There are many reasons to downsize your living space, from reducing stress and clutter to saving time and money. Are you ready to take the leap?
A cluttered home can be overwhelming and stressful, but a minimalist home can help to declutter your life. Removing unnecessary items and focusing on what is truly important can simplify your life and reduce stress.
Another benefit of a minimalist house is that it can help you to save time and money. A minimalist home requires less time to clean and maintain, and it can also help you save money on things like furniture and decor. By living with less, you can have more time and money to focus on the things that truly matter to you.
The best advantage of having a minimalist home is that it’s easier to clean. Imagine cleaning a room with only a few objects rather than one with hundreds of items scattered here and there. If you are considering switching to a minimalist lifestyle, many resources are available to help you get started.
Keep reading to look at a few simple, easy-to-follow, and inexpensive ways to create a minimalist home.
13 Tips to Create a Minimalist Home
A minimalist home can be defined as a dwelling that contains only the essential furniture and items and is clutter-free. Creating a minimalist home can be daunting, but some tips can help make the process easier.
The goal is not to have a completely minimalist home but one that isn’t cluttered. The key is to remove all the unnecessary “stuff” that never gets used in your house’s rooms, including the kitchen. So, let’s look at a few tips to help you achieve that!
1. Only the essentials
Anything that doesn’t seem essential must be trashed, donated, or stored away. Look around your house (one room at a time) and start clearing floors and surfaces. There shouldn’t be any clutter on the floor. In addition to the surfaces that mustn’t have more than a couple of decorations, the walls also need to be cleared of unnecessary wall hangings. Replace all those “noisy” and difficult-to-clean wall hangings with simple artwork. Choose colors that go with the overall decor of your home instead of creating a mess of colors all over the place.
If you’re not sure whether or not you should get rid of something, ask yourself if you’ve used it in the past year. If the answer is no, then it’s probably time to let it go.
You can also use vertical space to keep items off the floor. Start storing items on the wall. We absolutely love the idea of having wall-mounted shelves and baskets, over-the-door hooks, pegboards, and much more. Try these, and you won’t have to worry about clutter on the floor anymore. The best thing about these products is that they are totally affordable. Some of them can even be made at home using a few simple tools.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution, we recommend this wall organizer pegboard kit. It can be installed anywhere and offers lots of space for storing just about anything!
2. Simple window treatments
There are many benefits to creating minimalist windows in your home. Not only do they allow for more natural light to enter the room, but they also create a more open and airy feel.
It is important to choose a window style that is simple and uncluttered. This means avoiding features such as shutters or heavy curtains. Second, the window should be sized appropriately for the space. A window that is too small will not provide enough light, while a window that is too large will make the space feel cramped. Finally, the window should be placed where it will receive the most sunlight.
3. Invest in multipurpose furniture
Among minimalist home tips, investing in multipurpose furniture is one that will bring long-term benefits. This means choosing furniture that can be used for multiple purposes.
For example, a coffee table doubles as a storage ottoman or a dining table that can be used as a desk. This type of furniture is functional and takes up less space, which is ideal for a minimalist home.
Many types of fancy storage ottomans are available on the market these days and are not very expensive either. The Amazon Basics Upholstered Storage Ottoman is available in three elegant colors. You can place it in your bedroom or living room and fill it with things normally seen scattered everywhere.
4. Use subdued colors
Subdued colors can create a feeling of calm and peace, be used to hide imperfections, and make a space feel larger. When surrounded by bright colors, our brains become more active, and we can feel more anxious. So, using neutral colors helps eliminate stress and live a peaceful life.
Another benefit of using subdued colors is that they can hide imperfections. If you have a room full of imperfections, using subdued colors can help camouflage those imperfections and make the room look more polished. For example, if you have a room with many cracks, painting the walls lightly can help hide those cracks.
Using subdued colors is a great option if you want to create a calm and peaceful environment in your home or hide imperfections.
5. Have a place for everything
In a minimalist home, everything has its place. It can help you keep track of your belongings and find things more easily. When everything has its place, cleaning and organizing your space is easier. There are a few simple steps that you can follow to give everything its place.
