To go along with minimalism

We have taken so many car loads to the local mission lately, that we are slowing down a little bit and focusing on some projects we've been needing to get done. Something that's come up lately, is re-purposing things. I feel like this goes hand and hand with minimalism. My biggest issue with buying new things, is there might be something you already have that you can use, and save from just being thrown into a landfill.

For example. We have these outdoor chairs that have just had it. For a bit my husband and I wanted to go get new chairs, but we haven't yet. Next thing we know, he and our oldest son are out in the shed doing "man stuff" and BOOM, a bench for our fire pit! He had some leftover wood, and also found part of an extra shutter out there.

Another example. I really need some kind of shelf to clip my desk lamp to in my work area. The last time my husband was in the attic, he found a broken shelf and brought it down. This was almost a year ago when we first moved in here. He fixed it, and painted it, and now it's ready to be put up!

I think the biggest gain from this though, is our son is on his way to becoming a man. He's about to turn 9 this year, and honestly that just feels so big to me. I mean, he's going to be half way to being an adult! There is a 4.5 year age difference between him and his little brother, and my husband and I just both feel it's a really good time for them (father and son) to start bonding. He's not exactly interested in what our 4 year old is. So to go along with what we're gaining from minimalism, they are building on their relationship. These are memories our son will have for the rest of his life!

Another view of our new lifestyle

Hey everybody, This is Danny (the husband). This is my first post on here, and I'm told it won't be my last. We just wanted to get another point of view on this minimalism thing we're trying out. My point of view is a little bit different than Stacey's. I think that's why we work together so well. It may also be why we butt heads sometimes...

I have to say, I was less than thrilled when Stacey mentioned minimalism. I thought "oh great, lets just get rid of all the stuff we spent so long collecting". Then as she started, and I started watching, I started thinking. She had me read a few posts on another minimalist blog, and it started to click with me too. We won't ever be a "true minimalist" family, but we can surely minimize our "stuff".

Today I went through my nightstand. I filled an entire small garbage basket with "stuff". I had old papers from our move, receipts, copies of deployment orders, books, medals, flashlights, and even sandpaper. Why did I have sandpaper in my nightstand? Beats me. So I trashed the trash, reorganized what I actually want in there, moved what didn't belong in there, and made a ton more room. The top became a catch all and an eye sore. Now it's functional and looks much better with just my watch case on display. 

We also cleaned out our linen closet. We found expired OTC meds, duplicate meds, and even empty boxes of meds we've used. So we gutted it completely, cleaned all the shelves, and chose more wisely what we put in there. We have our towels, face cloths, meds up high, and spare paper towels. We consolidated the meds, keeping only what we really needed, allergy and children's cough mostly, and some toiletries. Again we filled an entire small garbage basket.

So, seeing all that we've taken out of fairly small areas add up to this much, almost a full kitchen bag, I'm excited to see what we can do with the rest of the house. I may be less than thrilled for us to get to some areas, like the kitchen and my shed, but that's why it's a process. One step at a time. Plus, getting rid of all the "stuff" we don't need, will help us identify what we do need. Not what we WANT, but what we NEED. Then we can focus on quality, not quantity. If we aren't buying so much, we can buy better. Simple math that's escaped my mind for my entire life.

So I guess with that, I'm sold. We can start to live a better life with less, so we can focus on what's really important.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. How I made a new dog bed with items just taking up space!

Since my husband and I made a decision not to bring anything into the house unless we absolutely need it, now we need to focus on getting stuff OUT of the house. But what about all those things on your list you need to buy? What if some of those things, you can make yourself out of things that are already in your home, taking up space? What an idea! We have to be careful with this idea though, and make sure it's REALLY something we need, and not just something we think we need.

So, here's the story. We have 2 dogs. They each have their own bed, and both of those beds are small. Yet, instead of laying in their own beds, they curl up together in one, which means either one or both of them are hanging off the bed! Which is pretty cute, and funny... But I also kept telling myself "Man, I really need to get them a bigger bed!" I had this idea about a month ago, but of course half the stuff I knew I had in the house I couldn't find. Why? Because of clutter. Oy!

So, I finally found what I was looking for. A few years ago, we bought some fleece to use as a background to take our own Christmas family photo's of the kids. They turned out pretty cute, too! So I have two REALLY big bunches of fleece hanging around. My parents left some old pillows here for when they come through and visit (they live 6 hours away). To be honest, they're pretty old. The pillows that is, not my parents. Still in decent shape, but I know they have more pillows they could bring. I asked them if it was OK to use them for a project, and they said sure. So... Here's what happened!


                 What's this stuff, Mom?? Can we play with it?

 

 

 

These are some happy pups! Here is a good tutorial to how to do these if you've never done a tie blanket. I promise it's really easy, and anyone can do them! Tie blanket tutorial