We’ve written several blog posts about embracing minimalism. As we prep for our move, we have done a really good job of eliminating possessions. But we have been surprised by the work it has taken to stay decluttered.
Looking back over our Amazon orders (pretty much the only way we buy things besides groceries these days), once you remove all of the Christmas gifts, our purchases are all consumables with a few exceptions.
We recently started exercising, so we have purchased some equipment and workout clothing. But we also know that exercise equipment is very sellable on Facebook Marketplace, so we think of it more like renting exercise equipment until we move.
My (Steph’s) minimalist closet is still pretty minimal. I did order two pairs of sweatpants a month ago and some warmer socks last week (when winter finally arrived here in KC). Layers are cheaper than heat.
How it started…
We started decluttering about 8 months ago. Boxes, trunk loads, and in one case a dumpster, of stuff has left this house. Hundreds of pounds of things have been donated, trashed, and sold. And we aren’t even halfway done. Every drawer, cabinet, closet and room holds items that have to find a new home in 75 weeks.
But we can both honestly say that there is nothing in what we’ve decluttered so far that we have materially missed. And the mental weight we have lost from getting those items out of the house is so much more than we expected. Even if you aren’t facing a life changing move, our message to you is – clean out your closets!
How it’s going…
We would be lying if we said the drawers and closets we have decluttered have stayed empty. The creep of stuff happens almost without us noticing. The kitchen junk drawer, while still better than it used to be, is still the dumping ground for tiny things that we may need later.
Closets that were empty are no longer empty, as we move things from room to room for painting, etc. Most of the items will be going to family or for future donation/selling, but for now, they sit in the closets, reminding us that this is a process and spaces that are decluttered can become cluttered again.
We do have many empty spaces and empty walls and that will increase as the weeks pass. We’ve made peace with the fact that, as we paint more rooms, the walls will reflect less of who lives here now and more of the image we want the house to project to future buyers. When it is all said and done, the house will be a blank canvas. We are erasing our presence one wall at a time.
We find this blog to be the single most useful thing in keeping us honest in our quest to own practically nothing. It would be easy to post pictures of cleaned out closets on social media and then let them quietly fill up again. With the blog, when they fill up again, we write about it!
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