Mission to Minimalism - Entry 1

“simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication” - Leonardo Da Vinci

I remember the day that my husband and I brought home all of the gifts that we had received from our first baby shower like it was just yesterday. As I looked around, I felt simultaneously grateful and overwhelmed with an unexpected sense of anxiety. The items before me all looked seemingly necessary, but the thought of finding homes for all of this stuff to keep a baby alive felt impossible.

Now that we have TWO children and we own our home. the one thing that stays consistent besides the love I have for my family, is the panic I feel when clutter stacks up and I feel like I'm living in a mess. Obviously, having a two little ones in your home leaves far less time to take care of such things, so we turn to help in the form of housekeepers and nannies. I get that now. But, I find myself questioning why I have all these things that need to be cleaned, managed and maintained? For the first time, I'm looking at the items in my home, in MY LIFE, and wondering, "do I really need this?"

Two years ago, I really took a hard look at starting to minimize the amount of stuff in my life. These past two years have helped me to realize that I don't enjoy living amongst all the "stuff" in my home! I appreciate possessions more when I rely on them to help me in my daily life. The excess is just leading to more waste and the stress of dealing with garage sales and Craigslist adds to offload the unnecessary that adds up. So, all in all, I have decided to challenge myself to do at least one thing each week for the next year to make my move towards a more minimal way of living.

GOALS

- I hope to find myself at the end of this journey feeling grateful and accomplished.

- I'd like to have less of a negative effect on the environment.

- I'd like to spend my money more locally on items I truly love and need than worrying about getting the best price or buying items that work for "right now."

- I want to feel like the possessions I have either serve a daily purpose or I have an emotional attachment to them.

- I want to be able to spend less time cleaning and organizing the unnecessary in order to spend more time with my family and friends

- I'd like to find at least one way, once a month, to give back to my community with the money that I would have spent on unnecessary items I would typically purchase.

INSPIRATION

My sense of style, design wise, has always been a "less is more" approach... So, I'm counting on my love for aesthetics and sanity will help me to keep pushing forward. Because I am an Interior Designer, the best way to get me motivated is through pretty things! Below are some of the spaces that inspire me and work with the current architecture of our home.

I hope you’ll keep checking in with me to see how things shape up and ship out over the remainder of the year!

Thanks so much! Heather-Scherie