Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Minimalist Apartment




 There has been a lot of buzz recently about minimalist living.  With increasing economic insecurity and rising concerns about global warming people are choosing not to pursue the consumer lifestyle they had taken for granted.  Instead, these new minimalists are downsizing themselves, and trading in their demanding and precarious careers, and all the consumer trappings that go with them, for simpler and more thoughtful lives.

How to Live a Minimalist Life

Purists argue that to be a minimalist means to own nothing more than 100 objects; however, the spirit of minimalism simply strives to empty life of all things non-essential.  This idea can allow you to really free up your living space—a massive asset for renters.  Those drawers filled with miscellaneous junk can be emptied for good; closets bursting with clothes seldom or never worn can be cleaned out at last; cupboards and storage bins filled with things never use can be reclaimed.  
Minimalist living allows you to claw back some much needed living and breathing space in your apartment—and ensures your next move will be far easier.

Curate your Apartment

Minimalist living allows you to streamline your living space by only keeping what is important to you.  This means treating your apartment almost like an art gallery where you, or your life, are the exhibit.  When people enter your living space they get a clear sense of who you are, where you have been, and what matters to you, as each “piece”—each thing you own—reflects who you are.  A painting, a bowl, a vase, some golf clubs, or a bicycle all have their place in your apartment in the same way they have their place in your life.  This simplicity and honesty in how you arrange your apartment allows you to really consider what is important to you. 

Living with Less Means Living More

The idea of minimalism is that a clearer space and a de-cluttered life frees you from the demands of material things that weigh you down and occupy your time and concern.  By emptying your life of these distractions you are free to focus on what is truly important to you.  This means rather than endlessly cleaning and organizing your apartment you are free to play, be with your family, write, think, exercise, paint, hangout or do whatever it is that really gives your life meaning.  Living minimally allows you to live more fully.

While minimalism might be a rising trend, the ideas are not new.  In the nineteenth century William Morris wrote, “have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”  However today, as we’re increasingly on the move and increasingly in search of who we are, these words might hold even more meaning.

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