Minimalism isn’t about getting rid of everything you own and only keeping 30 items. It’s about getting rid of the things that are a distraction in your life, or things that are wasting your time, space, money instead of bringing you joy. Every minimalist has things they haven’t decluttered!
If you are an avid reader, you don’t have to throw away your entire collection of books in order to pursue minimalism. If your books bring you an immense amount of joy, keep them! There are several categories that I haven’t yet minimized. Maybe one day I will, but maybe I won’t! These are things that I have intentionally kept because they add value to my life. Not things that I just haven’t gotten around to minimizing for whatever reason. Most of these things I have sorted through, and maybe got rid of some items. But I’ve decided that at least for this season of my life, I want to hold onto.
Serving dishes
The first item is serving dishes. This includes items like serving platters, extra wine glasses, vases. I love hosting people in my house and it’s important to me to have the supplies to do this regularly. Party planning and especially decorating for parties is something that I LOVE so at this point I’m not going to part with these items. I do make sure that I love the items that I purchase, as well as the ones I keep in my home! And if something doesn’t get used, I don’t hesistate to get rid of it. But overall, I have a lot more “extra dishes” than a typical minimalist!
Extra Jars
I always hold onto empty jars because I know I’ll use them for baking ingredients, storage, etc.
Extra Spices
I’ve heard so many people say “You probably only use 3-4 of the spices in your spice cabinet, so get rid of the rest” and I disagree! I mean, yes…if you have old spices in the cabinet that you haven’t used in a year or two that have most likely expired…get rid of those! But I love to have 10-15 different spices to chose from in my kitchen because I love cooking, and I often use different spices. And I’m not much of a planner with my meals, so I prefer to just have things like spices on hand in case I decide I want to make something that uses a specific spice.
Baking Ingredients
This is a huge one for me. Like I just mentioned with spices, I like to have ingredients on hand in case I spontaneously want to make something. I also don’t like having to buy several ingredients every time I make something. I’d rather buy ingredients like flour, honey, pasta, or even nuts, oats in bulk because it’s more economical as well as more environmentally friendly! I’m always careful to not buy more than I’ll be able to use before someting expires. But I love having a pantry fully stocked with nuts, seeds, or whatever other ingredients I use often.
Craft Supplies
Ok I feel like the title of this should actually be things I have minimized but decided to keep a lot of. That’s the case again with craft supplies. I love doing DIY projects, and I especially love being able to use supplies I already have on hand to do them. There are definitely craft supplies that I got rid of, like scrapbook paper I know I’ll never use, bottles of paint that I needed for one project. But I decided to keep lots of my craft supplies, like yarn and different types of string, markers.
Cookbooks
Ok this is SUCH a common thing I hear people saying to declutter. But I LOVE cookbooks and I use them often so they are something I haven’t decluttered. I know I could probably find the exact same recipes on Pinterest or blogs, but I just love looking through a physical cookbook. I also love the look of cookbooks displayed in a kitchen. So my cookbooks are staying for now!
Essential Oils
This is probably the area that I’m the least minimal. I have a TON of essential oils. I haven’t decluttered any of my Essential Oils yet! This is partly because this is part of my job, but also because it’s just something I love. I love knowing that I have options on hand for all different types of ailments.
I think the key to minimalism is really looking at your lifestyle, and deciding which things are important to you, and making sure your actions reflect that! I’d love to hear what items you haven’t decluttered yet in your home.
