Minimalism and creating a peaceful space

[Clues_Of_Blue]

My parents are both hopeless hoarders. When I first moved out of Mum's house many moons ago, I marvelled at how much space I had in my tiny little unit. It was a new experience and I loved it. Even so, with me not being inclined to take up the torch of the hoarder, I managed to accumulate a lot. Sentimental bits from my younger days, gifts, free stuff I thought I was just too poor to say no to - could need it later, and not be able to afford it, right? There were also bills and sensitive documents I just didn't know what to do with, and boy do they pile up over the years! And worst of all, relationships - when you live with someone, they bring in their own lifetime of clutter, oftentimes leaving a whole bunch of it behind when they leave. And again related to being poor, if any money came my way I wanted to treat myself. A book, or an article of clothing was often the go to. Guess who had a bunch of books she never read and clothes that didn't get worn.

When I parted ways with my most recent ex, he left an extraordinary tonne of junk behind. I made it my mission to get rid of it, and along with it anything of my own I didn't want any more. I had gifts I neither used or particularly liked, boxes of books I bought with the thought I should get them while I had money to read when I didn't (they moved - along with the sensitive documents - from house to house in boxes that never got opened), even clothes from when I was a teenager (those suckers never gonna fit again, and they sure aren't in style any more). In the course of trying to find more and better ways to pare down all this stuff sucking the life out of me, I discovered there were a whole heap of other people who thought like me and wanted what I wanted. Minimalists. There are articles and blogs and tonnes of inspiration out there, and they helped me immensely.

I've been on the journey for a bit over four years, and it took most of that time to get my home how I want it. But now I can easily find things I want to use and don't have to clean, organise or maintain half as much stuff. I don't feel compelled to buy things on a whim or to feel good, because I just don't need them - I'm actually repelled by the idea of having more objects around me. I now have much more time and space and peace. I thought that worth sharing. What a fantastic tool it's been for looking after my mental health!

[ecomama]

Oh I forgot to answer your question about the Netflix show...

The Minimalists.

More for everyone else learning lol.

Lovely philosophy about paring down to bring more meaning into our lives.

EMxxxx

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Haha, glad I could make you laugh, EM.

I like a slightly flexible deadline, myself. I have little pockets of high energy between lengthy stretches of low energy, I've learnt to just run with it when the energy is there, or nothing gets done. Strong motivation helps, like what you've got with prodigal son returning. Yeah, funny how stuff accumulates even when you're actively working against it. Sure does take a lot of vigilance.

Do you have your garden gadgets now, to give your yard its shave? And a toolbox? I could do with one of those, too.

Oh, the dog toys go, too? As long as the two he has are his favourites, all is well.

So glad you're enjoying your room. Having it cultivated the way you want is the best. Mine is in disarray at the moment, my furniture is inadequate for having my partner's things in there as well. No money to upgrade with the typical Dec-Feb barrage of huge bills, which isn't easily handled on the back of my two months without income. Blarg. But that's my story, I can be happy for your progress in the meantime. You must be hating the stuff in garbage bags, but it will feel good when you get through it all and just have what you want at the end. And no TV in the bedroom. That's a good move for getting a decent sleep.

It's a lot to keep up with, minimising, changing rooms, renovating. I don't know where you get the energy. Good on you for doing it, though. Got some trimming to do in my yard, too - nothing as major as yours by the sounds of it, but I have a couple of trees that like growing over the driveway and the letter box, and they aren't kept at bay for long. There's some viney thing growing over the neighbour's fence that is obstructing my compost bin now, too, it's giving me the willies.

How did you go getting the bed moved? Is this the moment of having your loungeroom back? I hope so.

I bet you'll enjoy the painting, freshens up a house so much. And rotating art can, too, I did that recently. Need to update my nature piece again though. I have a strip of curtain fabric hanging up in the hall, and I periodically pin greenery from the garden to it. It's looking a bit the worse for wear at the moment, need something greener. Got some of my photography up, too. Your daughter's art will no doubt spruce the place up nicely.

