just for fun!

Maximising space in your home and in your head!

Bees Neeser Emily this week moved into her brand new house and reflects below on the emotional rollercoaster of moving home and her new found love of “minimalism”!

I recently viewed a Netflix documentary called “The Minimalists”. In short, it covers basic human needs, and the positive impact that having less items offers your mental health and well-being (among other things). I agree with the concept that having less can actually be more. A less cluttered home and possessing less “stuff” can reduce stress and make you actually feel “free”. I can attest to this!

DeclutteringIn the past few months, my partner and I have been in transition, anxious to move from our rental home into a newly built house. We’ve decided to build our first home in Brisbane and eagerly signed building contracts in June 2015.  A few months later, our builder went into liquidation. With a half built home, no builder, and a pending insurance claim – this process has been far from easy. Consequently, we’ve moved a couple of times and most of the belongings my partner and I possess have been in boxes for 9 months. We’ve been utilizing the bare necessities of what we need to make our next move less hectic.

My normally full cupboards are now contained in a quarter of the kitchen with 2 pots, a couple utensils, 1 chopping knife, 1 cutting board, and really just what we need to get through. I have become quite talented with my 1 pot wonders! Our spare bedroom however is packed to the rafters with boxes, mattresses, you name it! Full of everything else we have happily lived without for the past year. With a very overdue first home build, and the uncertainly of the next hurdles, we should be feeling overwhelmed, right? In our case, not completely.

With less items in our Brisbane rental property, we have made our home environment less stressful, allowing us to deal with other obstacles more easily. Now you don’t need a builder to go bankrupt to experience a less stressful home environment. However, if you’re moving soon, getting ready to sell, or are simply wanting to get organised, a de-clutter may be the mental relief you’re after. Here’s my challenge to you!

  1. Can you remember the last time you wore it?
  2. Do you have more than one ‘junk drawer’ or papers lying around waiting to be sorted?
  3. Do you often find yourself cleaning the same shelves or bench-tops as they’ve turned in to the unexpected dust trap?
  4. Does your overdecorating actually take away from your more sentimental items or take away from your outdoor space?
  5. Do you feel like you have no storage space despite having multiple cupboards, pantries, and possibly an offsite storage unit?

If you can say yes to any of these, then challenge yourself to pack up some items for donation – you probably don’t need them and the amount of happiness you’ll bring back into your life will be worthwhile. Trust me, less really is more!