If you’re not familiar with the idea of minimalist living, first take a look at your home environment and notice how it makes you feel. Does it make you feel calm and serene, or does it unveil feelings of stress and anxiety? 

Living a minimalist lifestyle essentially involves living with less. It’s about cutting down on material items and focusing only on the things you really need. Many who live a minimalist lifestyle tend to pair a clean, organised space with neutral colour schemes in their home to enhance feelings of calmness and relaxation.

Over time, taking this approach will help you mentally declutter, too. When we’re not surrounded by mess and clutter, we are able to see life with more clarity – and we become more grateful for the things we have.

So, with this in mind, here are a few easy, yet effective ways that you can start living a more minimalist lifestyle.

Analyse Your Space

If you’ve decided that you’d like to start living more minimally, the first thing you should do is analyse the space you’re currently living in. Take the time to notice every single space and corner in each room, and think about how they are currently being used. Are they filled with unnecessary items? Or do you think that you could rearrange some furniture items around to make better use of the space?

Have a think about what your space will look like once it’s been decluttered. How do you envision it? This will help you gain a realistic idea of how much space you’re working with – and, ultimately, establish the ‘why’ behind your decision.

Take some time, too, to notice how your friends and family members live. When you make a visit, notice how their home makes you feel. If it feels calming and cosy, what is it that’s bringing those feelings to light? Is it the stripped-back approach to their interior design, or strong personal connections that they have with their items?

Declutter Your Space

Anxiety and stress are just two negative health implications associated with living in clutter. We often don’t realise that the state of the space around us is directly linked to how we feel mentally. And so, when our homes are filled with too many items, so are our heads; and vice versa. A tidy, minimalist home is a tidy, minimalist mind that’s better equipped to deal with the challenges we face each day.

Not only does decluttering our space offer our mind clarity; taking a minimalist approach helps to save us money, too. By committing to only buying/retaining items we need, we’re saving plenty of money, time and space in the long term.

Learn to Value Quality Over Quantity

When it comes to minimalist living, there is no space for prioritising quantity over quality. Minimalism shines a strong light on high-quality items that evoke positive feelings, whilst adding both aesthetic and functional elements to your home. We are living in a world where new product releases are pretty much an everyday occurrence – and good marketing techniques can trick us into believing that we ‘need’ the item. The average consumer, as a result, often ends up with a house full of items that achieve nothing more than simply clogging up valuable space.

Next time you go on a shopping trip and you spot something you like, ask yourself if you really need the item. Better still, if you can, try to buy that item (if you need it) in better quality. Chances are that you’ll form a better relationship with the item itself, and it will be of better quality – so will last you much longer.

Try to take the same approach with the items you already own, too. If you own multiple of the same item, gather them together and keep just one for use. If you find that the remaining items you’ve put aside are no longer needed, donate them to a charity shop.

Try Your Hand at DIY

Next time you are thinking about replacing an item you own, or buying something new, have a think about what you can do with the resources you already have before you head to the shops. Trying your hand at DIY may not only help you realise a new-found hobby; it can help you transform your items into something new. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be helping to reduce the demand for factory-made products.

Go Digital

One of the most effective ways to cut down on your clutter is to make more use of technology devices. When accumulated, formal and informal paperwork can be responsible for the creation of overwhelming mess. When all stored on a computer and tablet device, it becomes easier to keep them all in one place – without the need for folders and filing cabinets. You can use your device to purchase and store other household items, too – from bank statements to magazines and books.

Letting go of items you’ve previously formed relationships with can be difficult; but learning to do so can be life changing, both for your home and for your health.

See here to discover more ways you can nurture your mental health.