Challenge #1 - The Dishes

BEFORE

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn!

We all have them, and we all use them so how in the world could we do with out them? Well, take a breath - being minimal doesn't mean eating from the package. It simply means getting rid of what you don't need. It means realistically stepping back to that 3rd grade class we all took of "needs vs wants".

Before I started my project on dishes I had four cabinets devoted to dishes of all sorts. I had glasses, plates, Tupperware,  to say nothing of the pile I had of those little .88 plastic kid cups from walmart! I am a sucker for a "great deal" so every time I saw one of my sons heroes on them - I just had to buy one more.

Now I was looking at my limited cabinet space being over run by dishes I didn't need!

One of the Key factors to living a minimalist lifestyle is " Only keep what makes you happy!" Looking at the stack of mix matched plates and cups from over the years I was filled with a sense of dread.  The prospect of the unbalanced cabinets, the horde that always formed around my sink and just an over all feeling of  "Nuh-uh! Don't wanna!" So I found a very simple ( and plastic so the kidlets can use them too) set of 4 plates, 4 cups, and 4 bowls. They had a horse print which really suited my interest and really made me happy! I paid 11.27 for the set.

I then proceeded to take a tote and empty the contents into it. Ever mix matched plate, and cup that I had gathered over the years disappeared into that tote.  It was like a weight lifted off of my shoulders as all this useless clutter that I didn't need went away.

Admittedly, I had to quiet the nagging voice as years of habits protested.

"BUT WHAT IF YOU HAVE COMPANY?!" Then I will keep a small store of throw away plates under the counter in a sealed bin. It does not take up space, and resolves the problem of an unexpected guest.

"BUT THESE WERE GIVEN TO YOU! IT'S BAD MANNERS TO GET RID OF THEM" I don't need them. While I appreciate the token, I would much rather pass them to others in need. Good still comes of it, and it means less dishes.

"YOUR CABINET LOOKS SO BARE!" Yep! It's it lovely.

While my method is a little more extreme  then some, it felt refreshing and freeing to do so. I was the worlds worst for grabbing a clean dish instead of washing a dirty one. It was a habit that left me buried in dishes by the time I ran out.

I couldn't have been more pleased to free up eight feet of cabinet space by simply getting rid of things I didn't need!

Final invoice: 4 plates, 4 cups, 4 bowls, 3 kids plates, 4 kids cups, 2 bottles.

I can wash every dish I own in under ten minutes.  - It's a wonderful feeling.

AFTER

Coming soon .... Using the Empty Space

Starting a Journey to become Minimalist Me!

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

                                                                                         ~ Lao Tzu

(Photocredit - Becoming Minimalist)

A week ago I stood in the center of my living room. I had been cleaning for hours and yet as I looked around, the counters remained cluttered, the toy boxes over flowed and were halfway crammed onto the shelf. A stack of DVDs sat loose along side  a stack of empty cases. I hadn't started supper and I had been putting off playing with the kidlets in lue of  'just finishing this room'. Hours later - you couldn't tell.

I  felt defeated, exhausted and completely overwhelmed.

I had gone through a lot of changes in the last year, from the birth of m daughter, to starting to homeschool my son, and lastly, the passing of my husband.  I felt out of control of my own life. It was  a terrible sinking sensation.

I had realized a month or two before that the house was something that really got me on edge. I would wake up with a to do list and spend the day checking things off , only to go back to bed with another list for the next day.

I didn't see a way to get ahead of it.

Then I stumbled across a video about Minimalism.  I laughed it off at first. Come on, seriously? MY family? I have a toddler and a six year old who own more toys then the big box toy stores.  It would break their hearts if I slimmed down their choices! Of course, then there was me - Closets packed to the brim with never anything to wear.  We were the typical american consumer family - the prospect of living with less while having more of a life was a joke.

Then I watched another video.

Some of the things they were saying started making sense. They pointed out that kids could have 1000 toys, but more often then not they were broken, or misplaced in the pile on the floor. If a toy broke, we simply replaced it with another. There was no consequence for not taking care of your toys, no real responsibility in it.  I couldn't help but think of my sons room covered in blankets and toys and movies and books - yet never with any room to play. They had a point.

Then another video.

This one about kitchens, how we always had to buy the next new thing, or we just couldn't pass up a deal. I thought of kitchen gadgets I had bought on sale and never even plugged in. Did I really need them? Would I ever use them?

The rest of my day was spent folding laundry and watching more videos and listening to audio books on the topic. Things like "a 15 hanger closet" or "Dishes done in ten minutes" sounded like poetry. Could such a thing really exist? Could I really be playing or reading with my children right now instead of fighting the battle of the horde of dishes left on my counter? Did a family of three -really- need 30 plates and 36 cups?

By the end of that day I decided to try it and was met by a ton of support by my friends and family. They asked me to start this blog to follow my journey as I work through 27 years of clutter to find the more Minimilist ME!

Coming soon... DISHES