Our journey to minimilsm

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unneccasary so the necesary may speak

The back story

This blog post has been two years in the making. I wanted to write it during renovation then after the renovation and when we finally ‘made it’ living a minimilst life even though we did not have to. We are still not there yet but we have made so much progress and here I am writing this blog next to the ocean at the end of a school term (it is not holiday yet) Me and my husband are both working for ourselves, he is flying back to Jozi again next week for work. We are on a ‘working holiday’ for four weeks. Taking the kids on outings, walking on the beach sometimes even three times a day. Visiting friends, reading, resting, working with our children around us. All of this would not have been possible if we still lived in a large house with mountains of expenses every month and working for a boss and a salary.

But this life is not for everyone, and it has taken alot of sacrifice. Unsolicited advice and questions from friends and family because we are going against the grain of society in the way we we live our lives. In other parts of the world it is not uncommon to live in an apartment but here in South Africa all our friends and family live in houses with large gardens and often swimming pools. 

Our journey to a more minimilst life started about four years ago when I first read Marie Kondo’s book; The lifechanging magic of tidying up. We did a mini clearing out and never stopped since then. Living in a three bedroom house (a very cold and dark house) and a 1800ha garden. We were only renting but it is just in our DNA to improve, maintain, tidy up. Weekends were spent either on my bussiness hosting parties and events at home or gardening and tidying up the garage for the gazilion’th time. Basically just moving and re-ordering ‘our junk’ and other peoples ‘junk’. Because alot of it was inherited from family or passed on from friends immigrating. The house inside was also a mismatch of things we aqcuired but defnitely did not love or put together with any colour pallette or intent.  

We bought an apartment in October 2018, wanting to renovate and then sell it. I was in charge of the estetics and layout and it basically ended up being alot of my favourite Pinterest ideas. No architect or designer was involved. We finished the project in early 2019, by the end of February we started thinking if maybe we should rather live in the apartment. I will stop my events and change my bussiness to focus more on online work and food photography and then we made the decision, we would just live there for a year or two until we decided what the next chapter would be. Our children would have to share a room but we would save a lot because we would not have a garden to maintain; so no gardener. We would not need an alarm, beams(that goes off at night), a security company, our bills will be less and I would need less help in the house. 

So we gave notice and you all know what happened next, we went into lockdown in March. Luckily the landords where gracious in letting us stay during lockdown. We already moved our couches and tumble dryer by then. So alot of series watching happened in bed.

But it was also a time for me to sort out our house and decided what we still wanted to keep. I sold alot of things on Facebook Marketplace and I used some of the money to buy plants, bedding, cups, plates etc. Things we actually liked and wanted. I was ruthless and non-sentimentel. It made it easier. I might have missed one or two things I sold or gave away but mostly it has been a blessing to live lighter.

Lessons learned

Pros and Con’s of living small

If we did not make the decision to downscale when we did we would have been stuck with a lot of expenses and very little income. I could not work during Covid to host parties and classes and my husband lost his job at the end 0f 2020. These last few years were tough but manageable and we managed to survive. So I would say cutting our expenses helped alot. We feel much safer surrounded by other people. We only have one set of keys for our front door, that’s it. We don’t have alarms or beams that break or need replacement, or that go off at night, that is just the worse. We are a very tight little family, and sometimes I do feel the need for more space so everyone can just function a little more separately. It helped us to re-evaluate our possessions and what we really need. We can go away on a whim. No one needs to watch our home and my neighbor water our plants. We also have lovely friends who love our dog Grace, and she visits them whenever we go away.

Now cons, obviously the space does not lend itself to hosting dinner parties and braais. But that does not stop us from inviting people over. But it is more challenging. I would also prefer if my children could have their own bedroom but saying that they still like to sleep in the same bed. So I don’t even know if it will be worth it for now. I would love a space/studio just for my styling and photography things and being able to work in peace and leave my stuff out.  Our complex was also not really looked after the last few years and off course, I could not just sit back while I could envision the potential so I have overseen the maintenance and garden for the last two years. And it looks so much better, but obviously, it took up my time and us living here is not a long-term housing option but hopefully, I helped to increase everyone’s property values. Not everyone at the complex likes change so I have been met with resistance and disapproval. But I tried to just let it not bother me.

Mindfullness

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Suppliers we used

• Bathroom mirror-Bathroom bizarre
• Kitchen tiles-Leroy Merlin
• Kitchen cupboards-b
• Kitchen cupboard fittings-Gelmar
• Bathroom shower-Leroy Merlin
• Chamberlains were our go-to for DIY and black brackets for shelves
• All wooden shelves were re-purposed wood that my husband made
• Pantry wall-My husband made it from re-purposed wood
• The decorative wall in the bathroom was made with a stencil I borrowed from Kari from Loviliee