Where am I a Minimalist? Where am I not?
June 29, 2024
I’ve been thinking about a conversation I’ve had with one of my clients recently. She asked me if it was okay that she is a minimalist in most areas in her home but not in her clothing. I said yes! The KonMari Method isn't about becoming a minimalist, it's about finding the right amount for you. That right amount sometimes can be considered a little and sometimes can be considered a lot. Either is okay. It's about finding all the things that sparks joy for you and keeping only those things. Letting go of all the excess and all the things that doesn't spark joy.
My client then asked me if there are any areas where I am a minimalist? and other areas where I am not?
I said definitely! but to be honest, I couldn’t really think of many examples of either because to me, I have the “right amount” of everything. This idea of minimalist or not - there are no official definition or amount. It’s not like if I own 2 pairs of pants, I am a minimalist and if I have 10, then I am not. It’s all so arbitrary.
That being said, here are 5 areas in my life where I would consider myself a minimalist and 5 areas where I am not.
Here are 5 areas where I would consider myself a minimalist:
#1 Clothing (including handbags and accessories)
I really don't enjoy having a lot of clothes. I use an app to track what I wear everyday and it helps me see what I'm wearing, what I'm not, as well as the cost per wear. When I look at my log, I noticed when I like something I want to wear it all the time, sometimes several times a week. I typically will have somewhere between 30 and 50 pieces of clothing in my closet and that includes my coats and jackets but doesn’t include pajamas and workout wear. I don’t aim for a specific number and the number always fluctuates because I am always adding pieces and letting go of pieces. It's not a one-in-one-out - I don't have such a rule but it's really just about what I'm feeling at the moment. I love fashion and I acquire items with a long term wear mindset but I let things go when I notice my styles changing or when the item no longer feel great on.
As for accessories there's a lot of things where I only have one of. I have one belt, one bracelet, one pair of sunglasses etc. I like buying classic items and not worry about it until I need to replace it so many of my items are over 10 years old.
#2 makeup and skincare
I am very minimal when it comes to makeup and I don't use a lot of skincare. I don't have a 7 step, 10 step skincare. it's hardly a 3-step skincare to be honest. it's probably a 2-step (lol!) I wash my face and I moisturize it - that's really about it.
I really don't have a lot of excess products. I might try a face mask here and sometimes I receive them as gifts but I always try to finish the one I am using before buying or opening another one so I don’t have a bunch of products in rotation. A lof of makeup and skincare expiry dates depends on when you open it so it’s more wasteful to open a second one because you might not be able to use up both within the expiry date.
#3 beddings and towels
I have one hair towel and we have maybe five bath towels in our home. When it comes to bedding, we currently have one bed sheet, one duvet that we use year round and one duvet cover.
my husband does the laundry so when we wash it he makes sure he washes it in the morning so he can dry everything and put it back on the bed by the time we go to bed.
I have one pillow, one pillowcase, I try to keep it minimal but we do have one additional set that we use for our guests.
#4 sentimental items
I am not a very sentimental person. I do have some sentimental items including a teddy bear I received as a kindergarten graduation gift from my teacher. I’ve had it since I was 5 or 6 and it still sits on the shelf in my bedroom but other than that and some photos I can't really think of many other sentimental items.
#5 Fragrance
I have one perfume that I love and it is Thé Noir 29 from Le Labo. It’s the only one I have and I just love it so much. I figured when I'm tired of it that's when I'll try something else. With candles I am not as loyal per se as I will try different fragrances from different brands that I like. I try to only have one candle going at a time so unless another one has been given to me as a gift, I won’t buy a second scented candle for myself.
Here are 5 areas where I would not consider myself a minimalist:
#1 Dinnerware
I have a collection of plates and bowls from Hermes and I also have another set of plates and bowls that we use. I use everything everyday and don’t save my Hermes Chinaware for special occasions or anything like that even though I do store them separately. For our flatware, we have 6 sets that we use daily and another 8 sets that I will bring out when we have guests so we don’t have to rely on disposable single use ones.
when it comes to hosting, I’d be able to host a dinner party for a lot of people and that's why I would not consider myself a minimalist in that area.
#2 Tea
I have all kinds of tea things including loose tea leaves. I have always enjoyed tea but mostly they've been acquired in the last year. My love for tea really grew when I went to Taiwan last year where I was introduced to the beautiful world of Taiwanese Oolong Tea by my uncle there. I just loved it so much that I actually recently enrolled in a program to study to become a Tea Sommelier and I'm loving it. Every time after I enrolled in a course, I will receive a box of tea and so I have a lot of tea and different tea samples from different regions around the world for my tea studies.
#3 art
There are a lot of art everywhere in my home. I don't think we have any blank walls where we can add more artwork. We've always loved art and my husband is an artist as well so a lot of the photographs we have are of his works. He also has a lot of artist and photographer friends so sometimes they trade artwork and give each other artwork. When you come to my house it's kind of like an art gallery of local Calgary artists, which is a reflection of our life here and there are also some pieces that I made that I am proud of which are hung on the walls.
#4 food
I like to stock up on food and I shop at Costco, which I feel like it’s something that's very un-minimalist to do. I have two bins in my pantry that are the just for the extras and I always make sure we have a stock of pasta sauce, pasta, cereal, flour, sugar, etc.
I'm just not a minimalist when it comes to food. Some people buy only what they need for that day. We go to the grocery store a lot too but we buy both the things that we need everyday and stock up on food that doesn't go bad, especially when it goes on sale.
#5 miscellaneous household repair and tools
This is a broader subcategory and includes things like painting supplies, items you’d use for general repairs, special tools, painting, hanging art and shelves etc.
The top shelf of my linen closet is filled with all of these extra items that are just in case. They're not items we need right now because we're not using them but rather just extras or leftover supplies from previous projects. When it comes to stuff like that, I like to have some on hand but I don't want to have too much so my solution is to give myself a space limitation. If it fits in that space and if it's well organized, then we keep it.
What did you think about areas where I consider myself a minimalist and where I dont? Let me know in the comments if there are any areas where you’d consider yourself a minimalist and where you don’t! If you enjoy a video format and want to take a peek into some parts of my home, I have included my youtube video link below.