Ah yes, I am familiar with The Minimalists, haven't watched it through, though. I've read some of their articles though, they're along similar lines to Joshua Becker, I think. His blog is good.

Blue.

[ecomama]

Hey Blue

Well half p.son's QS bed has been moved into his room - the mattress. We can't get his bed down there without pulling one end off. He can help this weekend lol meanwhile we're walking around his huge bed in the dining room now .... slowly slowly lol.

Got SOME of my loungeroom back yay! Went wild in there moving CCTV to a cabinet from p.son's room that won't fit in his new one. It's FULL of DVDs and technology we need to go through - later lol I already ditched my stuff "excess to my needs". Scrubbed the floorboards - they need a coat of tung oil... later lol.
Trying a new layout there I found on Pinterest.

Yesterday cleaned p.son's new room, need to do outside of his windows tonight (taking all kids & me to chiro today and having a tree lopper quote this arv). He now has 2 huge mirrored built in wardrobe doors too - lucky me since he'll only use this room as a periodical weekender lol.

NOT buying any new furniture or anything much for a while. Just moving stuff to better suit the occupants. Have a beautiful square corner coffee table Yvette polished for her room but no longer wants. Picked it up off the side of the road 2y ago and it looks great in the loungeroom atm.

In fact Council pick No 1 for 2021 soon! All broken stuff.

Moved the old CCTV cabinet, now cleaned out and polished, into my bedroom. It's a sweet antique piece from my teen years lol. Stained glass doors and fits beautifully with my new theme... Scandi - Chinoiserie perhaps? lol. Needlework only in that. Whatever doesn't fit there is going into storage (I chucked alot).

Bags of p.son's stuff still in loungeroom till Yvette moves HER stuff out of his new room so I can put it in. Plus BAGS of stuff for the Southern family he lives with. I'll pack his car with as much as poss when he takes it later.

Nope. Didn't leave the house yesterday - no car. Couldn't buy mower & tool box. Got STACKS of stuff done inside tho!

OMG got a revolting kitchen cupboard completely cleaned out!! Kids cannot believe it, neither can I tbh!

Have stacks of appts next week and Uncle is ordering the Louvre glass down in the city, $50 cheaper quote. He plans to come up next week and fit in (Uncle's always a handful lol).

Getting my car back next week I hope!
Alexa saved $20k for her new car but can't get answers from her enquiries. Grrr.

Doing well! Countdown on before starting work soon!

Thankyou for ALL your encouragement!

Love EM

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hey EM,

Well, progress is progress. Good thing the week-end is soon, that bed in the dining room is gonna drive you nuts. Glad you have reclaimed some of the loungeroom. Oh yeah, technology - that can take a while to pare back. None of it is cheap so you um and ah about parting with it. Ultimately you're better off just having what you need, though. You're a driven sort, I know you'll get to it.

Oiled floorboards are lovely, if a little bit of work. I wish mine weren't so water damaged from previous occupants, there's not much point doing them. One day I hope to have floating floorboards or even those wood-look laminate ones, to cut costs (and be easier to clean and maintain). One day. Too much else to do with my money in the meantime.

Good work, cleaning prodigal son's room - it should stay fairly clean if he's not there much, just the odd bit of dusting.

I think there is something to be said for doing everything you can with existing furniture before getting more. Once you're done with the worst of the minimising you'll know what still needs storage, and how much space you'll need for it. Might seem like a lot is needed now, you may find you'll need a wardrobe half the size you thought you'd want when you're done. Sounds like you're making the most of what you have and are finding places for it that you're really happy with. Needlework in a nice cabinet in your room. Perfect.

Yay for getting rid of the broken stuff! It's so important to see big change like that, a weight will be lifted when that goes.

Still a lot of shuffling things from place to place, I see. The thing about cleaning/organising/minimising is it tends to get worse before it gets better. There are periods of stuff everywhere. But after, it's brilliant.

