8 Minimalist Tips to Simplify your Home

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The truth is, I am not a minimalist, but more a consuer of simple. I want my home to be a landing place of rest and peace. For years, I lived in chaos and stuff. All the stuff because the stuff brought me comfort and pride. Listen, if you want a house that’s easier to keep up, peaceful and a blessing to everyone, 8 minimalist tips to simplify your home will show you how.

The Birmingham Metro hosts a parade of homes event every year. The Parade of Homes is now the thing we look forward to every spring and fall to see the new homes in our area. Even more so, the landscape, light fixture choices, and staging intrigues me.

When we return home, I am inspired and encouraged to change things. I review the pictures from our day out and consider the furniture placement or what I love and appreciate about the overall rooms. But most of all, It reminds me to take away. Home staging isn’t always practical, but simplified decor creates a home with less to manage and more to appreciate. These trips always remind me of the need to declutter before I buy anything else to “decorate” my home.

FRESH START 101: Home Decluttering tips

How does a fresh start sound? It sounds glorious if you ask me. If you have not decluttered your home recently, you are due. This will take some work and sacrifice, but the reward is great. Let’s get started!

There will be a few rules (or fun people call them “boundaries”). These rules help protect our hard work and create a home that will bless you for years to come. Here are my 8 minimalist tips to simplify your home.

8 Minimalist tips to simplify your home

CHOOSE A HOLDING ROOM. This room will hold the donations or “maybe” bin during the declutter. Your holding room is off limits to everyone. The dog, the kid, the nosey mother-in-law, the husband that may need that. Everyone.
SPENDING FREEZE STARTS NOW. You are no longer buying anything that is not on the list. Once you finish decluttering, you will probably think twice before you bring more in. You can do it for a season and your bank account thinks so too.
USE YOUR BRAIN, NOT YOUR FEELINGS. I know the memories feel attached, but the memories are still the memories without that Little People farm. I’m being a good friend to you.
WORK ONE SPACE AT A TIME. Do not empty all the drawers and over commit. I will find you in a closet eating chocolate and that makes you bloated. Work one space or category at a time.
MAKE ROOM ON YOUR CALENDAR. You are going to learn the power of the word no. Honestly, I think we get into this mess but overcrowded calendars in the first place.
CLEAN THE HOUSE or pay someone else to do it. Just a basic cleaning. No deep cleaning. Bathrooms, vacuum, dust, and mop.
STOP BRINGING IN MORE STUFF. The mail, kids school papers, party favors, holiday treats and jars and bags, oh my! Make a plan right now for all those things.
KEEP GOING. Life will happen. Something will come up and you will have to pause but don’t stop. Decluttering is temporary. This is worth it!

Really, there are no rules. You don’t have to do any of this if you don’t want to. But you do want a simplified house or you wouldn’t be here. The best part is you are not alone! We are doing this together! Here is what you’ll need.

3 Bins and a Maybe Box

You’ll need 4 bins. Try shopping your house before you buy them. These can be boxes, trash bags, or laundry baskets. Each bin has a category, and this system will move room to room.

Trash: Anything that isn’t worth donating.
Donations: This box is the MVP of decluttering. Have you used this item in the last 6 months? Do you love it? Does this item have duplicates?
Lost items: For things you do not want to donate, but no longer have a place in the room.
Maybe box: This box is for anything you are unsure of getting rid of

Maybe Box

The maybe box is not something I made up- Minimal mom calls it the “time will tell bin”. This has really helped me in those moments when I want to get rid of something but feel stuck in letting go. It goes in this bin, in the attic and if I don’t need it for 3 months it gets donated. The secret is to put it on your calendar in 3 months and then donate anything left in it without going through it again. So, if you think it could be a yes but aren’t sure, this is the box. However, be selective about this bin.

One Room at a time

Every time you finish a room, you will:

take out all trash
move donations to a safe and untouched donation space
put your maybe bin in the attic
walk your house with the errand bin and put away all items, leaving errands in a designated place.

Once you have touched all four bins, that room is finished.

