got rid of equally as much. I took all of the unopened boxes from the last move and stuck them out in the garage. I obviously made it through several big holidays and a few months without it. So it's gone now.

I did keep one set of functional utensils and cooking equipment. I also kept the electronic stuff that I use nearly every day: blender, toaster, Keurig, slow cooker, and a food processor. That seems like a lot still, but you should see what I got rid of: Boxes and boxes of barely used kitchen crap.



This weird room off the kitchen has only been used for storage
and garbage.

*BEFORE*

*AFTER*

*BEFORE*



*AFTER*

The Kid Stuff
Clothes... so many clothes.
I almost forgot about the kids clothes and bedrooms. This was serious business. They have so many clothes. A lot of hand me downs. I went through every piece of clothing and choose about 20 outfits - shirt/pant combo - and 5 sets of PJs per kid. I boxed up anything a size bigger and moved the rest out to the garage.

The Toys; a never ending mass of shit to pick up.
The toys that haven't been touched since we moved here are packed up and out of sight - a key when minimizing with kids. I firmly believe that toys should be imaginative and/or educational. The toy food and kitchen stays, the building sets stay, the dress up stuff stays. Games, puzzles, and other educational items stayed. Anything duplicate, broken, or annoying was tossed.

The 4 year old is VERY much into coloring, art, and crafts. While the 2 year old loves cars, trucks, a train table or his road rug.

We downsized the playroom and currently I am confident we would fit comfortably into a 3 bedroom apartment. I still have another round of minimizing to go and I am well aware that if the apartment is a 2 bedroom I will have some hard decisions to make. Let's put it this way, we did have 2 kids bedrooms, a playroom and a school room full of stuff. We are down to 2 kids bedrooms full. That's a major start.

That slide and table in the corner can be taken apart. The tent folds up.
We are ready for a 2 bedroom. <sniff><sob>

The quiet time bin system lives on!!

The Garage... ugh.
The last room to be dealt with will be the garage. Currently I have just been sticking everything out there so it is quite the disaster. When it gets warmer I will decide what gets donated, what gets moved to storage (gym equipment, holiday décor, outdoor gear) during our apartment years, and what gets taken with us.

 I wish I would have taken more before and after photos. There was such a difference in the amount of stuff. Next round I will try and make it more visual.

If you are ready to take 2017 by the balls, I suggest you drop me a message or leave a comment. Let's do this together! It's time to clean out your soul. The first step is to clean out the outside. So get minimizing, and get ready to change your life this year. There is so much more to come...