Well, you still made great use of your time. A small delay in the yard work isn't so bad, you're seeing fantastic change every day. I laughed at the kitchen cupboard. Those spaces can be a bit yuck. For me it was the fridge, I got stuck into that a week or two ago, and found a few gross spills I didn't want to play with, haha.

Good about the glass and hopefully getting your car back. Businesses are just starting back up for the year, I'm sure they've got a backlog of enquiries - hopefully Alexa will hear back from them soon.

Ugh, work. Oh yeah, you like yours! 😉 You're welcome for the encouragement, it's great to share the journey with you. Dare I say, quite fun. Your enthusiasm is lovely.

Blue.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

My minimising efforts for the moment have been less physical, but I think still really important.

- Cutting back how much I do at work, for my own well-being. Enough to be a competent employee, no extra.

- Cutting back expenses. Still working on refinancing the house, missed the window before businesses shut for Christmas/New Year as I wasn't back at work long enough to have the payslips needed for it. Grr. Appointment booked now, hoping for a significantly decreased interest rate.

- Delegating jobs at home, my partner is able to do more as his health improves and I'm having to learn to ask for help. I suck at that, but getting better.

- Trying out getting pre-cut veg to make cooking easier, as I'm struggling to get on top of nutrition since I've been back at work (which is exactly what I was worried about). My partner does a bit of cooking but it's not fair to leave it all to him.

[ecomama]

Well done on YOUR streamlining of everything including financials.
Always a tricky thing!

Hope you get a GREAT new mortgage deal. More to go on the finances thread lol...

I'm limiting my time on the forums to less than 1h per day. Beginning to get into the zone for work albeit I've been getting more IRL stuff done by doing this.

You're doing so well Blue, I'm in awe of you!

Love EM

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Thanks, EM. Fingers crossed about the mortgage, I think I'll come out on top, there. Oh, I wanted to tell you I got my Health Care Card, finally. Woo-hoo! That will help a lot, I think.

Minimising forum time, haha. It's a good thing to do. I haven't put a time limit on, but have just implemented checking forums/e-mails/etc. only twice a day. It's helping, though today I had a bunch of stuff pulling me away so checking/answering has ended up taking half the night, tonight. D'oh!

Thanks. I think it can be said we're spurring each other on somewhat. It's good to have support.

Blue.

[ecomama]

OMG WHAT??? You got your HC Card???

YIPPEEE! Oh that's incredibly wonderful news Blue!!!

I am SO PROUD that you tried and tried again.... there's a LOT to say about perseverance there!
Congratulations (dare I say about time too... nah lol).
Just great to have it NOW.

What a huge financial relief it must be.... I guess this goes on the Financial thread... here we go again... you and I have Financials intertwined with our selves so much (maybe a FOO thing there).

Anyway I popped (not pooped yes I'm excited lol and making typos)... IN here to report some more PROGRESS with my minimising.
Seriously Blue I had NO IDEA how long this would all take. BUT progress.

We're all rearranging our bedding situation now. There are NO single beds here now. One King Single but a few single mattresses for sleepovers - so those single sheets are going DOWNSTAIRS for a "Sleepover" TUB lol. Ditching the rest.

No one we know needs single sheets, which is a very different situation for everyone, nice to know.

Got sick to the eye balls of seeing those 6 garbage bags of clothes in my room. More to come ARGH!. Found a WHOLE nuther bug shelf full of tech stuff.
So I did the 6 bags of clothing today.
Kept 1 bag lol. All put away now.
Bagged NICEST hand me downs for p.son's GF & her 10+ siblings... yeah so many.
One to garbage.
Rest to Op shop.

Phew.

Went through my clothes for storage and took lots out lol. Going to p.son's GF too.

Then started on my Linen. 1 Bag ready for Doggie Shelter, there'll be more.

I'm labelling bags for each bedroom / each bed.
It will be stored in each person's bedroom from now on.
They're all colour coded lol but there was still some dispute over who owns what so this will help I hope!

P.son & GF need linen for their other house so I stripped my bed, will wash that Quilt Cover etc & give to them & other suitable linen.

Have ALMOST decided to only keep my WHITE Quilt covers.
Yep decided.

