If you know me at all, you would think that I’d never be on
the minimalism train…nor getting close to the station. I am more than a pack rat, always keeping everything
for the ‘what-ifs’. I’ve had two tee
shirts & a jacket since Elementary School for goodness sake! But this past December, before Christmas my
husband Austin (Aud) and I were feeling the weight of ‘more stuff’ in our house and
where we were going to put it.
Our cute house was built in the 1930s, was redesigned before
we bought it, and we’ve also torn down a wall, put new electrical in, painted
about 10 times, and redesigned our kitchen almost 5 times. We have two closets, one in each
bedroom. We have a cellar, mudroom, kitchen,
2-bedroom, 1 bath, dining room, and living room. It was a constant battle where to keep bedding
and towels. Before we had our son Ryne (Ryno),
Austin kept his clothes in the 2nd bedroom closet…but once we had a
child we needed to pare down. So, I came
up with a solution of keeping two seasons in the closet at a time the rest
would be stored in our cellar until a major season change. This lasted a year or so. The
feeling of not having control over our home was a daily battle.
We both had to get to a place where we were comfortable with
what we owned, but also a place where we were ready to only keep our favorite
things. Right before the New Year, we
were writing on the same page and ready to go.
We attacked one room at a time. I
was surprised with how much freedom we felt with each room. Only keeping what made sense, and what we
loved, getting rid of things we didn’t know we had or ‘why do we have this
still?’. We laughed at things we had
that were broken, torn, or maybe once was a pair of something that hadn’t been
a pair for years. We were on a freakin’
roll, and we were really happy. Living room:
check, Dining room: check, Kitchen: check, Bedroom/Clothes….
This was a tough one for me.
I have clothes that I currently can’t fit in because I am holding onto some
weight after having Ryno , all the ‘what if we have something fancy to do too’.
What if, what if, what if… I had to let go.
So, I started with everything that had a hole or stain (except for one
tee shirt I wear when I dye my hair). If
I didn’t love it, I put it in the donation pile. Then I realized that I didn’t love a lot of
what I had, I was just wearing it because I had it. 💡 Light Bulb.
My whole clothes buying life, I always looked at the price tag first,
and the clothing item second or not at all.
When I started piling everything I didn’t love, I realized that the most
items I kept were either sentimental (like my mother’s sweater & sweatshirt)
and a bit more expensive. Or well…more
than $25.00
We went through everything.
Coats, Jackets, Sweaters, PJs, Undergarments, Tops, Button Downs, Tee
Shirts, Socks, Tights/Leggings, Shorts, Pants, Jeans, Bathing Suits…and everything
in between. We were pretty proud of ourselves.
We were able to fit in one closet, all seasons, and put our other
clothes in the dresser.
Then we watched Tidying Up on Netflix…and after the first
episode we hit our clothes again! This
time we donated more and learned how to fold our clothes in a way that neatly
showcased everything. Now we had plenty
of room in our closet, and my socks, underwear, tights, hose, shorts, pjs (tops
& bottoms), undershirts/tanks, and shorts all fit in a bin under the bed. Our shoes are lined up on one side underneath
the bed, and our robes on the back of the bathroom door. The dresser now holds winter gear, bedding and towels. We are ecstatic.
The next week is when it all started making sense…
I was able to keep up on household chores. For the FIRST TIME in my LIFE. 💪 The sink was clean every night because I was
able to wash-up the small number of dishes each evening…it took like less than
10 mins even with Ryno asking us questions and wanting more blueberries every
second. We were able to take time and
relax together every evening, and really relax because our chores were done. The laundry bin was full on Saturday. I was able to fit everything in one load and
folded it (my share & Ryne’s share, Aud puts his own up) and put it away. ONE LOAD Y'ALL!
Getting ready for work has never been easier, but also, I
get to be creative and I really love that. Everything
I own is my favorite, so I know how it fits, I know how to wear it and what
do pair it with, and I feel confident every day because…they are my favorite, they
make me feel good. I do have a birthday
gift card to TJMaxx burning a hole in my pocket because I only kept 1 sweater,
so I will be using that to get a couple of things I do not have and making sure I love them (not just a good price tag, but the item itself). I’ve been wanting an open back sweater for a
couple months now, so we will see if I can find one that is perfect for me.
I’ll be posting more on my what I kept, and what outfits I
make.
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My Minimalism is holding onto what I love...period. For example, my favorite sweatshirt is atrocious. I'm serious, it's hideous but it brings me so much joy. It's an over-sized, lumpy, electric green-blue sweatshirt that has a black & white long-haired CARPET kitten with bright green eyes. 😳 It was my mothers. Someone in our church, decades ago made it for her...and I adore it.
Also, I love answering questions so fire away! I'm excited to answer them!
Who knew that all the mediocre mounds of stuff was not adding to my
life, but actually taking away? And not
until I gave it up, I started to receive.
That sounds very familiar to me…
Luke 9:24 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life because of me will save it.
😉
As Always Admire Our Image
