This week’s post is a special guest post from Ali, the owner and blogger behind the Share to Inspire blog! Connect with Ali on Instagram, or Facebook!
Enjoy!
If you’re looking to lead a ‘less is more’ lifestyle, keeping and maintaining a minimalistic home can be a great way to start. From regular decluttering sessions to streamlining your storage solutions, there are simple techniques that everyone can use to keep their home consistently tidy and organized.
I too believe in the Less is More principle and I have been keeping a minimalist home. This is my way to reduce stress and simplify my life. Because by focusing on only the essentials and letting go of things that don’t bring value, you can create an uncluttered living environment that is both beautiful and peaceful. You can follow these steps to learn how to have a successful minimalist home.
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- 6 Super Simple Ways To Begin Living A Minimalist Lifestyle
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First, Why Keeping and Maintaining a Minimalistic Home is Worth It?
Adopting a minimalist lifestyle can bring numerous benefits, from saving money and reducing stress to freeing up time for other pursuits. From my experience, I was at rock bottom when it comes to my finances but keeping and maintaining a minimalist home helped me move up and achieve some of my goals.
From here, you can learn why less is more and the advantages that come from having a simplified, clutter-free living space.
1. Clarity and Focus in Life
One of the chief benefits of keeping a minimalist home is gaining clarity and focus in life. Clutter can be a huge distraction both mentally and visually, but when you downsize on unnecessary belongings, you’ll find yourself with fewer distractions to detract from your important objectives.
This can boost efficiency, help reduce procrastination, and allow for more meaningful connections with loved ones and activities that are important to you.
When I started my minimalist journey, I realized that books bring so much value to my life and clothes do not. I decluttered a lot of my clothes and focused on reading books. I`m sure you can find your focus in life too.
2. Avoid Clutter and Unnecessary Possessions
Minimalistic living helps to prevent the accumulation of too many possessions that can accumulate over time.
You’ll be less likely to bring new items into your home if you don’t have extra space for them. You will less likely to buy new clothes if you have a minimalist wardrobe. Instead, focus on keeping only what truly adds value to your life and give away, sell or donate items that no longer serve a purpose in your lifestyle.
This will help keep your home clean and organized, reducing the chances of creating clutter from unnecessary possessions.
3. Financial Savings, Time Management, and Stress Relief
As I mentioned above, maintaining a minimalistic home helped me save money for more important things. It also helped me manage my time more efficiently and provided me with stress relief.
Cleaning and organizing less stuff can help save you time too since there won’t be nearly as much clutter to clean or figure out where to put things away.
You’ll also find yourself saving lots of money when you refuse to constantly buy unnecessary items. Plus, a minimalist lifestyle can reduce stress, as organizing and running a small home is much simpler than one full of junk and clutter.
4. A Chance to Live a More Independent Life
Living in a minimalist home will also give you the opportunity to be independent and creative. You’ll have more space and freedom to move around, allowing you to organize everything just how you’d like it instead of being surrounded by too much stuff everywhere.
Plus, living without much clutter gives you a chance to focus on yourself, your passions, and your projects which can help lead to big accomplishments in life. Having less will also feel liberating as you don’t have to worry about constantly obtaining material items that may only bring temporary happiness.
5. Creative Gifts, Artful Decor, and Unique Design Choices
I believe that keeping and maintaining a minimalist home gives us the freedom to focus on creative gifts, artful decor, and unique design choices.
Instead of being lost in a pile of too many things, you’re free to search for and add items that have great meaning and will create a beautiful atmosphere.
Needing fewer things also allows you to be more thoughtful about curating your space, which can lead to a rewarding experience that’s so much more than just filling up your house with stuff.
So Here are 10 Keys to Keeping and Maintaining a minimalistic home
1. Define Your Needs and Goals.
Before you begin decluttering and organizing your home, take the time to define your needs and goals.
Identify what items will be necessary for daily living, prioritize the items that are most important to you, and develop an action plan with short-term and long-term goals.
Making a list of your organizational needs will help you stay focused and motivated.
As a lot of minimalists say “Begin your decluttering process with a plan”. Start small and work in sections, so that it doesn’t feel overwhelming.
Break each room down into individual tasks and focus on one task at a time, such as decluttering closets, organizing cabinets, and purging old clothing items. The more organized you can make each space, the easier it will be to maintain minimalism going forward.
2. Measure the Space and Decide What to Keep and What to Let Go.
Now that you have established the goal you want to achieve, it’s time to measure the space and decide precisely how much of your belongings you want to keep and what should be let go.
Measure the area you want to transform into a minimalist space. Using this as your guide, make decisions about which items are essential and should stay, and which ones can be removed from the room. Create piles for items that can be donated, recycled, sold, or thrown away.
3. Declutter All Surfaces and Work on Closet Clutter Too.
A minimalist lifestyle requires everything to have its own designated space, which means it’s essential to declutter all surfaces in your home. That includes the top of dressers, kitchen counters, and bathroom counters.
Additionally, work on closet clutter by paring down clothing and accessories that you no longer wear or need. Instead of throwing items away, donate them to a local shelter or charity. This will help others while promoting minimalism in your home.
4. Experiment With Organizational Furniture to Maximize Space Efficiency.
Keeping and maintaining a minimalistic home involve investments in multi-functional furniture. So, I always consider purchasing smart pieces that suit my needs and taste.