Schedule the donation pick up to be in a few weeks. Sometimes I just collect the bags in the back of our second car and when it’s full we drop everything off. Whatever works best for you, just run this race ALL the way to the end.

And trust the process. IT DOES GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER. Remind yourself of that in the middle. This will be worth it! Keep going and trust the process.

THE DECLUTTER ROUTINE

My declutter routine varies due to schedules, but the goal is to spend 1-2 hours a week or 15-20 minutes a day decluttering. I’ll share what works for me, but you work through the steps however it makes sense to you.

Monday: Declutter
Tuesday: Organize & Tidy
Wednesday: Deep Clean
Thursday: Decorate
Friday: Projects

MONDAY: Declutter

Grab a trash bag and throw away anything obvious. Items that are broken, can’t be donated, or actual trash. Throw away as much as you can.
One drawer or category at a time, I pick out my favorites (3-5 items)
Donate as much as you can, using your bins to sort of anything that doesn’t belong in the room or needs to be donated.

This is the day to have a plan. You are ruthless and determined and you do not care about your feelings. This day is not for organizing, cleaning, rearranging. We are just sorting and subtracting.

Side note: I do not always finish a room in a week. Just flow through the steps, finishing the last step before you begin the next one.

TUESDAY: Organize & Tidy

Gather Bins and containers from around the house to use for organizing (Even shoe boxes for now)
Label each category and think about how often you use the items.
Create solutions for room clutter issues.

Example: Bathroom drawers. I sorted each category by body type.

Hairbrushes and product (daily)
Teeth brushing (twice a day)
Skin care (Some daily and some weekly)
Makeup (some days).

I gave the best real estate to what I needed to get to most. I was shocked at how life changing this was! I like to sort things by how often I use them. If it’s daily, that item gets prime real-estate. If its weekly still, but monthly or less, it doesn’t deserve front and center.

Do not overthink this step. If you need an organizing system that’s complicated, you have too much stuff.

Tip: During this step my to-do list starts to rack up! I keep a notebook and pen close by so I can make lists if I need to.

WEDNESDAY: Deep clean

Dust lighting and baseboards
Vacuum under furniture
Flip mattresses and vacuum under sofas & sofa cushions
Launder all the linens, rugs, window treatments.

This time is to be spent DEEP CLEANING not routine cleaning. DO that another time. It helps me to start a timer and work from left to right.

Depending on the room, this may be the last step. It can be time consuming, but don’t feel the pressure to clean perfectly. Set a timer for whatever time you do have and just see what you can get done.

THURSDAY: Decorate

Arrange furniture
Rugs and walls
Lighting
Surfaces and accessories

This step is what keeps me motivated to do the other steps! Decorating is the fruit of your labor! I want to encourage you not to buy your favorite Pinterest look. Use what you have and make something you LOVE (you have to love it).

For more on decorating, visit the blog on how to decorate your home.

FRIDAY: Project

Rehome all four bins.
Move “Maybe box” to attic or other safe space
Fix anything broken or finish that mini to-do list

This day is for the room that needs more time or the filters you realized need to be changed. I always start a mini to-do list once I’m in a room, so fridays are a great day to finish what I’ve started.

REST

Saturday and Sunday are not in the plan, so I hope you rest. Like really rest and celebrate the work you did this week. If your family needs to help you prepare for the next week, make them a list and take everyone out for ice cream.

One Room at a time

I have found that the order matters. If you are overwhelmed in a certain room, I encourage you to take a break or keep going knowing a different room is coming.

Here is the order for our challenge:

Take down Christmas decor.
Living
Kids rooms
Extra spaces: Playroom or office
Kitchen and sitting
Dining
Bedroom and closet
Bathrooms
Kids Bathrooms
Patio & Porch
Garage/mud/laundry
Entry and Halls

This is how to declutter your home in 12 weeks.

Don’t get overwhelmed. Take this one week at a time. You are worth this. Your family will be blessed and you’ll be surprised with all this brings to you. Everyone needs a fresh start. The best news is, once you have done this once, each time gets easier and faster. In just 12 weeks your house will turn into the home you’ve always wanted.

Ok friend, proud of you. Let’s go!