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The last few weeks, on my train ride to and from work, I’ve circled around the idea of wanting to share things outside the realm of recipes on the blog. I blame it on my perfectionist tendencies that every time I think about this I end up hung up on the same small detail: how do I make the transition?
Out of fear of having it feel random or abrupt, I’ve hesitated.
So, just like that. Without a smooth, thought out transition, I will begin to share.
About a year ago, I came across Caroline Rector’s blog, Unfancy – where I I first learned about “capsule wardrobes.”
In one of her posts, she says:
“When things aren’t adding up, start subtracting. So often, when I’m faced with a problem, my first reaction is to think I need to add something to my life to solve it. Like, if I’m disorganized, I should buy more storage containers. Or, if I’m feeling stressed, I should go shop for a new dress to make myself feel better. When the answer to both of those problems could be to subtract something from my life.”
These words seem to have resonated with me and really got me thinking about the things I own – not in a good way.
Automatically, my thoughts shifted into my own closet. For years I had been blaming crummy rentals and their lack of appropriate storage. Suddenly it dawned on me that maybe this feeling of dissatisfaction I got every time I stepped into my closet had nothing to do with drawers, shelves, or some intricate storage solution I could add into the equation to make it all better. Plain and simple, having these things was the problem.
I can genuinely say that the idea of having less (as opposed to a heaping pile of things I had mixed feelings about) sounded nice. The idea of having 3 things I loved as opposed to 30 that I didn’t care for sounded nice. The idea of having this auto-pilot wardrobe with only outfits I loved sounded nice.The idea of how simple it could be if I just had less… sounded oh-so-nice.
While I didn’t hop on the capsule wardrobe bandwagon, I did adopt a sudden desire to purge / minimize / downsize – whatever you want to call it. It initially began with the closet but since then, has made its way into every room of the house. It’s still a work in progress but so far, it’s incredible to see how something as simple as being more aware of the things you own and making an active effort to minimize can be so rewarding. Our space looks more intentional and less like a random assortment of things that don’t fit together. I feel like I can now more clearly see a surfacing theme and a sense of cohesiveness that had been previously masked by superfluous things.
I realize that after reading this you might be led to think that our home was in utter disarray prior to this – but I assure you, that’s not the case. (By society’s standards, I would say we’re pretty tidy people, as a matter of fact.) This has been more of an exercise centered around assessing our needs for the things we have. It’s been about having less crowded bookshelves and drawers with a little extra space. It’s also been about the importance of being more conscious and aware of the things we have and being much more intentional about our purchases.
I’m excited to keep this going and would love to hear any thoughts you may have on downsizing. Have any of you tried becoming more minimalistic?
– Corinna