Minimalism is a concept that promotes lower stress, better productivity, and a higher sense of well-being in families. By living as a minimalist family, you can spend more time together, have more room to breathe, increase your attention span, and devote more time to things you love. To transition to a minimalist lifestyle for a family with children, introduce the concept gradually by involving them in decluttering their own space and explaining the benefits.
Minimalism can be achieved at home, at work, and embraced by an entire family. Here are 10 steps to creating a minimalist family home that’s calm, welcoming, and more focused on the people who live in it. Decluttering your home is probably the first step. Living a minimalistic life with your family can be a transformative journey, fostering a sense of connection, purpose, and freedom.
To become minimalist with children, explain your decision to minimize your possessions first, remove items they do not use first, focus on the positives, treat them to fun experiences, and choose your purchases carefully going forward. Encourage gently, don’t force your children to change, and give them an opportunity to change. A survey of families to gather their tips, challenges, and regrets on the journey towards becoming a minimalist family revealed that minimalism is a personal journey.
Hovering less, engaging less, and scheduling less are some of the things that can help a family live a minimalist lifestyle. Minimalism is about figuring out what’s important as a family and protecting it from things that take away from it. It’s powerful, and it can change the way you approach life.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| How to Become Minimalist with Children | 1. Explain your decision. · 2. Begin minimizing your possessions first. · 3. Remove the items they do not use first. · 4. Focus on the positives. · 5. Treat them to … | becomingminimalist.com |
| How To Be a Minimalist Family (Including Case Studies) | We surveyed a small group of families to gather their tips, challenges and regrets on the journey towards becoming a minimalist family. | theminimalistvegan.com |
| How to Parent Like a Minimalist | 1. Hover less and your children will live more. · 2. Entertain less and your children will innovate more. · 3. Schedule less and your children will rest more. · 4. | simplefamilies.com |
📹 Family Minimalism: “Avoid This ONE Decluttering Mistake!!” BEFORE & AFTER Minimalism with Kids
What is family minimalism, and how can it change your life? Here is a snapshot of the before and after results from extreme …
How Do You Live Simply With A Family?
Helping children with chores as soon as they can manage a rag, encouraging reading, and exemplifying a simple lifestyle are crucial strategies for fostering minimalism within a family. Prioritizing outdoor play, daily gratitude practices, and shared family meals enhances connections and joy. Engaging in simple entertainment, like park visits or beach outings, while maintaining a low-key schedule encourages the joy of missing out. The essence of minimalism involves decluttering the home to enhance simplicity in life.
To transition into a minimalist mindset, focus on reducing unnecessary items and embracing positive family interactions. Digital detox may be necessary if technology becomes overwhelming, prompting a return to healthier routines, including meals. Simple living emphasizes intentional spending and consumption by valuing existing possessions and eliminating excess. While it requires effort to declutter and rethink lifestyle expectations, minimalism can cultivate a more present, intentional family life.
For families with children, implement organized routines, teach self-sufficiency, plan ahead, and regularly schedule family time for outdoor activities. Less distraction and excess ultimately lead to a richer family experience, encouraging enjoyment in the journey toward simplicity. Embrace generosity with both possessions and time to deepen family bonds.
How Can I Live A Happy Life With My Family?
To foster a happier family life, focus on shared experiences and open communication. Establish family routines, such as meals together, game nights, and shared trips to enhance quality time. Encourage everyone to express their thoughts, even when opinions differ, and value those contributions. Celebrate holidays and birthdays collectively to build traditions and strengthen bonds. Prioritize flexibility and communication as family dynamics evolve, ensuring every member feels valued.
Address any strained relationships to promote healing and cohesion. Encourage support among family members through shared interests and teamwork, creating an environment where everyone can grow and thrive together. Maintain a balance between work and home life to nurture relationships and reduce parental burnout. Engage in fun activities like walks, museum visits, and picnics to deepen connections.
Lastly, ensure family members support, care for, and respect one another, fostering a collaborative atmosphere that enhances overall happiness. By implementing these strategies, families can create a nurturing space, combat conflict, and cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships.
Can You Be A Minimalist With Children?