Have to buy one son KS Quilt & sheets (not my girly ones) later in the year when he gets my KS bed.

Ditching SO MUCH. Feel a bit wobbly about ditching it.... but pressing on.

Yes indeed, you are spurring me on!

Love EM

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Haha, I know, right. I've regularly checked the income threshold for it over years, and kept being considered a very small amount over (despite struggling to pay my bills the whole way). They've upped the limit a little and I had no income at all for two months, so jumped in while I could. Yes, about time. Can't change the past but at least I can breathe a little easier now.

You're right, finance is a big one for us, I think I'll have to drop back in on that thread. I think even without our specific pasts, finance is a huge part of mental health, not having enough to go around makes so much unnecessary stress, doubly so with the understanding the world has plenty of resources to feed, house and clothe everybody but just a few are hoarding most of it. The injustice.

Haha, yes, pop in here, please don't poop! The progress is great, EM. Yeah, it can take such a long time, but you are doing the work and you are seeing results. That keeps you going to get it done, and you are doing a fantastic job.

Great work with the beds. Yeah, single beds are rather out of favour these days. Why have one of those when you could have space to roll around and be a starfish? XD

I chuckled about your bags of clothes, I had a feeling you'd get annoyed with them and want to just get it done - I would be exactly the same about it. And the stuff you're not keeping all organised for where it's going. Great. Can't get over how big prodigal son's girlfriend's family is (I have Monty Python's "Every Sperm is Sacred" stuck in my head just thinking about it, haha). Plenty of people to give your excess stuff to though - handy!

Colour coding and labelling the bags, getting them into the right rooms - great. Just the sort of thing I would do.

Look at that, decision made just in the act of writing about it. Great work. I actually put one sheet in the op shop bag recently. We have a bit of extra stuff my partner's dad gave us (his parents are always giving us things, it's a job to stop the flow), but we only keep what we can use.

I understand feeling a bit wobbly about some of the ditching. Sounds like you've got enough stuff that you can focus on the things you know you don't want first, if it's getting hard. There will be more rounds of it later for the "don't know" pile, trust me.

Really glad my input is helping. This thread is a help to me, too. I have a lot less to do at this stage, but it reminds me I can sort out my desk drawers and stuff like that, which I have just done. Go me!

Blue.

[ecomama]

GO BLUE!

Yep! So true. I couldn't handle those bags lol. Now there's more oh yay... grrr.

Oh there are more than 11 in that family. Just disguising numbers for privacy!
Yep you're smack bang on the money with your quote lol... they need clothes!
And everything else.

Sure, good one about the Managing Money thread.

Remember how I said I have to handle Yvette?
Well she woke up this morning with a new battery!
She POWERED through emptying out her built ins, emptying the rest of my clothes on to my bed (asked first which was sweet). GOT STUFF DONE. Then filled in for a shift lol.

She's done so well with her floors that look A-MAZING!

I need to check what's left in her old built ins. BUT I cleaned the mirrored doors to Billeo lol and p.son's stuff is all there in bags for him to go through.

I've got about 30 sheets to give away. I had ALL the kids in singles at one point, now none!
Found a LOVELY set I'm keeping for sleepovers. So that means I'm taking some OUT of the sleepover tub lol.

Getting stuck in to the last of my clothes tonight and I'M EXCITED!!! I actually AM lol! Who woulda thought hey? TRANSFORMATION Blue.
I even bought a frozen dinner so I could work on it all.

P.son will be so PROUD bec he's my most minimalist child by FAR lol.
I sent photos of p.son's new room all set up to Alexa.... she actually said "Ummm it looks so... umm so, IDK, so minimalist?"

OH YEAH IT DOES.
She had no idea of my work on "minimising" and using that term so that made my day.

Thanks Blue. Yeah some things are a bit iffy. I've put them back till I know for sure.

I'll get my car back Monday night YAY! Then I can FILL it up with bags to donate. YAY!

Off to get more done. I'm so tempted to start more but just need to FINISH what I started.

Love EM