Much of every man’s character can be read in his home.
John Ruskin
I write this article to expose my philosophy about the space that surrounds us: I admit that I have my own minimal and simplistic vision of how to keep a home and to use it constantly.
As always, mine is a point of view, not the point of view .
So take what is most useful to you from this article to improve the organization of your space to keep it in a minimal and functional style.
If, on the other hand, you are at the previous step and you want to completely reorganize and clean up your space, take a look at this article .
Let’s see now my philosophy when it comes to taking care of your own living space .
Why sweat to keep home?
I know people who would get thrown off the fifth floor rather than take care of their own spaces, perhaps because the clutter of their things reflects the lack of order they have in their mind.
Why is it not like that for me?
As for me, taking care of my space gives me joy, I find it more pleasure to keep my cosmos in order than to mess it up .
I like to know that the items I keep with care are in working order and well kept as well as of course being clean and in place.
These reasons are more than enough for me to invest a small portion of my time to keep my living space clean and functional .
If you like this philosophy, you too can invest part of your precious time to restructure your habitat and to do so you can start with a series of questions and observations.
What items do I really need?
Start by looking at your space, your garage, your basement, your home or just your bedroom.
Look at the knick-knacks you have: do they have any use for you or are they empty and useless objects that constantly require cleaning?
Do you want to spend your life cleaning unnecessary items?
Don’t you think you could use your creativity better ?
In my opinion, the space where we spend most of our time deserves to be clean, tidy and optimized.
There are things that I may never understand, such as knick-knacks and soft toys.
Several years ago I also had, like everyone else, some knick-knacks, not that I went crazy with them, but most of them were gifts and therefore I had to exhibit them for imposed education .
But now that I can enjoy more freedom, I got rid of all the knick-knacks.
But why do I find them so useless?
The answer is simple, they are superfluous and waste my time .
Think about it, have you ever tried to estimate the time it takes to clean unnecessary knick-knacks and soft toys?
These objects are just useless attract dust, especially the soft toys are a nest of bacteria and mites.
Rather than surround myself with useless objects, I prefer to include in my furniture objects that I use regularly and that do not require major maintenance that in fact do not enrich my life in any way.
A functional space
We find a thing beautiful in proportion to its suitability for a function.
Ezra Pound
Living and moving in a well-structured home can really give you a lot of satisfaction.
Furthermore, we can immediately find the objects we are looking for, be ready for all occasions and limit the interventions to tidy up our spaces to a minimum.
To do this you need to follow 3 simple steps:
- Identify items that don’t make you happy in any way. In this phase you have to go through all the objects that surround you, both those in sight and those that are hidden in boxes or furniture. Sometimes we are inclined to keep useless items as we feel obliged to keep them for someone else, even if they do not actually bring any benefit.
- Eliminate and simplify. Once you are sure which items you want to eliminate, you can get rid of them in several ways: you can recycle clothes and accessories using the appropriate bins, you can sell the items you think may have a market on a simple classifieds site or simply throw them away.
- Value what matters. Now that you have kept only the objects and furniture that you intend to keep, you can revive any broken or malfunctioning objects and enhance the furniture that really has a value for you and that above all is functional to a purpose. To give you an example, I have recently exhumed and restored an old 70s typewriter that now works and has become part of my furniture.
I followed this simple process several years ago and now I live in a simple , clean and effective space.
This allows me to minimize the time wasted on maintenance and cleaning and to use my energy for the activities that really matter to me.
Obviously this process does not have to be radical and immediate : it is possible to apply this minimal philosophy a little at a time without launching into major upheavals.
If you want to share in the comments the strategies you use to keep the house or want to share your cleaning with us, you can write using the box below.
