New Year, More Minimalism: Home Edition

In part I of this series, we discussed minimizing your virtual world. So now let’s move on to the physical one. As always, when getting rid of things, try to do so responsibly. If you need a refresher on where to donate items, check out my post here. So here are the things that I’ve specifically focused on this year if you need some ideas. And always remember the ultimate goal: to curate joy.

DECLUTTER

• Seasonal decor (Christmas, Halloween). Now that the holidays are over, really take stock of what you actually decorated with. It’s okay if your style has changed or you don’t have the energy to decorate as much anymore. You don’t have to keep things “just in case.” I’ve personally really pared down on Christmas decor. I never had a huge amount, but now I mainly stick to decorating with faux greenery, twinkle lights, and spools of ribbon. I do think the best time to donate these items are right before the holidays when thrift stores put seasonal decor out. In addition, our local Freecycle group had a ton of people requesting Christmas decor for their new homes during the month of December.
• Spices, pantry items, condiments, and “back of the freezer” foods. The usual. No matter how neat you are, this stuff always piles up. And not just expired items but also those things that you just didn’t enjoy or used for a one-time meal. Let it go. Compost the food, clean out the containers, and recycle them.
• Books, board games, and puzzles. I know this is not for everyone, but as an avid reader, I’ve definitely shifted to almost 100% kindle books (mostly from the library)… just because it’s much easier to hold a kindle than a 800 page hardcover at 11 PM under the covers. I’m also not much of a re-reader so I let go of almost all of my books (except for cookbooks and coffee table ones). I also decluttered board games that were unused and puzzles that have been completed (and taken apart). All of these were resold to Half Price Books.
• Excess and unused cords and chargers. Over time, most of our devices have transitioned to using USB-C connectors so it was finally time to electronics recycle all the obsolete cables and chargers in our collection.

Other things I’ve decluttered this winter: video games (sold on eBay), bookshelves (sold on Facebook Marketplace after I sold the books that were on it), and unused kitchenware (local donation).

OPTIMIZE

• Bedding. We have paired down to two sheet sets per bed (so two for the main bed and two for the guest bed). And then we have one cold weather and one warm weather quilt/comforter for each bed as well. This is more than enough for us. When the weather is extra cold (like right now in Dallas), we layer up and use both of our quilts.
• Food storage that stacks/nests and has interchangeable lids. I finally caved and did this after years of various glass storage containers (that I ultimately sold on Facebook Marketplace). I bought the Rubbermaid Brilliance storage containers on sale at Sam’s and, yeah, WORTH IT. These stack and store so easily in the cabinet (taking up way less space) and they lock in food smells incredibly well. Definitely one of those times where buying something new was better than using what we had. Remember – minimalism and low-waste is different for everyone. For me, things that make life simpler and more pleasant is always worth it.
• Technology/gadgets. Especially things like headphones, tablets, and streaming devices. Again, these are items that just seem to multiply. Do you need a kindle, an iPhone, an iPad, and a laptop? Maybe! But for me, I realized that the iPad was completely unnecessary — I always gravitated towards my laptop for web browsing and my kindle for reading. I ended up selling the iPad at Best Buy and my gadget situation feels much more pared down. Similarly, did we really need an Apple TV AND a casting device when we also had a smart TV? No. So bye-bye casting device (sold on eBay). And my husband finally consolidated his billion headphones with various adapters (see the USB-C situation above) to one wireless and one USB-C wired set.

ORGANIZE

I’m a generally very organized person so I tend to keep things clutter free as I go but these are the two areas that I tend to forget about.

• Backstock cabinet of cleaning supplies. I have a shelf in the laundry room with various specialty cleaners and backstock of regularly used cleaners. It was good to take an inventory of it as I realized I unknowingly had two electronics dusters (and was about to buy another one). I ended up writing what I had up there in my Notion (that I use for EVERYTHING) to avoid any unnecessary duplicates.
• Office supplies that are spread throughout the house. These are all the various rubber bands, tape, scissors, pens, binder clips that somehow end up in all sorts of random drawers. Get those babies together and back home (in my case, a drawer in the office).