You too can look for organizational items like hanging closets or wall-mounted shelves for clothes, or bookcases to store books and knick-knacks. Utilizing furniture pieces this way will not only maximize your existing space but also add a level of sophistication to it.
5. Start Small and Get Rid of Clutter You Don’t Use.
The most effective way to begin keeping your home a minimalist haven is to start by getting rid of clutter you don’t use. Set aside dedicated time for organizing, sorting, and purging items you no longer use or need.
It’s important not to let the task overwhelm you—start small like going through one closet at a time rather than attempting to declutter your entire house all at once.
Remember, minimalism isn’t about owning the least; it’s about deciding how much of what you own needs to stay and what can go!
Get rid of things that don’t add value to your life
The most enjoyable part of creating and keeping minimalist home for me was to remove the excess clutter. Getting rid of anything that doesn’t serve an immediate purpose was the fun part.
And this included extra furniture, luxury items, duplicate things, CDS, knickknacks, small appliances, old decorations, and other items I don’t use regularly.
Here is an example for you, some people find that freeing up space in their living room by removing the bulky entertainment center and just keeping the TV mounted on a wall improves the atmosphere and makes cleaning much simpler.
Other approaches might include getting rid of excess clothing to reduce closet clutter or downsizing to one car as a way to save money and free up valuable space in the driveway or garage.
The goal is to have fewer items in each room, so focus on removing anything that doesn’t enhance your home or make basic tasks easier, faster, or more enjoyable.
6. Clean Up Every Day to Make Tomorrow Easier.
To maintain your minimalist home, cleaning up every day is a must. Even a short daily cleaning routine is enough for me. Just 5-10 minutes a day can make a huge difference when it comes to keeping your home clean and tidy.
This could include vacuuming, sweeping the floor, putting away dishes, or wiping down surfaces such as kitchen counters and bathroom sinks.
Designate specific times each day such as after dinner or before bedtime to do your tidying. Developing this habit will help ensure your space stays spic-and-span!
7. Invest in Fewer But Higher Quality Items.
Instead of filling your home with many items, invest in fewer but higher-quality pieces.
You don’t need to go overboard with minimalism- buying too few items can make it hard to keep your home clean. Quality furniture and appliances are built to last and stand the test of time better than cheap materials.
Additionally, investing in higher quality items can help reduce future clutter as there will be no need to upgrade or replace the item due to poor construction or material over a short period of time.
8. Take Time To Organize Things Into Categories.
Keeping and maintaining a minimalistic home is all about keeping things organized and clutter-free.
To help ensure that your home stays organized, take the time to organize everything into categories. Group items together according to where they belong.
For example, store all cooking supplies in one location and all bathroom necessities in another. Categorizing items also makes it easier to locate them when needed as well as put them away once you have used them.
Divide your items into categories and clean up One by One
Start with one room or area of the home at a time and take inventory of every item you have. Go through each item and decide if it’s worth keeping or if it can be donated or thrown away.
If the choice isn’t easy, consider labeling the items “Toss”, “Keep”, or “Donate/Recycle” to make the decision easier.
Moving through each category in this order will help you narrow down which items are essential and which can go without worry.
9. Create A Plan to Stay Minimalist Going Forward
To keep your home minimalist and organized, you need to create an ongoing plan that you can stick to. This could include things like decluttering regularly and donating unused items, consolidating items that are taking up extra space, or setting aside a day each week to clean out any unnecessary items.
Create an actionable plan of what habits you want to develop and then find ways to work these into your everyday life. With this in mind, you’ll be sure to stay on track with your minimalistic lifestyle.
Remember “Every person’s plan potentially looks a little different and you will want to tailor these habits to your own preferences”.
For example, if you’re an avid reader, look for creative multi-purpose furniture such as bookshelves with drawers or shelves that provide extra storage in the same unit.
Reducing clutter can also help tremendously and there are some simple rules that include only purchasing items that you need or replacing old products when appropriate.
Ultimately, planning for a minimalistic lifestyle is key for keeping a tidy and organized home in the long run.
10. Incorporate Storage Solutions For Functional Minimalism.
Last on our list is to incorporate storage solutions for functional minimalism.
Creating a place and space for all of your items can help reduce clutter and confusion in the long run.
Minimalist storage solutions like shelves, wall-mounted racks, or even hanging baskets are easy ways to keep the rooms of your home organized and looking chic. Keeping these items off the ground will create a sleek and clean look in any room you want to give a minimalist makeover.
Ready To Keep Your Home Minimalist?
Are you ready to create a minimalist home with fewer possessions and a simpler, more organized life? Minimalism is all about simplifying, organizing, and getting rid of clutter for good. This guide offers tips on decluttering your home, choosing furniture, and maintaining a calming and peaceful minimalist environment. I hope you learned something from the post and implement them in your lovely homes.
More About The Author
This is a guest post from Ali, the owner and blogger behind the Share to Inspire blog. She is passionate about personal growth and productivity and she writes about improving one’s relationships and productivity. Her blog is all about inspiration and motivation. She is an English teacher in Japan so she shares her experiences too about Japanese life and culture. Connect with Ali on Instagram, or Facebook.