The first step to making everything its place is to sort your belongings. You will need to review your belongings and decide what you want to keep and what you can eliminate. This can be difficult, but being honest about your requirements is important. Once you have sorted your belongings, you can start making everything its place.
There are many storage systems available on the market. These include large storage bags, containers, storage totes, under-the-bed organizers, baskets, etc. What we like the best are these under-the-bed storage containers with a clear PVC window, so you can easily see where you have put your stuff.
6. Downsize your wardrobe
We all know the feeling of having too many clothes and insufficient space. It’s time to declutter by downsizing your wardrobe. You’ll be surprised at how much better you’ll feel with a more simplified wardrobe. Here are two ways to do it.
The first step is to get rid of clothes you don’t wear. This includes clothes that are out of style, don’t fit, or you don’t like anymore. If you haven’t worn it in the last year, chances are you won’t wear it again. So get rid of it! You can donate these clothes or sell them online.
The second step is only to keep what you love. This includes clothes that make you feel good, are comfortable, and enjoy wearing. Keep only a few of your favorite outfits and eliminate the rest. You’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to get dressed in the morning when you only have a few choices.
Downsizing your wardrobe doesn’t have to feel like a daunting task. Start doing it every month and you will see that you feel lighter and more organized in the end.
7. Get rid of plastic bags
There are countless reasons to get rid of plastic bags. They are becoming a major pollution problem. They are produced from non-renewable resources and clog up our landfills and waterways. They are a danger to wildlife and take centuries to break down.
We need to find ways to reduce our use of plastic bags and to recycle or reuse the ones we have.
Start using reusable shopping bags, or better yet, start using paper bags. Paper bags are by far the best alternative, as they are compostable. Here are a few ideas for composting paper and cardboard.
8. Create a drop zone
An idea floated by Extra Space that we absolutely loved was to create a DIY pegboard and hang it in the entryway so you could hang those extra items there and make your home clutter-free. It’s a wall organizer that can be easily made at home using a few simple items. If you don’t have time for that, no problem. There are expandable coat hangers available out there that look equally neat and allow you to hang whatever you want.
9. Use labels
We like stacking up all those organizers and storage baskets, but how will you know what is inside those organizers? You can use printable or handwritten labels to group like items together and find them easily afterward.
10. Keep cords under control
We all know how frustrating it is to have a bunch of cords and wires everywhere. It’s even more frustrating when you can’t find the one you need when you need it.
One of the best ways to control your cords and wires is to use cord wraps. Cord wraps are essentially just pieces of Velcro that you can wrap around your cords to keep them together. This is a great way to keep your cords from getting tangled up and makes it easy to grab the one you need when you need it.
Reusable cable ties are also available on the market, and they are totally affordable and will make your life much easier. Tie up the cables you use less frequently and put them away in drawers or storage baskets. If you don’t want to spend money on anything extra, spiral the cables up and use a binder clip to keep them in place.
11. Repurpose boxes and jars
Talk about sustainability and saving money. Giving your old jars and containers a new purpose is a great way to create a minimalist home and space that looks less cluttered and more inviting. The jars don’t have to look dull and boring, though. You can use some creative ideas to convert these into beautiful decorative items simply by using a few items like glitter, sand, pebbles, and buttons.
We used to make sewing kits from old shoe boxes, which is still a great idea. It helps to reuse the box and convert it into a lovely container for small items. Instead of spending money on storage solutions, why not try this idea?
12. Consider color coordination
Arranging things according to colors is also a great idea to find things easily and save time. This tip comes in handy when organizing your wardrobe. You can also try grouping items in a rainbow order, which is easy to remember. This type of organization is also aesthetically pleasing to look at.
13. Declutter regularly
Last but not least, decluttering is not a one-time job. You need to do it on a regular basis as we keep buying more items, and it’s easy to lose track of them. Make sure you never have a pile of unwanted items, and it is possible only if you take time out every few months or so to go through your stuff and get rid of things you don’t use anymore.
There you go! I hope you enjoyed these simple tips for introducing minimalism to your living space. All the best with your endeavors, and don’t forget to check out our other posts on minimalism.
