One thing that often happens to me with the changing of seasons is the urge to declutter, minimize, and create a fresh start. This is never truer than at the beginning of a new year. As we tear off the calendar page for 2023 and look ahead to 2024, the word that I want to focus on is “minimalism.”
Now, I know that word can strike fear in the hearts of many, but if we get to define the word ourselves, perhaps we can make it less scary. The way I define minimalism is: having what I need—nothing more, nothing less. We can get into the weeds if we want to define “need” as basic human necessities, but that’s not realistic and it’s not what I’m suggesting. Rather, I like to define “needs” as the things I have in my home and life that make it functional and enjoyable for me. So, with those definitions in place, let’s proceed with the discussion of minimalism in the new year.
The most obvious place to start with a minimalism journey is to declutter your physical space. I like to pick one room of my home to focus on for a period of time (one day, one week, one month, whatever works for you), and then do a thorough declutter of the entire room. Open up cabinets, empty drawers, get your hands and eyes on nearly every item in that room. If the item is currently useful or enjoyable to you (perhaps it’s a decoration that isn’t necessarily useful but you still find it beautiful and enjoy having it in your spaOrganizationce), keep it. If it no longer fits the categories of useful or enjoyable, part with it. It’s likely that there will be things that feel tricky to get rid of but also don’t seem to fit into the useful/enjoyable categories. That’s okay and to be expected, but try to keep these things to a minimum. For example, recently our family sorted through our board game cabinet. There were a couple of games that I wanted to get rid of that my children believed they’ll still play. For those two games, I gave them a limited time frame to work within to see whether they’re actually interested in playing them. If, by the end of that time they haven’t played the game at least once, they aren’t actually interested in playing with it, and we will get rid of it. This tactic can be used throughout your home with all sorts of items: beauty products, kitchen gadgets, clothes, and other toys.
16-quart Clear Storage Box with Lid White by Room Essentials (via Target)
P-Touch PT-D210 Label Maker Value Bundle by Brother (via Amazon)
Once you’ve decided what items you’d like to get rid of, it’s best to get those things out of your home ASAP. If not, you’ll justify a reason to keep them or forget they exist and let them collect dust while other people could be actively enjoying them. There are, of course, some items that are of value that you could try to sell, but I want to caution you that we often spend a lot of time fielding inquiries for items we’d like to sell, and your time is worth something, so be selective with what you attempt to sell. Consider the money you spent on the item a sunk cost, learn a lesson about what you need in the future, and forgive yourself if you feel any guilt. The easiest and quickest way to free yourself of these things is to donate them. For many people, loading a vehicle with donations and making a trip to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army is simple. In Birmingham, you can also schedule a free pickup by America’s Thrift Stores. (Get a receipt from any of these places to deduct donations on your taxes.) Be sure that you’re only donating items that still have life left in them, and look for ways to recycle or repurpose anything that shouldn’t be donated. Our local farmers market has a booth that accepts textile and shoe donations for the purpose of recycling, so all our over-worn shoes, stained or ripped clothing, and matchless socks go there instead of to Goodwill. If you have a local Buy Nothing group on Facebook, it doesn’t hurt to post things that aren’t in good enough shape to donate before throwing them in the trash. Currently on my local Buy Nothing page, someone is collecting used books in any condition for a project; you never know what someone might want. If there are no hits on the item in a relatively short amount of time, you can throw it in the trash or recycling, knowing you did your best to give it a second life.
Now that you’ve rid yourself of the items you no longer need, it’s time to organize what’s left. As you put things back in their new homes, now is a good time to upgrade your organizing products. We like to get same/similar items for the whole house if possible, and some of our favorite items are readily available at Target, like Sterilite Clear Boxes with Latches in multiple sizes, or Room Essentials super affordable lidded bins that also come in a variety of shapes and sizes. As always, label your bins. We use a simple label maker on all our jobs.
If you have specific questions while you’re in the process of decluttering your home, we’re always here to help. Feel free to drop us a DM on Instagram (@house.peace), or visit housepeace.net to book us for a job. Best of luck on your minimalism journey!