Taste the word minimalist. Take the beginning of the word "MINI". That is exactly what it stands for. Minimal, i.e. a little of everything. Even if you mostly think of minimalist as little things, there are three different branches, minimalist lifestyle, minimalist interior design and minimalist art.
A minimalist has no need to own a lot of things. It is not impossible to go from maximalist (one who owns a lot of things) to becoming a minimalist. I myself have walked that journey. I've owned a lot of stuff, saved up on everything and yet became a minimalist with a constant need to declutter. When others go to the gym as a hobby, I declutter as a hobby.
To decorate minimalistically is to decorate with few things. You might think it's sterile and boring, but it doesn't have to be that way at all. I see it more as functional. When you have too many things around you, you often become distracted and find it difficult to focus. With a more functional workplace or a functional home with only the things you actually need, in any case I think I become more productive.
Even my desk gets messy, I don't have drawers under or around my desk though. I like being able to stretch my legs without anything getting in the way. Possibly, if anything, it's one of the dogs that laid down at the desk to be close to me and that's of course perfectly fine. I have my computer on the desk, a lamp, my glasses and a few other things I use continuously, everything else is tucked away in its designated places with easy access to them when I need them.
The worst thing in a home is when you have to step over things or make yourself small to get past. I hate when it's crowded, which usually has nothing to do with the surface but how much is actually on that surface. I, who hate cramped quarters, would love to live in a Tiny House. Think of all the times you pushed past all the jackets in the hallway just to get into the kitchen with the heavy grocery bags. All the times you had to step on something at home because everything wasn't put away like it should be, I think mainly if you have kids because it has a thing for leaving shoes right inside the front door, Legos on the floor and everything else it leaves behind. My son is the same even now but now it is easier for me to deal with it.
So with the above, you can probably figure out that everyone in the family doesn't have to be minimalists, even if it makes it easier. I am the one who pronounces it here at home that I am. In the end, it's all about your own mindset and what you do with what you own. I have one thing I usually say and that is to take care of what you own. I help declutter and the more I have to lug in and out of the apartment the more motivated I become to put an end to it. Put an end to consumption and procrastination. I want to keep things simple in life, I don't want to make life more difficult than it already is by over consuming things. Over consuming and buying more than we actually need only leads to two things, you have to work more and strive for higher pay to afford your lifestyle where you will forever be stuck in that trap for as long as you live you don't change your mind and that you destroy the environment with all the things that need to be manufactured just so you can own them. And as a bonus to that, unless you love a home full of stuff to the ceiling, you'll need to declutter and bring those things out again when you're ready to let them go. Some things you will definitely never have used because how are you going to have time to use everything in a full house, you have to spend time earning the money for your expensive lifestyle.
So where should you start to be able to strive towards a more minimalist lifestyle yourself As I always start with, it's all about your mindset, you have to decide if you're ready for a change or not. When you have decided that a change needs to happen, you need to start reviewing your things. It almost always starts with the things, to reduce them. Whether you're making this shift for personal reasons, health reasons like you've hit the wall and become exhausted, or you simply just want to start over in life, the timing is always right. It's so easy, we humans have it so easy to say when it's New Year then I'm going to make a promise that next year I'm going to….. It's here and now you have to start because if you wait you're waiting for better times which unfortunately won't come if you don't start changing yourself. I believe in you. This is when you have to believe in yourself.