Minimalism with children is indeed achievable, though it requires extra effort, thoughtfulness, and patience. Many believe that having kids makes minimalism impossible, but this lifestyle can harmoniously coexist with parenting. Involving children in decluttering fosters their curiosity and helps them understand minimalism organically. This guide offers insights on transitioning to a minimalist family life and maintaining it as kids grow. One significant benefit of minimalism for kids is increased gratitude; it promotes a mindset that encourages them to become happy, kind, and financially savvy adults.
Emphasizing the importance of owning less and focusing on what truly matters helps in this growth. Additionally, children thrive in simplified environments. Instead of viewing kids as obstacles to minimalism, consider them motivation to adopt a less cluttered lifestyle. Practical tips from experienced minimalist parents are invaluable in this journey. It’s essential to start by reflecting on your belongings and creating space amidst the chaos of toys and clothes.
While minimalism may manifest differently for families with young children, it's possible to cultivate a simpler, meaningful life together. Encourage creativity while acknowledging that some "good clutter" can coexist in a nurturing environment. Embrace the process of minimalism as a family for lasting benefits.
How Do I Become A Minimalist Family?
Finding your "why" is essential for a minimalist family, especially during tough times. As parents, your motivations for embracing family minimalism may differ from your children's, and that's perfectly fine. Seve from Sunny Kind Journey outlines how to live minimally as a family, emphasizing the importance of decluttering and engaging family members. Begin by discussing what your ideal family life and home should look like, allowing room for each voice.
Family minimalism can lead to reduced stress, enhanced productivity, and a deeper sense of well-being. To encourage minimalism among friends and family, lead by example and start with your belongings. Gather your family for collective decluttering sessions, focusing on what truly matters while cultivating meaningful connections and experiences over material possessions. With six children, defining priorities and minimizing clutter became crucial. Familiarize yourself with minimalism's principles and engage in open communication about goals.
To transition toward a minimalist lifestyle, consider examining shopping habits, starting small, and gradually building momentum without forcing change upon others. Creating a minimalist home allows for a happier, healthier family life filled with enriching experiences.
What Type Of Personality Is A Minimalist?
A minimalist person embraces simplicity, usefulness, and clarity, leading a lifestyle that prioritizes what truly brings them happiness over material possessions. They avoid clutter, focusing instead on meaningful relationships and valuable experiences. Minimalists do not crave the latest gadgets or status symbols; they find contentment in what they already possess. This intentional reduction of goods alleviates stress and creates a space for more significant pursuits. Minimalists value "white space" in their lives, avoiding physical clutter to maintain clarity of mind.
This lifestyle is rooted in qualities such as mindfulness and compassion; minimalists demonstrate kindness and care for others while enjoying a simple, uncluttered existence. They consciously choose to reject consumer culture, seeing possessions merely as tools rather than trophies to accumulate. Minimalists often display introspection and a deep connection to nature, emphasizing experiences and living in the moment.
Essential traits of a minimalist include intentionality and prioritization, embracing less for a richer quality of life. Different minimalist personality types exist, allowing individuals to connect creativity with their minimalist values. Ultimately, minimalism represents a movement toward low consumption and voluntary simplicity, leading to a more satisfying, fulfilled existence by focusing on what truly matters in life.
Is Minimalism Good For ADHD?
ADHD often generates a flurry of thoughts, making focus difficult. Minimalism serves as a calming remedy, promoting clarity and organization. By decluttering spaces, individuals with ADHD can create environments that enhance focus, reduce stress, and boost productivity. Adopting a minimalist lifestyle allows for a sense of control and helps manage symptoms effectively. Rather than living without, minimalism focuses on simplifying life by retaining only necessary possessions.
This blog explores the synergy between ADHD and minimalism, examining the numerous benefits such as improved concentration and reduced anxiety. Furthermore, minimalist practices can lead to tailored organizational systems that support productivity and reduce overwhelming distractions. The calming aesthetic of minimalism, often featuring neutral colors, contributes positively to mental health for those with ADHD.
Personal accounts highlight that embracing minimalism can lead to feeling more in control and self-soothing. In summary, minimalism offers practical strategies for individuals with ADHD to simplify their lives and environments, ultimately fostering personal freedom and enhanced well-being.
What Is Family Minimalism?
