What do you think of when you hear the word minimalism?
Do you immediately picture a sterile room, completely painted white? Does it have one chair, a small table and one lamp? If so, you’re not alone. This is a common misconception of what minimalism really is.
What’s all the fuss is about?
I like to think I live a fairly minimal lifestyle. I don’t buy in excess (usually), I seem to always be reducing what I have acquired and I aim for simplicity and function in every aspect of my life.
Wikipedia states:
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.
Despite my efforts to rid my home of the non-essentials, if I take a look around I certainly don’t feel the same as when I look at the pictures above. When I see images depicting minimalism I can’t help but think of:
- Calm
- Simple
- Clean
- Neat
- Orderly
- Smooth
- Crisp
- Tidy
- Room to breathe
- Light
- Airy
- Easy
What I don’t care for about some depictions of minimalism is the apparent lack of personality and comfort. Look at the pictures above, granted the one on the bottom left is a hotel room, but there are people who really live like this. At first glance the chair doesn’t appear to be very comfortable (who knows, maybe it is?) and there are no family photos or any other evidence that real people actually live here.
I wonder if a balance can be struck between clean minimalist style and a warm and inviting family home?
We’ve been working towards living with less for over a year now. We are definitely well on our way. There are still things that are difficult to part with and there is also a fair bit that isn’t particularly difficult to part with but it refuse to leave for some reason. When reading about the minimalist philosophy there were two key points that hit home. Obvious, to me anyway, only after they were pointed out. A case of hidden in plain sight.
1. Minimalist = no need to organize. I had a bit of a duh! moment when I read Minimalism is the end of organizing an article from Leo Babauta at mnmlist.com. In the article Leo writes,
Think about it: when we organize a collection of books, it’s because when they’re not organized, we can’t find the books we want. But if we had, say, five books, we wouldn’t need to organize.
Well of course! The more you have the more you need to organize, sell, donate, move, move and move again when you’re looking for something. Pare down what you have to the bare essentials and you will be required to do far less of these things, saving you time, space, frustration and money on organizing supplies. There will be no more agonizing over where to store things or how to make your stuff more accessible. It makes perfect sense.
2. Minimalism actually equals more. I came across a series of articles on becomingminimalist.com about the benefits of minimalism. The common thread? More. More space, more time, more money, more focus on what really matters and more freedom. From the post A statement I never thought I’d make:
my in-laws are coming into town tomorrow from the midwest. it is 10pm, and due to some immediate family matters, we had not begun getting the house ready for their arrival. my wife was lamenting the chore ahead of us. i turned to her and said…
“what do we have to clean? we’ve gotten rid of everything.”
and i truly meant it. it was a bit of hyperbole to be sure, but it is true that our home has become so clear of clutter that cleaning the whole house is not nearly the chore it used to be.
I still have a long way to go to becoming truly minimalist. And like most things it won’t happen over night. I’ve just started my journey to understanding more of the minimalist philosophy. Something in me says I won’t get my house to the state of the rooms pictured above, but I will try and find a balance between eliminating what we truly don’t use and making our home warm and inviting.
A minimalist lifestyle certainly isn’t for everyone. What are your thoughts on it? What do you think of when you hear the word minimalism? Is it something you’d consider moving towards or are you living it right now? I’d love to hear what you have to say about it.