It’s difficult to argue against the fact that the U.S. is a consumerist landscape. This has crystallized in our digital age, where we don’t even need to leave our homes to shop. The result is that many people have filled their lives with products and brands, trapped in the cycle of buying things by a social system that tells them that bigger and more is best.
Yet, in recent years there has been a popular shift in this way of thinking. People are taking note of the benefits of a Marie Kondo-style of tidying the clutter from our lives by letting go of the extraneous elements. As such, a burgeoning minimalist movement has emerged. This involves not just getting rid of gathered objects but moving to a new home that is smaller and simpler.
We’re going to take a moment to examine how minimalism can practically fit into contemporary life. Whether you’re looking for a new property or a first-time buyer, what are some of the things to bear in mind before proceeding?
What is Minimalism?
Before setting out on the path of downsizing your living space, it’s important to get a good grasp of what minimalism is. It’s not simply the act of taking all the material objects in your life and sweeping them into the garbage — the aim here is not to leave you with a tiny, empty, characterless cube for a home. Rather, it’s more of a shifting of priorities. You take the focus away from the acquisition of things through shopping and shift it to the quality of your lifestyle.
As such, there are a few approaches that you can apply to downsizing your space to incorporate minimalism. Concerning the property itself, you can set out to look for a new home that reduces the expectation to fill space with a lot of unnecessary junk — this could mean fewer rooms or even an open plan flow. If your kids are no longer at home, the tiny home movement can provide the simplicity that minimalism strives for. From an internal decoration perspective, it is a clean and straightforward look. Aside from anything else, minimalism is the antithesis to confused complexity.
Consider Your Motives
Minimalism can be applied in multiple ways when downsizing your home. So, to be most effective, it’s important to consider the direction that’s right for you. Establishing your motives can shape and solidify your next steps toward embracing an appropriate minimalist approach.
Some of the elements that can inform your choices might include:
Simplified Living
If your primary motive is to cut out much of the complexity of your life, this can involve downsizing both the internal and property elements of your home. You can look for a property that reduces the number of rooms and outbuildings — does the poolhouse make your life simpler or add more quality to your life? You can look for a smaller home that has uniform laminate flooring that reduces vacuuming and cleaning, or has fewer closets to fill with junk.
Saving Money
When you’re looking to minimalism for its cost-saving benefits, your focus needs to be not necessarily depriving yourself of the type of home you enjoy but making life more efficient. Look for a smaller home that has larger windows that let more natural light into your home to reduce electricity costs. Compact properties can also be less costly to keep warm during the winter. If you want a fireplace, consider the minimalist approach toward a simple electric one rather than a home with a hearth and chimney — this is also more financially and environmentally sustainable.
Think About Practicality
When you’re thinking about downsizing your living space to achieve minimalism, it is essential to consider how practical this will be. After all, not everybody will be in the position to reduce aspects of their home or its contents. For instance, when you have young children, it can be particularly difficult to maintain a minimalist approach. It’s not impossible, of course — having a simpler home life can leave you all time to concentrate on your experiences together. However, the maintenance of this lifestyle may not be your first priority.
Practicality will also be dependent on the area you live in. There may be more opportunities to find tiny homes with greater outdoor space in the suburbs rather than in the city, but your career may require your presence in the bustling metropolis. As such, you may need to temporarily shift your focus to how you can achieve minimalism in your current location. This could involve making simpler decorating choices to maximize the comfort in your space, or adjusting your lifestyle to focus less on the tendency to shop that can be so prevalent in the city.
A benefit of considering the practicality of minimalism is that it can help you to plan for your future. Looking around you and discovering that there are elements of your life preventing you from downsizing to improve the quality of your existence can crystalize your priorities. You can then start to make the small adjustments that can build up to the big changes like house moves later.
Review Your Timing
In so many ways, timing is everything. This is no less the case for deciding to shift toward minimalism. In many cases, downsizing will be a matter of moving to a new home, perhaps a new city or suburb. As such, to get the most out of your investment, you need to pay close attention to the timing of your sale and purchase decisions.
If you’ve never sold a house before, this can be quite a daunting prospect. There is no shortage of tips for how those new to the process can best maximize their profit. These will generally include taking time to find the right realtor, focusing on the staging of your home, and making small upgrades to improve curb appeal. However, timing also plays an important role. Certain periods of the year can be more popular for those looking to buy to come out of the woodwork, though it’s worth speaking to a realtor to get a bead on when this might be in your location.
However, if you’re selling at a peak time of the year, this might also mean that you’re looking for your minimalist home at a period that is a seller’s market, too. As such, it’s worth investigating the shifts of the market in the area that you’re considering downsizing to. If you can give yourself plenty of time to make plans for your purchase, you can optimize your ability to both sell and buy at the right periods.
Conclusion
Minimalism can be a positive step toward simplifying your life and focusing on experiences rather than things. Downsizing your living space is a good start, but it’s important to assess whether it’s right for you at this time. Clarifying your motives can help you direct your intentions effectively, but it’s also wise to think about the practicality of the shift. Minimalism can be a great influence on the quality of your life, but it benefits from advance planning, too.