Family minimalism prioritizes meaningful relationships and experiences over material possessions, promoting financial freedom and well-being. To embark on this journey, start with self-reflection and small, practical steps that simplify various aspects of life, such as diet, wardrobe, finances, and calendar. "21 Ways to Be a Minimalist Family" offers a framework for families, encompassing rules of minimalism, decluttering tips, strategies for involving kids, and retirement downsizing advice.
Open conversations are essential to avoid hasty decisions about belongings. Family minimalism encourages a thoughtful lifestyle that minimizes stress, enhances productivity, and fosters a greater sense of happiness. Decluttering leads to more organized homes and lives, creating intentional spaces filled with joy. While the path may take time, especially for families with children, minimalism allows families to live purposefully and appreciate life more fully.
It involves understanding principles, setting goals, and practicing consistent decluttering. At its core, minimalism means keeping what truly matters and letting go of excess, ultimately leading to a flourishing family life filled with meaningful activities. The journey begins with individual commitment, showcasing the benefits of minimalism even when not everyone in the family is on board.
Why Should You Practice Family Minimalism?
When facing challenges, it is your "why" that fuels your journey toward family minimalism. This lifestyle, marked by low consumption and intentional reduction of material possessions, is shaped by diverse motivations. Parents and their children may have different reasons for embracing minimalism, making open communication essential. By prioritizing what truly matters, families can alleviate stress, enhance productivity, and eliminate chaos. A minimalist approach means less clutter, which directly translates to reduced cleaning time and more quality hours for family interactions.
Minimalism is pivotal as it alleviates daily stress and promotes better consumption habits. It encourages families to say no to excess, fostering a mindset focused on what truly counts. Minimalism not only helps in decluttering homes but also in simplifying schedules, resulting in a harmonious family life. By prioritizing meaningful activities and shedding unnecessary distractions, minimalism cultivates gratitude and contentment.
Adopting a minimalist lifestyle, even within larger families, may take time but ultimately focuses attention on essential values. It empowers families to combat debt, stress, and anxiety linked to clutter. Embracing simplicity brings joy, creativity, and ease to parenting while enriching family dynamics. This transformative journey leads to a more peaceful, fulfilling life for both parents and children.
Do Minimalists Spend Less Money?
Minimal living offers significant financial benefits as it inherently costs less. By accumulating fewer possessions, one naturally spends less on storing, maintaining, and cleaning them. Regardless of income, the key financial principle is to spend less than you earn. Minimalism reduces expenses, alleviates financial stress, and aligns spending with future goals through intentional buying and low-cost living. Minimalists indeed spend less, adopting numerous frugal strategies that can save substantial amounts monthly.
However, minimalism doesn’t eliminate spending; rather, it encourages careful and purposeful spending. By avoiding excessive consumerism, minimalists prioritize quality and essential items, focusing on experiences instead of material possessions.
The minimalist lifestyle enables individuals to focus on what truly matters, often resulting in increased happiness and reduced debt, even on lower incomes. Minimalists typically invest in what’s valuable and beneficial, helping to eliminate wasteful financial habits. Practical applications of minimalism include selling unnecessary items and making deliberate choices about purchases like clothing and food, which leads to further savings.
The overall philosophy of minimalism not only helps streamline finances but fosters a more fulfilling life by prioritizing meaningful experiences over material acquisitions. Minimalism, therefore, serves both as a financial strategy and a lifestyle choice, fostering improved financial well-being.
How Do I Start Living A Simple Life?
To live a simple life, start by making fundamental lifestyle changes. Opt for a basic cell phone, eliminate unnecessary monthly expenses, and eliminate credit cards. Decluttering your living space is essential; many keep items they no longer need. Owning fewer possessions creates a lighter, more focused life. Begin your path to minimalism by understanding core principles and gradually integrating them into your life. Here are steps to simplify living: define your priorities, stop chasing unrealistic goals, and appreciate life's simple pleasures.
Decluttering your home is a productive first step, assessing if your space suits your needs. Identify what truly matters to reduce stress and complexity in your life. Simple living promotes ease by lowering consumption and work time, allowing for more quality experiences. Start with manageable changes to build motivation, focusing on key areas that, when balanced, simplify life overall. Key actions include knowing your values, creating systems and routines, budgeting, and reducing screen time.
