It's been a few months since we all checked-in about our Living with Less project, right? And while the time that passed during the project was fantastic—I felt energized as I freed our home from the clutter and items we deemed unnecessary to our daily lives—about a month or so after the project, as we headed into summer, I realized the system I'd set wasn't foolproof: mail was piling up and clutter was appearing again. So, what gives?
If you're new to the Living with Less series, you may be wondering what I'm piping on about. Well, earlier this year I spent countless hours evaluating our belongings—everything from clothing and winter coats to baking ware and books—for their usefulness, beauty and longevity. The items my husband and I deemed unnecessary and of single function, we donated and have been living without.
While adventure was truly eye-opening and taught us many lessons about ourselves—My 10 Reasons for Living with Less—we've also realized there are areas that we can still improve upon and others we just can't change.
Here are five insights as we evaluate our post Living with Less lifestyle:
- Shopping Habits: Because we spent so much time wading through unwanted goods during Living with Less, we are now much more stringent about what we purchase. We no longer bring partially-loved items into our home.
- Experiences: We deemed 2011 the year of experiences, not goods. We've only given one gift this year and that was to a dear friend for her baby shower. Other than that, birthdays and other holidays have been recognized by gifting experiences, not goods. It's been GREAT! We've seen family, gone to plays as well as taken sailing lessons and made pizzas!
- Books: My efforts to control the number of books in our home is fruitless. We both love them. My husband reads several at once and it's a goal of mine to disconnect daily to read more. So, instead of trying to control what we have, I need to find a way to give it organization.
- Travel: Several weeks ago we went on vacation and only took a few necessary items. The experience was great; it made us realize further just how much stuff we don't need in our daily lives.
- Wireless: Going wireless and digital in our home office has reduced the amount of stuff and clutter we have in the space. Yes, it's an ongoing project, but it's worth the time and effort we continue to give.
Want to dig in and catch-up on past posts? Below is the full Living with Less series!
- Living with Less, Week 1: Setting the Agenda
- Living with Less, Week 2: Clothes and Coat Closets
- Living with Less, Week 3: Linen Closets
- Living with Less, Week 4: Incoming Mail & Electronic Files
- Living with Less, Project Update: Reader Suggestions, Questions and Comments
- Living with Less, Week 5: Home Office and Files
- Living with Less, Week 6: Books and Magazines
- Living with Less, Week 7: Medicine Cabinet & Toiletries
- Living with Less, Week 8: Kitchen, Cooking & Baking Ware
- Living with Less, Project Update: Readers Suggestions, Questions and Comments
- Living with Less, Week 9: Kitchen, Dining and Serving Ware
- Living with Less, Lessons from What We're Living Without
(Image: Landis Carey)
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Our solution for having less books is to use libraries a lot more. As a result we only buy reference books, and even those are usually books we have taken out of the library first. I enjoy knowing that I already love a book before I buy it.
I am very upset over this article. I cannot for the life of me clean the clutter from my office area. I work with alot of hard drive (lots of cords to go with) and there seems to be a never ending stream of paperwork around me also let alone electronics. Help me please! I'm throwing things out, selling things, donating them, giving them away and it doesn't seem to improve. Any advice?
@Bugis, that's definitely a great strategy moving forward! We haven't been purchasing tons of books since this project began but we have so many books from our college and grad school days that we just don't want to part with. I'm realizing we're just not the types who can pare back to one bookshelf. But, you're right, we can control our purchases moving forward!
@PhotobugLA, I'm SO sorry to hear this. We can totally help you! I just clicked over to your profile to see if you have listed your contact but no dice. Email me at landis@apartmenttherapy.com and we'll figure out a few solutions for you! I can even call my expert organizer to get her thoughts!
Our way to learn how to "live with less"? Mr. T and I moved from a small 2 bedroom to a STUDIO apartment in San Francisco. Most of our stuff went into a storage unit to deal with later. It's been a year now and there are only about 3 boxes that we've even THOUGHT about in that time. Time to make a Goodwill run!
My fiance and I are in the process of working through all our stuff and keeping only what we love and need. It's tough, and it's slow going, but in the end I know how good it will feel to have a less cluttered home.
I, too, second the library for controlling book clutter. Now only that, but it saves me so much money over buying any (even with late fees LoL). My fiance likes to keep his series of books, and thankfully he has narrowed them down to only a few series, but I personally only keep one bookshelf for myself. About half are books I will read and part with, and the others are books I love and will keep. Part of passing on books is knowing that someone else can get the same joy from reading them as I did.
I wear my summer dresses in the winter by putting a shirt under them or putting a sweater on top of them.
This reminder is really timely! Thanks! My boyfriend and I are moving in together soon and we're both in the process of paring down our belongings so that we will have a calm, organized, clutter-free home in the fall. Your posts are a great inspiration for not just purging, but also as a reminder to be more mindful when shopping.
Yay, my first comment on Re-Nest. I just have to say how much I completely love this series of posts! It's refreshing to hear that I'm not alone in wanting to "live with less" but also that I'm not the only one that still has her weaknesses (books and office supplies!). PS I'd love to see a post from your expert organizer :)
My husband and I just moved to Europe from the USA. We'll be here for two years before we head back, and so we are definitely living with less! We packed up almost all of our possessions about a month ago - donated a lot of things and then packed up the rest into a storage unit - and came here with only two suitcases each! The bare essentials of clothing, shoes, computer, a few books, and a deck of cards came with us and that's it. We are determined to buy here only what we ABSOLUTELY need (i.e. a pan to cook with, a few dishes, bedspread, etc.) as we don't want to drag things home with us that we already have in storage. We only brought about 15 books with us (and about half of these are travel books, as we spend our free time traveling), which was hard as I was an English major and have an obscene amount of books in storage. Have found the public library here to be a godsend. Also, we won't be giving presents while we're here, either - just travel! This is definitely an amazing experience and is teaching us a new way of looking at what we really need & use day-to-day.
I would love to know what efforts you are making to go wireless. Reading these articles I suddenly feel like my new flatscreen is excessive. (I know that feeling will go away as soon as I sit down to watch a movie, again.) I'd love to know about your efforts to live with less in the electronics/tech department as well.