Embracing Minimalism

I wrote a few months back about aspiring to be a minimalist and I finally got my chance at applying it to my living space since we returned back to our apartment in Central Asia about a month ago. It's been a process since we got home to everything in boxes. Not to mention the suitcases we brought with us and then with decorating for Christmas.

We started the process naturally as we took our things out of boxes. I probably got rid of more than half of my clothes and shoes. One of the rules of minimalism (according to Joshua Becker) is to just keep what you LOVE and what you use a lot. The first purge is the easiest, but after that if you still have too much stuff in your drawers, you know you need to go a step further and really identify the things that you use the most.

So far I have done this in two steps. I went through my clothes and everything else once when we arrived here and removed things from boxes, but as we started to use things we were able to identify the things that we used the most and the things that we didn't use at all and that helped us get rid of a second round of things.

One of the main differences in our home now is in our living space. We decided to remove the television, which was on a table in the corner, to make room for Ruthie's toys, but also just to de-clutter things. We decided that the majority of our movie watching happens on our computers anyhow and this has proved to be a good decision, especially since I am home all day so many days during the winter months.

The other place that I have been really working to narrow things down in is cupboards and drawers. My clothes are something that I always struggle parting with. But the concept of keeping only the things that I love has really helped me to narrow it down. I've also just adopted the mindset that I can always buy another pair of jeans if I feel like I don't have enough, but in reality, I know that two to three pairs is enough. It has felt so freeing to open my drawers and only see a few shirts and pairs of yoga pants to choose from. It can be cause for more frequent loads of laundry, but it's so nice to be able to fit everything in so easily when the laundry is clean :)

The kitchen cupboards also needed help. I was tired of having mugs stacked on each other. How often do we even use these mugs? Some of them, never! Some of them were left by the people who used to own our apartment, but I kept them because they looked nice and I thought maybe we would have parties sometimes where we would need extras. That didn't really happen, we rarely have more than 8 guests in our home at once, so I decided only to keep the mugs that I really liked and ended up with a lot less clutter in my cupboards!

I feel like we are just starting to scratch the surface of having a minimalist home. We are definitely trying. With an apartment this small it can be difficult, but it's even more necessary in some ways. If you are interested in the minimalist lifestyle, check out Joshua Becker's blog "becoming minimalist." I follow him on Facebook and get inspiration for this lifestyle every day from his posts.

It's more than just having less in our homes, but I feel like this is where it starts for most people. Parting with possessions can be hard, especially as we begin to narrow it down to only what we really use and love in our homes. We often believe the lie that maybe we'll use it or need it someday, but lately I have been reminding myself that if it can bring someone else joy or provide them with something that they need, then it's not worth keeping it in my home "just in case." So if you're inspired, find a worthy cause and begin your journey to minimalism today!