Embrace a peaceful mindset amidst chaos, as simplicity is about valuing quality over quantity in life. Identify what is important to you and direct your time and attention accordingly, allowing you to cultivate a life centered on genuine happiness and fulfillment. Simple living isn't merely about possessions; it’s also about prioritizing meaningful experiences and connections.
Is Minimalist Living In A Family Possible?
Minimalist living is achievable for families, despite the challenges posed by children needing various items for school and play. It begins with a conversation to explain the principles and benefits of minimalism, which has surged in popularity—often targeting those without children. Families may face additional hurdles, but adopting a minimalist mindset can lead to lower stress, improved productivity, and greater well-being.
Consistent decluttering and curating possessions result in a more organized living space. Over more than six years of simplifying, a family of four has discovered effective strategies for maintaining minimalism while still enjoying meaningful belongings.
For families to embrace a minimalist lifestyle, it’s essential to communicate goals and demonstrate the "why" behind this choice. Achieving minimalism with children involves extra patience, thoughtfulness, and effort. Insights from families on their journeys towards minimalism address challenges, provide tips, and mention regrets. While minimalism may require time for decluttering, it's particularly beneficial for families—it alleviates stress, saves money, fosters togetherness, and reduces clutter.
Ultimately, minimalism encourages intentional living, inviting families to retain only what supports a meaningful life and encouraging the release of excess. Families can successfully thrive in minimalism, making it more than just a personal choice; it becomes a shared family journey.
📹 Minimalist Lifestyle – Family Minimalism
This video explores the concept of family minimalism, offering practical tips and insights for simplifying life with children. The creator shares their personal journey of decluttering and how they define family minimalism, emphasizing the importance of keeping only what is needed and loved. The video also highlights the benefits of minimalism for families, including increased time, space, and appreciation for what they have.
I really appreciated your last point about not approaching minimalism as a means of threat or control. This strongly applies to both kids & adults alike because no one wants to feel that their personal belongings (and their attachments to them) are under threat – that’s the #1 way to lose trust and partnership with your loved ones. So thank you for bringing that up! 👍
my partner and I are quite minimal, mainly because I do not like cleaning and having our home very simple helps me to keep our house tidy all the time and clean as well with little effort. I have noticed that we are now suddenly getting many comments from family members since becoming pregnant that our beautiful home will automatically become a hot mess when baby arrives and we have more kids… frustrating. beautiful article! obviously it is possible to keep a tidy home with kids. who would have though 😉
Love your website!!! Thank you! A granny here so a little different perspective, but the concept is a lot of the same. In all honesty, I got a little freaked out when the grandbaby equipment started pouring in to our house. Our very own bouncer, walker, stroller, pack-n-play … We are later in life grandparents and the days of kid theme were far gone. How did make room for it? We striuggled a bit, but then … we got ruthless and got rid of other junk we didn’t want any more. Whalah! Space for our new phase of life:) Besides the normal gramma and grampa dates, now, when we get the “hey, can you …” call or text, we can put together our BUD (back up daycare :)) in 15 minutes. I said I wasn’t going to be a “drop in daycare” gramma, but reality is we slowly put it away because we have so much fun. And we do that very easily. It doesn’t overrun our whole house when he is not here. Like you said, it is our “beautiful mess” – a little area where all the fun (folded up) grandbaby, now toddler, stuff goes, and it makes us smile, not feel overwhelmed.
I so love your words of encouragement. Giving up “things” is a struggle. Being a former teacher and never knowing if you would ever get supplies in the future, tends to set into place habits that are exactly the opposite of where I want to be. I recently cleaned out a linens storage. I think I could do more, but I’m proud of what I did do. Baby steps. Thanks Marissa for your example and encouragement.
