Minimalism-What’s All The Fuss About?
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.
If you search for minimalism on Flickr you’ll get images like these:
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.
See also:
Decluttering Tips For Living The Simple Life
Purge Just 7 Things – A Weekend Challenge
Photos courtesy of:
Laure Wayaffe – minimal desk
macrophile – minimal leaf
lrargerich – minimal reflection
greenbroke – minimal bedroom
JPDaigle – Minimalist on laptop
12 Responses to “Minimalism-What’s All The Fuss About?”
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This is a good point, Sherri. I think too many people take minimalism to the extreme, and they end up with a somewhat “sterile” environment. That’s not a home, it’s a hospital. And really, who wants to live in a hospital? There has to be a balance between minimalism and clutter. Otherwise, how much are we really enjoying life?
Jay Schryer´s last blog ..The Last Boy Scout
Hi Sherri
For me minimalism stands for having as much stuff as you can handle.
It means living in moderation, which means only having and doing things, relationships and activities you can love and take care off.
And you decide how much that is or how that looks like.
Minimalism for me means that what I have and do allows me to be in integrity, which means I can take ownership and responsibility for all I do and have.
Love Wilma
Wilma Ham´s last blog ..Forget unfair and luck, integrity is what counts.
Hi Sherri! Great article! I crave a minimalist lifestyle, but I have too many interests.
Also, it’s hard to be minimalist if you are an artist. There is a lot of stuff and mess if you make art. LOL! I guess you could have a mostly minimalist life, except for your art studio.
I guess it can be done though, because I have seen photos of Georgia O’Keefe’s house. It looked almost monastic.
I’m definitely moving toward living a more minimalistic lifestyle. I’m still far from what you would call a hardcore minimalist though. Mainly my goal is to simplify what I own, so that my home life doesn’t seem so busy. Less stuff = less to look at and think about, less to clean, less to fix, etc etc.
Less time and energy spent on my stuff means more time to relax and just “be”, and more time to spend with my family. That’s what minimalism does for me.
Simple Llama´s last blog ..5 Ways to Simplify Your Life Today
@ Jay – That’s kind of what I was thinking. A balance of personality with less clutter. Having 5 pictures of the family up on the walls as opposed to 30. That sort of thing.
@ Wilma – I like your definition –
“Minimalism for me means that what I have and do allows me to be in integrity, which means I can take ownership and responsibility for all I do and have.”
Any more than what you are able to handle well usually results in doing all of those things poorly. And I would rather do few things well. Good point Wilma!
@ Mary – I suppose it would be challenging…I’m not an artist by any stretch of the imagination so I can only imagine how tough it would be to have a minimalist studio. BUT that’s no reason you can’t have a minimalist house outside of that
Easier said than done I know. I hope all is well and you’re getting more and more stuff out and getting your place back again 
@ Simple Llama – Welcome! Thanks for your comment. I see the benefits of living minimally much the same as you do. Less stuff=fewer responsibilities=more time with the family…how can you lose?
I try to get rid of as much as I can. I find the fewer possessions I have, the more I use them and appreciate them.
My idea of a nightmare is the house of a hoarder/packrat. Piles of junk everywhere. It’s too taxing on the mind. I love space and I love to be able to give all my attention to one or two things.
Da´s last blog ..How to Make a Life List You’ll Actually Do: A Comprehensive Guide
Haha I’m even going minimalist with my name apparently
David´s last blog ..How to Make a Life List You’ll Actually Do: A Comprehensive Guide
Thanks for explaining this. I wondered what it was all about! Makes sense!
Chele´s last blog ..Menu Plan Monday~September 7th
@ David – “I find the fewer possessions I have, the more I use them and appreciate them.” I love that. It all comes back to having few nice things. When you’ve pared it down it’s easier to appreciate (and use) what you have.
@ Chele – No worries
These are just my thoughts on minimalism and they change every day 
I think of minimalism as bringing consciousness to my living space. In practice it means only having things around me I’ve made a very conscious choice to buy/acquire and removing anything that ‘drifts’ in (mainly that’s paper – magazines etc). Some things I bring in for utility, other things because I like how they look.
It also means periodically checking if I still want the things I have. So every few months I do a check around and remove anything I no longer like or use (that includes clothes!).
Ian | Quantum Learning´s last blog ..Living in denial – but for how long?
@ Ian – That’s exactly it, it comes in waves. Every few months for you every couple of weeks for me. It’s funny the more you get rid of stuff the more stuff you want to get rid of!
Thanks, Sherri! I was just in Florida for a week. My BFF bought me a plane ticket to go see her! It had been 5 or 6 long years since I had seen her. She said if she waited until I could afford it, she might never see me again! So, I got a break from all the mess. It was really nice, but the mess was waiting for me when I got back!