by Arundel Stevens

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is a decorative style that is used to declutter and clear away personal space. Starting as an art movement, minimalism eventually adapted into a lifestyle that encompasses all aspects of life. The key tenet of minimalism is valuing life over products. Learning to separate your life and your happiness from the clutter of consumerism can make you a more organized and productive person!

What does this look like?

Adapting minimalism into your own life can look very different depending on your goals. If you simply hope to remove some unwanted items from your life, that is an easy and achievable goal! If you want to take a bigger step and attempt to live with as few personal items as possible, that is also possible! Reorienting your focus and attempting to live with intent can completely change the way you buy, consume, create, and act.

How to start

If you have a friend or relative who may claim to be a minimalist, you can probably attest that their house, office, car, or living space is pretty bare. That’s because minimalism begins with reducing your space to necessities. It can be difficult to retrain your thinking, but minimalism embraces cleanliness and avoids overconsumption. Upgrading to a new phone is not necessary for a minimalist, who consumes with intent and purpose. Ignore clothing and style trends and find personal and timeless tastes in order to rid yourself of unnecessary products.

How do you adapt a unique style to your space?

Many people might see a minimalist environment and assume it is not lived in or personalized. However, this does not have to be true for you! Minimalism can certainly coexist with your own creativity and interests. Reflecting on your own interests and tastes will make you more attuned to the products and purchases that are worthwhile. Learning to value life over consumption does not mean that your living space has to be bare or bland; it just means detaching yourself from the influences of trends and other inputs. 

Balancing Cleanliness and Creativity

Keeping your living space clean and simple is only one aspect of minimalism. Embracing your own creativity and valuing the emotions you associate with items, rather than the items themselves, is the next step. If you have memorabilia or antiques that mean a lot to you, that’s fine! You do not need to discard every item in order to have a sufficiently minimalist space. Allow yourself to decorate your space to represent yourself, but do not buy items simply to fill the space. This detached buying of meaningless products is the exact opposite of minimalism! Purchase only the items that are representative of your own interests and tastes, and choose pieces that will last a long time and not need replaced.

Staying Motivated

After one shopping trip, don’t lose the momentum you have made in redesigning your space! Maintain your minimalist lifestyle by recalling the core values: to enjoy life and live intentionally. If a purchase is intentional and personally significant, it does not mean you have relapsed from minimalism; it means you are embracing the ideology in the way it was intended: to bring you peace and happiness apart from consumption.