I just found your website and I really needed to hear this. I’m a mom to 4 (ages 11-1) and have been on our minimal journey for about 7 years. Lately our house feels like it’s been so ridiculously cluttered again (kid garbage on the floor) and I was really questioning our progress, but I just cleaned up the floor in about 15 minutes. We’re still going to do some additional rounds of getting rid of stuff, but it reminded me of how far we have come! Thank you!!❤❤❤
My husband and I are more minimal now than we were before we had our son. Now that he’s almost 4 he has seen a lot of declutters. He now will say “get rid of” “give to boy” or “throw away” on items. He has actually asked to do it on his own as well. He especially loves to give toys away when he sees the kid getting them. I’m always so proud of how quickly he is to get rid of things. He knows that bringing a new toy home means passing on toys he no longer uses. Another pro to this is he can pickup himself. He will come and say “mom I clean me room!” “New toys for me” that meaning toy rotation. 🙌🙌🙌 And when I say “I need to vacuum” he knows that’s his cue to pick up all his toys and the dog toys. I know if we weren’t on a minimalist journey it wouldn’t be this easy. There would be too much for him to pick up. And he would feel as overwhelmed as I was before I started on my journey. A messy house gives me stress and makes me anxious. Minimalism has really helped me live in the moment. I can tackle tasks rather than shutting down and doing nothing.
Just sharing in case any one else is stuck in a rut: my husband is usually less excited to declutter, and 85% more likely to want to hold on to stuff for the “what if” days…I had been feeling overwhelmed and knew it was time for a whole house re-declutter. I got him to watch HOARDERS episodes with me, lol and the motivation came back for me and him, and we were able to let go of even more things. Now I feel like I can actually breath easier, the stuff was just haunting me even though it was “out of site”
It’s very true that there can be several ways to practice minimalism . Some families are considered minimalists while others think that it’s still lot’s of stuff. It’s all just relevant for people by themselves and other ones should not compare. We have kitchen, dining -and living room fully clutter free always so only thing I do is to swipe the floor and surfaces when needed . But that’s something I learned already from my parents. When I was a child, nobody was allowed to bring toys or other stuff, food etc to the living room and kitchen and dining room were cleaned up immediately after eating. No dishwasher so no dishes waiting to go there. Dishes were done immediately after eating. There was no snacking or clutter in those times. And it was same thing in my friends homes. Times have changed with families, specially when eating habits have changed there is snacking now and people are buying more stuff. I was devastated in the very beginning when I moved to US and saw how much stuff people have here in their garage😵 ( and they can also rent separate storage too).
New subscriber here. I was inspired on how you handle things in minimalist. You’re right, most of the youtubers that are minimalist advocates are single and living alone and as I mom of 3 I cannot relate on how they explain things but in your articles I can understand and also see myself doing this. I hope little by little I can achieve a minimalist life style together with my family ❤🎉. Big thanks to your articles!
love you and your website! every time i watch your articles i think to myself that it would be such a shame to cover up those beautiful floors with a lot of furniture or carpets. to me minimalism is making the things shine that you already have instead of drowning them in clutter. greetings from germany 🙂
I’m sending this one to my partner. We’re getting ready to move and whilst our new home isn’t much smaller than our current one, it’s still a great opportunity to downsize our clutter. The part about your son’s teeth grinding is why I want to send this to him though, because our oldest child has a lot of anxiety and also lives in the most cluttered state. I haven’t been good at helping her control what comes into her room, or the shared play areas she shares with her sister, and her room is so overwhelming for me – I can only imagine it must be negatively affecting her too. She did such a great job yesterday going through a big pile of jewelry that she never uses (she’s eight, and has no use for it anyway!) I was so proud of her for the effort she did make. I know this is something we can do together and even if we don’t get our stuff down to 6 suitcases, we’ll at least save some money on moving costs and not have to deal with a mountain of stuff which won’t even all fit in our new home.
Great article! Excellent tip for parents not to use fear to get rid of things. Both my parents keep EVERYTHING because their parents didn’t respect their things and got rid of things that mattered to them when they were younger. I’ve kept things more for fear of “what if” or “just in case”. The PAPER though! I’m still slogging through that. It’s better!
