As some of you know, I am very passionate about home design and over the past year or so I’ve become utterly fascinated by minimalism. In recent months, I’ve have the opportunity to actually live the minimalist life as I’ve moved to a studio apartment where my entire living and sleeping area is confined to a single room with just two other small rooms – a bathroom and laundry – tacked onto the back.

I wasn’t sure how I’d go with living in such small quarters but it’s actually been really great and has never felt claustrophobic. I think I would call my little house here a practice in “cozy minimalism”. I have lamps, candles, blankets, and pillows around the place but in no way does it feel cluttered. Eventually I will move out of here and into a larger home but I imagine I will continue to employ a minimalist mentality to any new space I enter.

Most people think of minimalism as the rather stark, “modern” style of home design that has recently become trendy. I find this style of home design interesting and inspiring in its un-cluttered aesthetic but also somehow at odds with the “live simply” mentality that is the heart of true minimalism. Here in Canberra there are “minimalist” homes going up all over town and a lot of them sit at the $800,000 to million dollar+ price point which is just crazy and totally at odds with the non-consumerist minimalist mentality.

To me minimalism is about living simply, without clutter, and using the time you would otherwise spend acquiring, cleaning, and working for your possessions to instead better your life.

True minimalism is also one of the best lifestyle choices we can ever make as stewards of the earth because it forces us to put a stop to the constant acquisition of things. It’s also one of the easiest ways to clear the mind and relax. The classic minimalists are the Zen Buddhists of Japan, whose homes are devoid of unnecessary items as a way to still the mind. These people understand that in no small way, our inner worlds – our head space – is affected by our outer environments.

Here are some ideas for incorporating minimalism into your life:

1. Drastically reduce the amount of knick knacks you keep around.
Knick knacks are something many people find difficult to part with because they almost always hold sentimental value. The problem, though, is they clutter up a place like nobody’s business and drain your energy. One trick I’ve come up with is to put all your knick knacks in a box and only put the most important ones back out again. Donate or give away as much of what is left in the box as possible. And for God’ sake – don’t buy any more!!

2. Dare to wear out your best clothes – and chuck the rest.
Don’t save your nicest clothes for a special occasion. Wear them. It’s better to wear things out than to hold onto them for so long that they go out of style and have to be thrown out anyway. Go through your closet and get rid of absolutely everything that you don’t like, doesn’t fit, or that you just don’t wear and never will – and be brutal about your choices. Whatever is left, wear! Do this with your jewellery too. By getting rid of the crap, you’ll actually feel like you have more to wear because you aren’t constantly weeding through stuff that has no business being there. Drastically minimise your impulse clothing purchases, too. Find something besides shopping to do with your friends!

3. Take the time to put your photographs in albums – and chuck the rest.
There’s no point having a gigantic box of photos sitting around that you never go through. Take the time to properly display your memories and get rid of the anything that isn’t worthy of either being framed or going into an album.

4. Eat out your fridge and cupboards before you replenish them.
Food can be a major money sink, especially when you’re routinely buying perishable items that go mouldy before you use them. Throwing out or not using good food is also disrespectful to the farmers and land that was used to create it. I often go out to buy one or two items at the grocery store but I save my big shops for when I have gone through almost everything in both the fridge and pantry. Save your money and eat through all your vegetables and all those cans of soup before going back to the store.

5.Be honest about how many skin and hair care products you really need.
So often our bathrooms are full of samples and random products that we have barely used yet have been sitting there for years. If you’re not going to use them, throw them out. If you are going to use them, use them. You’ll be amazed by how more relaxed your morning routine is when your bathroom is an uncluttered oasis. Aim to get everything but your soap off of the bathroom sink – and learn to keep it that way!

6. Invest $5 in a library card
You really don’t need to be buying books that you will only read once. There’s also no real point in spending money on dvds and cds when the technology will soon become irrelevant anyway. Save your money and start going to the library. I even get my magazines from the library. I usually can’t get the most recent editions but I can get last month’s and that’s fine by me. I get my celeb goss online, anyway!

7. When it comes to furniture and other big ticket items, buy things that truly speak to your heart.
The beauty of minimalism is that when you do decide to purchase something, you have the luxury of opting for quality because you haven’t been spending all your money on meaningless crap! Take the time to purchase items that truly speak to you.

8. Use the time and money you would otherwise spend on the acquisition and care of possessions to better your life.
After you have de-cluttered your space, set to work on de-cluttering your whole life. Get rid of the thought patterns and beliefs that have been tripping you up, clear up your financial mess, let go of those so called friends who do you more harm than good. At the same time, sign up for that art class you have been wanting to take and call up that family member you don’t get to see as much as you’d like. Minimalism is about clearing out what doesn’t matter so you have more time for what does.

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