Why Minimalism?
Why do I believe in the super power Minimalism?
Honestly... because a messy, dirty, cluttered house drives me BANANAS! {insert Gwen Stefani and the Hollaback Girl here}
I have 3 children, a husband, dogs, a cat, my two 20-something's brothers and elderly Mother-In-Law in our home. We homeschool said kids. Have 8 acres of property to tend to. Oh ya, and run our own business (I do wedding florals and planning) out of this house. So trying to work, to homeschool, or just exist in the home that I am in nearly 24/7 requires that we can somehow keep it all together.
I started noticing that when stuff was getting messy, laundry piling up, clutter on the counters, toys all over the place and who-knows-what tracked in on the floors -- I would start getting irritable. Stressed. A bit crazy. I hate trying to function in a house that I feel overwhelmed in! Kids don't want to listen to mom when she's suddenly flying off the handle freaking out over a messy room and my poor husband never knew where to start or what ticking time bomb would set me off today. All in all-- not a pretty picture.
So -- I started getting rid of stuff. Ahhh, it was glorious! And made the biggest shift in our house! It was the beginning to a whole new way of seeing the world, really. Why do we have so much stuff? Why do we work hard to earn an income... just to waste it all on stuff? What are the bigger picture and environmental concerns that surround our consumerism culture? None of these things were ideals I could be ok with anymore.
This is really important-- it's the premise to the book we're releasing with the Minimalist Homeschool Program this summer. Minimizing the amount of stuff that can clutter up your home and attack your attitude is a home game changer. Now that we've gone through our home, minimizing room by room (which is a continuous process/way of life), I can honestly say that my house can go from tornado to spotless in about 15 minutes! Can I get an AMEN?! 💪
Once you're able to go through and weed out all excess (detailed posts and free book coming soon!) you can set up your home- even one full of kids and people- to go from disaster to picture perfect in no time!
Here's our example:
Kitchen : Once I went through every cupboard and drawer to scale it back to just what we actually need and use, it's a breeze to keep clean! I cook as many meals as possible from complete scratch, we bake A LOT, and have 8 people throughout the day walking through here, using the sink and counters, setting stuff down... it takes a LOT of abuse. Clean up? No worries. A place for everything and everything in it's place.
Living Room : This is our 'everyone passes through room', our TV room, video games, we have a wood burning fireplace (= log debris everywhere!), and the door that the kids and dogs use to access the outdoors. It can be guest ready in 5 minutes!
Dining Room : Our dining room also doubles as our homeschool room, board game table, Lego room, and my "office". Keeping paper clutter and toy debris out of here is a big one.
[V was too busy playing for me to prove my 15 minute clean up 😉]
Kids Rooms : Constant minimization! Oh my, we are always working on cutting the junk here. Each kid has 1 basket and only the toys that fit in them. They have a simple 3 drawer plastic system for their clothes (also, a minimal amount). They have a timeframe to pick up their stuff in the evening, anything left out -- it gets gathered and trashed. That's it. Done deal.
Our Room : There's not much to it. We have a bed, a night stand and closets. That's it. I keep a minimal wardrobe, and would be happy to have even less. My husband is the clothes and shoes junkie... luckily he's willing to put in the time to keep up with them all. This room see's the least amount of upkeep, so I strive to keep it as scaled down as possible so that it can be our retreat and not a room that overwhelms us with junk.
That's pretty much it. When it's time to pick up I can start on one end of the house and run through, room by room, and put away / straighten / trash in about 15 minutes. Wipe down surfaces, and click 'clean' on my secret weapon-- Roby our vacuum. We'll dedicate a separate post to this treasure, but he's by far my best Amazon find! A click of a button after my quick pick up and wipe down, and our house is 100%! And what a change that has been for me, and our family, to keep our home clean, decluttered, and more peaceful and relaxed. Minimalism for the win!
[This post includes affiliate links - our MINIMALIST HOMESCHOOL PLAN will be released FREE of charge, checking out our affiliate links is greatly appreciated instead of having to purchase any of the homeschool content we'll be releasing! 😊 Thanks a bunch!]