Hi Marissa! I came across this website during my Winter Break (I’m a teacher). Being a mom, wife and raising a 7-year-old in a space less than 1000 square feet is no easy feat. In short, you provide a much needed vision for minimalist-to-be families. I couldn’t picture it until I started to see your articles and learned from your process. You having kids and an average size “American” space (for some parts of the country) puts everything in the real. There is a layer of work we all need to face and overcome! ❤ I hope to put that vision in play for me and my family… so we can reap the true BENEFITS of a home with more space… so we can focus on what matters. Keep doing what you do! Exciting 🎉
Hi – I have been perusal your website for quite some time and must say that your recent articles really speak to me. I’m a mum of two and I have started my minimalist journey during the 2020 lock down. I was never a one for lots of things, but I was so surprised on how little do we actually need. I love to travel and owning less makes packing much easier. I feel that the key is in setting up your priorities and only have things that resonate with those. Thank you for your content 🙂
I am so thankful for you and your take on things! Thank you for sharing! I have been looking for someone with KIDS who is actually doing this! because as you say, there are so many young people out there who shares a lot (and it is great) but life is very different with kids and I am trying to declutter my daughter’s room as we speak! Also love your article on Best toys!! 🙂 Greetings from Denmark! x
Thank you so much for stressing the importance of directly involving your kids and doing so in a positive manner! 👏❤️ In a recent article, Cass from Clutter Bug briefly touched on how to declutter with your kids, and I commented there about one of the negative parts of my childhood, which was the fact that my mom would declutter our (my own and my brother’s) personal belongings in secret. I’m sure she thought she was doing the right thing by maybe “sparing us” from the decision-making process of decluttering, but in reality (when we inevitably got older and noticed our things going missing), it actually inflicted lasting damage on us in the form of trust issues, hoarding tendencies, and an overall turbulent relationship with “stuff”. Based on my experience, I think it’s so important for people to directly involve their kids so they can experience the positive impacts of minimalism right alongside their parent(s). In terms of decluttering, I believe you will strengthen your relationship with your kids if you respect their autonomy by letting them decide for themselves what they no longer want, need, enjoy, or cherish, and you can be there as a guide to show them the hows and whys of these necessary life decisions. Love and appreciate all that you do, Marissa! 🤗❤️
Interesting how you talk about that you never intended to be a minimalist family. I usually say I became minimalist – or is in the process of becoming one – by accident. If it hasen’t been for my special needs son, I would probably still have a lot of stuff laying around. But my son simply demands too much of me, so I don’t have time to deal with a lot of items. And he gets easily stressed and confused and can’t focus, if there’s stuff around him. At first it irritated me, that I had to remove so many of my items, but when I noticed what it (also) did for me, the choice was even easier and today I’m happy that my son forced me to become a minmalist.
Good Morning Marissa. Must tell you how one minimal change in my husband’s and my life has been: our eating schedule. We eat breakfast around 10am, lunch is a snack of cheese, yogurt, bread, and dinner is around 530p. We STOP eating at 6pm! It’s not only easier to figure out meal plans but we’re also feeling healthier for it. (We do have the luxury of working from home and setting our own hours.) At the moment, I’m going thru my hoarded collection of paper memorabilia. I have a postcard collection from my aunt who passed in 2001; I have love letters between my father and my mother, both of whom are gone; and I have cards and notes from my own kids who are now adults. This all has been so difficult to pare down. It’s been going very slowly because of all the memories … and the tears. Any suggestions you might have would be very welcome. ❤
I stumbled across minimalism after doing the exact opposite as a new parent. I bought everything and experienced everything, I understood what worked and what didn’t work. I had the opportunity to try out lots of different things. I wonder whether it is because of that experience that I realised that I wanted to be a minimalist. If I was unable to experience all those things due to financial constraints, then I may still want to experience those things and find it hard to be minimalist. I can only say now that I don’t need them, but I wouldn’t have come to that conclusion without learning that for myself. Sorry for the garbled message if that made no sense!
