You can start a minimal lifestyle anytime you want. But now that 2021 just started, the beginning of the year is a good time to give yourself a fresh start and enjoy all of the benefits that minimalism provides. Before you jump in and start decluttering your entire house and/or life, let me say this: Minimalism is not a law or an esthetic, it’s a lifestyle. It’s not about living in an empty house and it’s not about giving up everything you love. And changing your lifestyle is a process, so let’s start with something simple anyone can do. Here are four easy ways to declutter your home.
The minimal bedroom
Something simple you can do to declutter your home is to declutter your bedroom first. It’s usually the only room in the house with the least amount of clutter, unless you live in a studio. Even then, a few small changes can help you create a minimal bedroom. I decided to get rid of my bedside cabinets, as they were the centre of clutter in my bedroom. I opted for open shelf units in a beautiful brass finish with glass shelves.
Bedside cabinets or tables with drawers can quickly become the centre of clutter in your bedroom. In my cabinets there were all kinds of things like make-up, magazines, an old tablet and even a candy stash. Because you can close cabinets and drawers, the clutter is out of sight and out of mind. Which means it’s right under your nose and ready to become even more cluttered.
Using open shelf units makes me put things on the shelves I actually like and use. These shelves are too pretty to become cluttered, so I was very thoughtful about what I’d put on them. Now there’s only my Philips wake-up light, a magazine, my Ipad, a coaster for my water glass and a basket with lip balm, tissues and body cream. On the other unit I have a vintage jewelry box, books, a bowl of little beauty nick-nacks, books and another basket with body creams. No more clutter, love it!
The minimal kitchen
If you love cooking as much as I do, you probably have a lot of spices in bags and small jars. They were all over the place in my kitchen and to be honest, it was getting quite expensive. Buying small quantities of spices in plastic bags at the supermarket costs me more than buying in bulk. For example: A small supermarket bag or jar of 35 grams costs between €1,45 to €3, that’s a little over $3,25. A big bag of 500 grams will only cost me about €3 to €5 at the Asian supermarket. So yeah, time to save some money honey!
I decluttered my kitchen by getting rid of all of those small spice jars and bags. I decided to make a list of the spices I use the most and then I went out and bought them in bulk. I also bought a variety of weck jars and made tags for all of them. I then poured all of the spices into the bigger jars, which cleared up space in my kitchen cabinets immediately. I was able to toss a lot of mini spice jars and plastic bags.
This is an easy start to declutter your home. And although minimalism isn’t an esthetic, I do love how organized my spices now look. The glass weck jars look very fresh and clean. Because I use those bigger jars now, I have to buy less little spice jars and plastic bags which is better for the environment. I also have more than enough spices in my house because I buy in bulk and that is very nice when you cook a lot.
A minimal beauty stash
I love beauty products and I have too much for my lifestyle right now. The reason why I have a lot of make-up is because I used to work as a make-up artist and a beauty blogger. I got sent so many press kits, I don’t ever have to buy make-up again! Also, collecting make-up was my hobby for about ten years. I do have a really big collection I don’t want to get rid of, because I can still use all the make-up I have left.
Minimalism isn’t about throwing away things you can still use and enjoy. If the things you love are still in good shape, don’t toss them just because you want to be a minimalist. That’s missing the point! However, if you also have a big beauty stash an easy way to start minimizing is to create a basic beauty set. I did this by grabbing a beautycase which I filled with my beauty essentials.
I filled my beautycase with every beauty product I actually love and use on a daily basis. From foundation, to blush and my favorite eyeshadow palette. This forced me to make good choices and realize which beauty products are my actual essentials. Now that I know which products I don’t want to live without, these are the only products I get to buy. I’ve had this system for about two years now and I haven’t bought unnecessary beauty products since.
A minimal collection of your collection
The way minimalism is portrayed on the internet is often very extreme. Empty houses, no possessions and no fun, or so it seems in my opinion. That’s why many people who hear of minimalism for the first time shy away from it because they don’t want to give up their favorite collections. Don’t worry, minimalism isn’t a contest for owning the least amount of things. It’s about only keeping the things you actually love and use. You can apply this rule to your collections too. Whether that’s a book, stamp, make-up or stationery collection.
However, there’s a way to minimize your collection whatever it may be. In my case I started a stationery collection back in october 2020. I’ve been journaling all year but I wasn’t having any fun with it, because I didn’t have a good stationery collection. So I decided to buy myself some stationery I thought I’d like. I ended up buying a few things I don’t really like and I won’t use often enough. So I made a plan!
To prevent myself from buying stationery I don’t really like or will use, I decided to create a minimal collection. First, I wrote down what kind of stationery esthetic I really like and only bought those kinds of items. Then I cleared out a plastic drawer set and put my collection in there. My new rule is that if it doesn’t fit into that drawer set, it’s not coming in. You can apply the same ‘rule’ for your collection and the spot you picked to keep it. For example: I have only one book closet and if a new book doesn’t fit, I can’t buy it or I have to toss one.
And these are four easy ways to declutter your home without taking on too much at once. I really hope you’ll give these declutter ideas a go,
Kaya-Quintana
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