Having a clean and tidy house is a great pleasure, but unfortunately, cleaning and tidying isn’t quite such good fun for most people. We all have to do our best to keep on top of the housework, but wouldn’t it be nice if there wasn’t quite so much of it to keep on top of?
Well that’s the principal behind minimalism…
In many ways; less really is more. Having less stuff and living a simpler life will free you from clutter, save you a lot of stress and free up a surprising amount of mental space too! Best of all, living as a minimalist will save you a lot of cleaning and tidying time.
(When you live in a small apartment you have no choice but to live minimalist!)
Here’s how to get started…
True minimalism is more of a way of life, but if you don’t want to plunge in head-first. You can still follow some of the principals.
Clearing Out Your Clutter
One of the most powerful principals is minimising your furniture, but before you can do that, you have to empty it. Start by psyching yourself up for the biggest clear-out ever.
It is often easiest to start with clothing, since most people have far more than they need. Take out all of your clothes and start three piles; keepers, trash, charity.
Anything that you haven’t worn in the last 12 months or anything that doesn’t fit should go in either the trash or charity piles. Be ruthless and think about how good it is going to feel not being weighed down by so much stuff.
Once you have sorted out your clothes, and everyone else’s, you can move on to other clutter. Empty all of your kitchen cupboards and get rid of any appliances you never use – do you really need three frying pans and five different saucepans?
Ornaments can be sorted as well. A little decoration is fine, but the more stuff you have on your window-sills the longer your cleaning will take. Try to pick just the nicest items and give everything else away (or store it in the basement if you must).
As you get into it, you will soon realise how much stuff you have that you don’t need. Most people have multiple versions of the same tools and accessories!
Minimising Your Furniture
This is the fun bit. Now that you have less stuff you will probably find that most of your furniture is empty. You can finally get rid of those old dressers and draws and have a bit more space.
If you want to take your minimalism even further, consider getting rid of any bulky and unnecessary items. You can swap your spare bed for a sofa bed and have an extra living room upstairs (how often do you really have guests anyway?).
Also, try to avoid bulky furniture, anything that creates wasted space is a cleaning nightmare, so don’t get a big chair that you have to pull out every time you vacuum. Instead consider beanbags, which are easy to shove to one side for quick and easy cleaning.
Another great tip is getting rid of your TV cabinet; instead, install a TV stand on the wall – you will free up floor space and be getting rid of one of the house’s worst culprits for dust.
Minimalism & A Tidy Home
Minimalism goes hand in hand with cleanliness and tidiness. By reducing the amount of stuff that you actually own, you will find less opportunities to create clutter and mess. You will soon learn to live without those items that you never needed anyway and you will also find that less clutter in the home equals less clutter in the mind.
Finally: when you are getting rid of your old furniture (you can sell it if it’s any good!) think about how you can rearrange your living space to make better use of the new found space. Create large open spaces and avoid those annoying gaps that never get cleaned.
When you make cleaning a little easier, you will find that you do it more often and you will have a lovely, tidy, clean and spacious house all of the time!
About The Author
This post was written by Ricky Peterson. Ricky is a minimalist who loves to make his home better by keeping it simple. Ricky writes for SofaSofa, who sell furniture as it happens! You can find their website here.