Your house looks like my dream!! I used to be a minimalist, then I married someone with Aspergers and had two autistic children. I also now have my mum and dad living with us. I have gone from a picture and 1 ornament per room and nothing else, to living in a chaos-filled nightmare. No matter how much I declutter, there is still more. The main problems are Mum and Dad, as I can’t throw their stuff away, and my two children who can’t let anything go, even rubbish (literally rubbish😩). I have so much anxiety around mess! it doesn’t help that my husband is a total tool and electronics hoarder aswell!!🙄
Another great article – thank you 🎉 I was wondering what you do about school books (I’ve heard German schools require an especially large amount of notebooks!) also study books for you learning a language. Would also love a book and toy tour, I’m a minimalist mum of 4 but do struggle with the never ending school supplies, bags etc. love from Wales ❤
Messes give me stress but we have been minimalist since I was first pregnant with my first child over 16 years ago now. The fact that my kids have been so content with little and it hasn’t been so bad for the messes at all. . .that I actually don’t know how people just buy loads and loads and have to clean all that up all the time. You and I are similar. . I didn’t know I was a minimalist until a few years after becoming one! Haha. Congrats on how you handle it all!! That is so interesting that you guys used to grind teeth. I’m a mom of two teen boys and they each fit all their clothes in one a half drawers (small drawers too). I am thinking about getting them a bigger one since they are getting big (my eldest is now about 5’9″ like me and will probably get bigger. . so the drawer room is smaller inside for him than it was 5 years ago)! Love that you have a clutter bucket. I do a similar thing. I have a corner and then put them in an attic before sending things off to donate. Oh man I don’t have a slow cooker and sometimes wonder if they are worth it, but I haven’t needed one this long, so I might as well not get one. You are so cool. I am glad to “meet” another minimalist mom! You are sooo right about the threats. That is awful to think people would threaten that. I sometimes start decluttering and say to my sons, “Have you used this lately?” They will be like, “Oh no. I don’t need that. You can donate it if you want to.” If they say, “Yeah I use it.” I leave it alone. haha. Sometimes they declutter their rooms on their own and say, “I don’t really need this anymore.
With the price of food going up, reducing food waste is a high priority for me now. I’m establishing what to keep in my pantry as staples and what fresh ingredients to buy to supplement and use up my pantry stash so it doesn’t go to waste. Cooking for one is a challenge. I’m learning to cook smaller batches and to use up leftovers in creative ways. I’m guilty of having wasted so much food in the past and have to work through that and other food-related emotions. And I’m adjusting to having a very empty refrigerator because I buy only as much as I know I will eat.
I consider us a minimalist family, but as I’m prepping for another move, I just want to toss everything! Bought a uncomfortable couch(don’t buy furniture at 38 weeks pregnant when you are tired!) and the only way it’s comfortable is with oh so many pillows behind your back. With 4 kids, needless to say they all end up on the floor. Think I need to do some trash bag therapy today.
I suspect I have ADHD and I really, Really, REEEEALLY! have a huge block around paper clutter and organisation and completing accounts and budgeting in general. It makes me extremely terrified and emotional. Please could you make a very detailed article about tackling this area specifically? I know you have your budgeting bundles and do talk a bit about it in your articles but I’m not yet in a position to be able to take advantage of those. I need an A-Z for dummies! of getting on top of your budget/accounts/paperwork with a heavy dose of understanding and emotional support! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I feel like surely minimalism would work for some kids with their toys, and not for others? Certainly kids don’t need as many toys as they have, but some kids likely have different interests in different toys that come and go. I loved Playmobil as a kid, and I didn’t play with it as much when I first got it as I did years later, for instance, when I got more sets, so therefore more play scenarios. I have a baby that needs a lot of stimulation, and I found that she got happier when I got more toys for her to go between. She doesn’t have a long enough attention span to be happy with little toys (she’s 9 months old). She loves to dump out toys too, and wouldn’t be happy with doing it with only one basket of toys. I can definitely see how it would be easier for her to have less toys when she’s older.
You can have carpets minimal looking carpets while maintaining the minimalism at home…at least it will look like home 🏠 this looks like you now you packed up and moving tomorrow to another place which doesn’t feel comfortable in my opinion especially for kids 😢 ..thanks for sharing your experience though it’s really helpful 🧡
Thank you for this article! Dealing with kids stuff is definitely the hardest part for us. My 7yo daughter is especially attached to her stuff, and she’d keep every piece of paper scrap or tiny kinder egg toy! I sometimes make small stuff disappear and she doesn’t notice, but I can’t do that with bigger toys, sure enough she’ll look for them the day after. Maybe because we move a lot (she’s 7 and she has lived in 2 US states, Germany, and UK), and she feels secure with her stuff around? I don’t know… But good for you for being able to involve your kids in the process!
I came on to see what minimalism was about, and why some people were so excited about it. The living area you filmed in, I thought, was a reception area in an office. I was shocked to see it was a part of your home. But when I saw the kids’ room, I nearly cried. I understand clean and organized. I get not having too much stuff. I cannot get behind Spartan sterility. White and a little beige for a child’s room? No colorful curtains, rug, or bedding? No pictures or posters on the walls? Where do the children get to express their personalities? Where have you expressed yours? Or is this it?
