I’m going to let you in on a little secret – I’m a wanna be minimalist. I’m going to tell you another secret – I love things! I love shopping and the act of giving and receiving gifts. I’m not materialistic per say, but I enjoy STUFF… GOODS… whatever you want to call it, I like it! The problem is, I’m not a neat and tidy person and I can’t stand to see mess (I know, this makes no sense). I mean, I’m okay seeing my house messy for a day or two or three but after a week, I get fed up. I clean up, vow to stop buying things, and reward myself by a going shopping. Yup – it’s a total contradiction, but it’s true. It’s a vicious cycle. And the reality is, with three young kids, it’s a little hard. I honestly don’t know what would be worse – constantly cleaning up after my kids because they have so much stuff or listening to them complain that they have NOTHING to play with. Guys, please tell me I’m not alone on this!!
However, I recently became a minimalist. Not so much by choice, but more out of necessity. If you’re not familiar with the Toronto housing market, you might not know that it’s common practice when you’re selling to have your house look as if no one lives there. It’s a cross between a Stepford wife house and one that’s been abandoned or clearly not inhabited by kids. You stage your house with stuff you wish you owned and usually fall back in love with your home and second guess moving out. That’s because your house is pristine, clutter free, and full of new and modern furniture unscathed or wrecked by little hands. We sold our house to Signature Properties, and the process couldn’t have been smoother, thanks to the attention to detail in staging and presentation.
We were pretty much told we needed to get skip hire falkirk and remove all of our belongings, save a few toys and clothes. The rest was boxed and hauled away. We put our house up for sale and were relieved when it finally sold! We couldn’t have been happier – not only because it sold, but also because it’s hard living in a house with three kids, ages six and under, that needs to look like no one is actually living in it. It might have been the hardest thing I’ve ever hard to do in my life (I’m only half exaggerating). After the house was sold to Home Buyers of Pittsburgh we still didn’t have access to our STUFF for a full month. So here we were, living my “dream” of being minimalists.
The truth is, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. The kids didn’t mind rotating between the three toy items we had (cars, hockey players and blocks). I enjoyed the fact that they couldn’t make such a big mess and if they did, the clean up was fast.
Besides the kids toys, we also had packed up most of our “chachkies.” I guess we didn’t need that ribbon that has been sitting in the drawer for over five years or 4 television sets or 20 platters or that random hook. It felt good to declutter and get rid of the stuff we haven’t used in at least one year or more. There was even a point where we lived without any furniture for a week when the staged furniture was taken away but our stored furniture hadn’t been delivered yet. While it looked odd – I honestly didn’t mind.
The verdict
I liked it, and living a minimalist lifestyle is possible and doable. I think I will plan to live this way when we move to the new house. Hopefully it won’t be too hard since we already got rid of most of the stuff we don’t need or use. As for the kids toys, I plan on putting the majority of it in storage and only keeping a few items out. If needed, I can always rotate the toys in and out quarterly (that might be wishful thinking, but time will tell).
Have you ever tried living a minimalist lifestyle or have you ever thought about it? Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Loved this post! I also dream of being a minimalist but that’s where it ends. Our old house got so small that I stopped buying things because I had nowhere to put them. One day, while packing, my husband pointed out that we had been living with about 50 packed boxes of our stuff for a month and nothing happened to us…so we can just throw those boxes out, right!? Um…no! Now in our new house it’s great, there is so much space for more stuff…I’m off to shop!? I’ll continue dreaming about being a minimalist😉 (Obviously I have no helpful advice to give you…sorry🙄)
Hahah. Love this. At least I know I’m not alone…
There is nothing harder than selling your home when you have kids. Very difficult to keep it pristine. Have sold 4 homes since we had kids and it is brutal. On the latest move we downsized so we had to ditch things. I am really liking the less stuff situation but we still have more to pitch or donate or sell before we get where I would like to be.
I really can’t see myself being a minimalist. But then again sometimes things change!
My house is organised and tidy and less is better. I don’t like clutters but let me tell I relax over the years. My house use to have to be clean all the time. I work so hard to learn to let things go. I don’t see myself as a minimalist but I don’t like to spend money on things I don’t really need. The less things, Less cleaning…lol
Good for you! It’s something I’ve always wanted to try as well. I’m such a pack rat, and I collect too many things for my own good. I wish I could part with most of it!
I dream of being a minimalist, but I also have pack-rat tendencies. Plus, like you, my boys have a lot of toys and even if I don’t buy them, someone else does! We moved a lot when it was just my husband and I and I loved the chance to purge with every move. We’ve been here for 10 years without a purge so it really is about time.
we move across countries / continents every couple of years. While it is nice to carry around lots of memories, it came to a point I just cannot life for memories and any more. Whenever we are between shipments, we can live happily and perfectly with only 4 plates, 4 cups etc and literally only 1 box of toys. It’s not only tiring and expensive to move around with containers of boxes that we literally only waiting to open when we retire / settles, which may never happen, i makes me feel I live to take care of things. When there’s not much in the household, we go out more and do more… and I learnt there’s no need to envy those to have to lots of “burdens of life” to take care of. I just have to convince others in the family to declutter regularly and it truly requires LOTS of focus and discipline. I took photos of everything we give away, so there’s always sth to look at said “it gave us great time and now it’s helping others to have a great time”. I love decluttering
Wow. Thanks for sharing. You really have some great insight into this topic. And you are 100% correct. It takes so much effort to take care of STUFF. It’s a culture thing and we just need to change our mindset. Easier said than done though.
I am always getting rid of stuff as I dont like clutter. Thank you for the insight into this topic. We spend a lot of years gathering items that we think we need and then find that we really didnt need all that stuff. So we get rid of it.
Finally after years of toys and more toys ,sticky floors and chairs,messy rooms and so many daily complaints….we now find ourselves along…somewhere along the line they grew up and started their own homes…haha now they are living the life i once had………………………..but i miss it
Moving is so much work. Hubby and I got smart with our last move and instead of boxes, we now have totes. When we decide to move from here it is all totes marked so we know which room to put them in. Easy and great storage later and no boxes to get rid of.
we moved alot due to hubby’s job when kids were young..how I wished I was a minimalist! Great post!
We live in our 38ft RV for 6 months a year so definitely need to live a minimalist lifestyle in it since space is limited, amazing how much stuff you can do without.
I’m trying to do some purging right now, and it’s on my to-do list for the summer!
I love the title of this post. It made me smile.
I need to get rid of some of the toys too. They become overwhelming quite fast.