About three years ago my husband and I moved from our first home (a sweet one bedroom apartment) into our new home (an adorable three bedroom house). We had so much packed into our tiny rental, I felt sure that our new space would feel immensely spacious in comparison!

However, shortly after our move I found myself already stressed out by the surprising overflow of STUFF in our house. There was a mountain in the guest room, piles in the basement, and somehow we still didn’t have enough cupboard space in our kitchen. How had we ever squeezed into our old apartment? Also, the decorations I had always dreamed of having the space for – my coffee table, with it’s decorative tray, stylized stacks of vintage books, and cute succulent centerpiece – had to constantly be readjusted, dusted, and updated. The larger space I dreamed of and beautiful things that I had collected to display weren’t creating the joy I had imagined they would. I was too busy monitoring all the details of their upkeep to even enjoy them. I was overwhelmed by a future of seemingly endless organizing and extra cleaning. There had to be a way to simplify. So I decided to start by tackling my most personal corner of chaos. My closet.

I had tried purging and organizing before; but always struggled to let items go, just in case I woke up one day and regretted my decision. I wanted to challenge myself to really change but I desperately needed some direction to know where to begin. Naturally, I started searching Pinterest for inspiration. I saw some posts about capsule wardrobes and soon afterwards discovered project 333. The basic idea is that you build a capsule wardrobe of just 33 pieces of clothing for 3 months (with seasonally appropriate changes made for the following 3 months). From all that I read it sounded like having less could somehow make the process of expressing my personal style easier. It felt like the perfect solution, because my tendency is to avoid structured plans – I’m naturally whimsical and free spirited – but I knew that to motivate myself and move forward I had to follow some guidelines.

If you’re thinking of minimizing your wardrobe – but aren’t sure where/how to begin – I’ve listed some steps below that I found empowering and enabling!

Step 1: Before starting the process of minimizing my closet it helped me to sit and think through how I wanted to structure my wardrobe. I forced myself to be practical and really consider how my clothing needed to serve me on a day to day basis. I asked myself questions like: What pieces do I need for work? What do I like to wear at home or on my days off? What’s the weather like where I live? What colours/textures/styles make me feel the most confident?

Step 2: Next, I made a rough plan of action – writing down all of the items I knew I wanted to keep as staples. It helped me to feel less overwhelmed when I finally stood in front of my closet.

Step 3: Collecting and organizing all of my clothing into “yes”, “no”, and “maybe” piles really helped the process along. Once I had all my “yes” items organized I could go through my “maybe’s” and see what items I still needed to fill my “Project 333” guideline. Then, if I had already reached my maximum number for that specific category (shirts/pants/shoes etc.) I made the decision to let that item go. I found that starting with a specific goal really removed the debilitating pressure of decision making for me.

Once I finished minimizing and organizing my closet I felt SO empowered to keep the momentum going. I quickly realized how my simplified and unified wardrobe was benefiting my daily life. Dressing was less stressful because there was less to sort through. Every item was my favourite fit and style. I wanted to rest of my life to feel the same way. Over the next months I dove headfirst into my new found passion for all things “minimalist”. I read blog posts, listened to podcasts*, and watched documentaries*. I sorted through every room in my house, following a similar strategy to how I simplified my closet. The more I minimized my belongings the freer I felt. There was less clutter, less cleaning, and more time to enjoy my moments at home – rather than use those moments to complete a list of chores. In the future, I hope to share more of my process and some of the strategies I’ve used to help myself and my family really embrace this lifestyle. But for now I want to share one of the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way…

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

I am easily swept up by the excitement of new ideas. I’m a self proclaimed lover of change. It’s a joy for me to throw myself completely into the process of learning, starting, and creating. Sustaining my drive and new found passion is where I often struggle. Beginning the transition into a minimalist lifestyle I wanted to move forward full throttle, all inhibitions cast to the side. According to some minimalist philosophies that would have looked very extreme and quite austere. However, I not only had a partner whose space I needed to respect, but I also realized the need to honour my own heart for aesthetics. Having a home filled with our bare minimum”useful” belongings was great in theory – but it didn’t consider our personal preferences or style. If I removed every lovely “useless” belonging we owned I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain this lifestyle change for long.

For us, beauty is the soul that makes our house a home.

This is why I would call myself a “Cozy Minimalist”. As much as I love the mindset of intentionality behind eliminating every non essential from our life (whether it be physical items, unhealthy mental clutter, an excess of responsibilities that steal our time, or unhealthy/toxic relationships) I also value the feeling of joy that items in our life can create. Whether it be an extra mug or two (or ten) that you make space for in your cupboard, an overflow of cozy pillows and blankets on your couch, a special collection from your childhood, or a generous and eclectic smattering of artwork on your wall – the items we own can add intrinsic value into our lives. What’s of upmost importance, and what the purpose of Minimalism has come to mean for me, is the time I take to carefully and intentionality assess what brings true life and joy into my family’s hearts and lives.

*Some of my greatest information and inspiration came from following along with The Minimalists. If you click the links provided they will lead you to their podcast and documentary pages.