When I was a very young child (3 or 4 years old) my parents forced me to get rid of some of my favorite toys. I was crying and begging them, but they remained unshaken. I haven’t got rid of any toy since that accident. I am 20 now. So if you are a parent and you don’t want to traumatise your kids don’t put their beloved things into a giant black big back, so they will never see them again.
I’ve been looking at the size of my small apartment (2bd/combined living room, kitchen) which we have crammed a small family into due to the housing crisis in our town – wondering how to make this work. It seems to me that some form of minimalism is in order but with such a small space it feels almost impossible.
Hi, I love your website and you have the loveliest personality, I have a question, how do you explain your lifestyle to friends and family whom may be at the other end of the spectrum (people who have accumulating tendencies), so that they don’t try to push their consumerist lifestyle on you? If you have already addressed this issue in one of your articles which one is it?
My 5 year old doesn’t want to get rid of anything. All of the art work, she draws and colours multiple pictures every day. The packaging from toys, old tooth brushes, the package from a new tooth brush, the empty bottle from a drink she enjoyed etc etc. Even getting rid of our old fridge that broke was somewhat traumatic. Any suggestions?
In my humble opinion, being minimalist, is to do away with unwanted desires. Desires are really what clustered our minds. Hoardings is just one of the external expressions of a greedy mind. Cravings, desires are the roots of greed. While being a minimalist is heading toward the right path, yet that alone cannot cure those ignorances. Because ignorance is in our minds, hearts, and souls. Punish the materials we owned, the physical body is like punishing a passerby while the real thieves got away. Good fortune to you.
I really don’t get this stuff :/ I’m not a hoarder but I wouldn’t want to live in these big empty barren spaces minimalists seem so fond of. It’s so cold and uninviting, like every room looks as though it’s a hospital waiting room. I don’t get the hype. I’d rather have color and decoration :/ this whole minimalist approach really isn’t for me. I’m just glad you aren’t using minimalism as a punishment or forcing it on your kids.
I really like what you say and it all sounds nice- and I love your articles- but I am sorry.. A life with no color and empty rooms with no life and a little chaos and playfulness in it… Ida sad life for kids. They have no choice to adapt. Nature is wild, reality is wild, kids are naturally alive and not tidy and wild.. and to force them into a sterile, empty life style called minimalistic is an extreme controlling and robot raising motherhood. My kids have a colourful room with many self painted pictures on the wall, boxes filled with toys and it’s totally ok these toys are on the carpet and the teddybears in the bed and something here something there. Mari Kondo stopped being an extreme minimalist ever since she had kids. And she knows why. This lifestyle can be chosen by everyone but must not Berlin forced unto children. It’s just a sad growing up on such an empty, color missing energetically dead home. Children need some cosy, colorful and little chaotic surrounding to Berlin happy and develop creative. It’s good boy to overload them and show them a life with less consuming, but a dead empty home is also not for kids.
I really like what you say and it all sounds nice- and I love your articles- but I am sorry.. A life with no color and empty rooms with no life and a little chaos and playfulness in it… Is a sad life for kids. They have no choice, but to adapt to the extreme cleaning and empty life of their parents. Nature is wild, reality is wild, kids are naturally alive and not tidy and wild.. and to force them into a sterile, empty life style called minimalistic is an extreme controlling and robot raising motherhood. My kids have a colourful room with many self painted pictures on the wall, boxes filled with toys and it’s totally ok these toys are on the carpet and the teddybears in the bed and something here something there. Mari Kondo stopped being an extreme minimalist ever since she had kids. And she knows why. This lifestyle can be chosen by everyone that is single orbycouples- but must not Be forced unto children. When children come into life- color and chaos is a part of it and to fight against it and throw away their toys and papers is rather traumatising. When these kids do not get angry when their little things they personally check are thrown away- shows only that they are already fully controlled and oppressed. My son would scream if I throw away a small paper, where he painted something of importance for him on. This is natural. This is a child. I am a therapist for children and have also an education as a Pediatric worker with kids and this is just not a life for children. It’s the egoic wish of parents to press their kids into their life- plan.