This is a very impromptu, unplanned and not very well thought out blog post. Everyday, I find myself dreading walking through my house. I love it here, but we have entirely too much stuff. I woke up this morning and walked through, and just became disgusted. When we moved we purged nearly 40% of our things, which if you knew me personally, that was a major feat. However, we still have an entire horde of things that we could possibly let go of, we just haven’t realized it yet.
Since we are currently in a rental home for a few years, there is not much we are able to do redocorating wise (she won’t let us paint-boo!), but we can make a few little updates. Before we head down that road I need to purge a few more items. I have two very different decorating styles-modern and vintage; and I have to find out how to combine the two without my home looking like the Smithsonian and great aunt Hattie’s with a 2016 flare (that sounds terrible right?).
Horribly cluttered living room.
The one thing I am sure of, is the fact that I am without a shadow of a doubt-a cozy minimalist.
Cozy Minimalism isn’t about counting your possessions or a particular style, but a mindset that says–whatever style you LOVE, you desire to acheive it with the fewest possible items: simply being intentional and knowing what to use in each space–for some of us, that might mean a few extra pillows, for others that might mean a cleared off coffee table.-The Nester
So I wanted to start blog following my process to becoming a cozy minimalist. No, I haven’t taken The Nester’s course, but I have read her blog and several others and have decided to take it room by room. However, to ease my mind and anxiety with this process, I am going to work on clearing off cetain “hot spot” spaces first.
- Kitchen Counters
- Kitchen Table
- Washing Machines
- Bookshelves
Because these are the most visable when you walk into our home, I thought it was best to start there. We do not have tons of storage in our home (we have 5 people in 1100 sq. ft.). To make matters worse, our washer and dryer are in our kitchen. Literally right next to our kitchen sink. You may be able to gauge just how small the living room is from the picture posted above-two couches, a chair, a coffee table, two bookshelves, and a Christmas tree. Like I said I am very impatient and I like to see progress, so the first thing I had my husband do was remove the big green chair.
It has opened up the space a bit more and there is still much more to do, but this is a start! (I can also see that one of the girls was messing with the tree as well).
I am hoping to have the home cleared out by January 15th (really before New Year’s Eve-but I am giving myself a cushion just in case). So follow along as I take this journey. If you have any helpful tips you would like to share, please do so! Also lots and lots of encouragement is needed!
Love of impromptu dance parties, 80’s cartoons, and horizontal life pauses (aka naps); Natasha Brown is a stay at home mom of 4 kids, and wife to one lucky guy! In her spare time, she is co-editor of Grits & Grace, as well as editor for The Mother Hustler Blog and Creative Director for the Mother Hustler podcast.
This is something I’m always working on. I totally get how difficult it can be to fit everything in a small home. Mine’s about the same size with no storage. I feel like I’m always looking for new ideas to stay organized.
I have been doing a daily purge since I wrote this post. I’m hoping we can find better storage solutions once we get rid of a lot of unnecessary items.