The Fabulous Minimalist

I’m going to be honest.  I need minimalism.  I don’t need minimalism because I’m someone that needs everything perfect, or because I’m a huge organizing fan.

I need to reduce my life’s clutter and learn how to live simply, even if it’s fabulously simple.

My life is one schmozzle of crazy.  I have a professional career, a three year old and a propensity for travelling, even if it is only an hour and a half away.  My life is stressful, chaotic, on a good day and anxiety-inducing complete with panic attacks on a bad day.  I NEED simple.

I need to come home to a house that doesn’t have to be organized.  I need to come home to less stuff I have to clean and wash and dust and put away.

I need to make time to feel fabulous, simply including a simple skin care regime, makeup and hair regime, clothes and simply moving more and feeding my body.  I don’t need “life hacks”, I need a simple straightforward life.

I need to keep my finances simple.

In every way I need minimalism to allow myself to be the best version of me, the fabulous me.  And I needed this reminder as I start getting into the toughest areas to declutter.

What about the boring declutter? Welcome to my first ‘Decluttering the unfabulous’. Sometimes becoming a minimalist isn’t choosing between your purple leopard print cocktail dress and your velvet gown, it’s having to choose between the blue dishcloth and the pink one.

I forgot about dishcloths and tea towels, but they have been taking over our house.This was our dishcloth drawer. Please note that I could not open it all the way. The problem with dishcloths is:

1. They are useful…always. (Even if not your favourite);

2. Unless they’re falling apart, they get put back in the drawer because (see number 1) they’re useful.

The other problem is that decluttering dish cloths is boring. I don’t hold up dish cloths in a hug and ask if I love them. Dish cloths and tea towels, for me, equal cleaning and not love.

This was my method for decluttering.

1. Figure out how often I want to wash dish cloths, tea towels, pot holders and window cloths;

2. From that number, determine how many dish cloths etc I actually need.

I figured I’d only want to do dish cloths at maximum once a week. Therefore I would keep 7 dishcloths, 7 tea towels, 2 potholders, 2 window cloths and 2 speciality dishwashing cloths. This may seem like a lot but I’ve set a date at the end of summer that I will review use and discard more, if appropriate.

One thing I found was that my favourite Norwex face cloths were hiding in the dish cloth drawer and I didn’t even notice. It was like I won the lottery when I found them!

This was the end result. I can shut my drawer too!

More fabulous minimalist to come, but today I had to tackle this drawer. I actually feel better knowing this drawer is clean. Less time finding ‘the right cloth’ means less time cleaning, means more time doing what I love.

My most fabulous tea towel, from Mischief Made.

Hello! Welcome to the Fabulous Minimalist. My name is Alley and my goal is to help you down your Minimalist journey without losing your style, your fabulousness.

As a background, I am a type of person that lives for excess. Anything that I love I need to have. I love clothes, makeup, shoes, food, decorative items, art and anything else you can think of. However, I’ve noticed that clutter drives me batty and I love the idea of minimalism. I’m working though it all and here is where you can see my piece by piece ascent into minimalism.

My first major declutter was this chess set:

I bought this Mayan chess set in Mexico during my friend’s wedding. My partner and I bought this chess set because I saw it and it was amazing. I loved the teal blue, the wood and stone pieces, the Mayan pieces and the European pieces. I loved it and needed to have it. My brother in law also bought one so we got a good deal.

When we brought it home I realized that

1.  We don’t play chess and really don’t have any interest in the game and
2. We had nowhere to showcase it.

It went on the hallway bookcase. The bookcase that housed our Nativity Scene. Every Christmas we had to move it. We had a child and we no longer could put the pieces out. The limited showcase of this beautiful chess set was even more impeded. I’ve now sold it and although it was always so beautiful and neat, it was its time to find someone that loved it as much.

What I’ve learned about travel pieces that I’ve found fabulous:

1. It’s ok to buy fabulous items when travelling but know it may not work in your household;

2. If you start feeling bad about where you have to showcase the travel piece, it’s time to get rid of it;

3. You may think that the travel piece remind you of the place you visited, but check in at least each year as to your recent feelings. For example: that chess set reminded me that I always had to move it, not of the Mexican vacation.

4. If you look at your travel souvenirs and smile, chances are you still love them and feel they are fabulous. Keep them and revisit yearly.

Its ok to buy travel souvenirs, but make sure they are fabulous when you buy them and continue to be fabulous for the years ahead.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton