Interior Design and Minimalism

Often, I talk about minimalism pertaining to clothing, but so much of our lives take place outside of the wardrobe. We live in our homes, not our closets, and we spend much of it in the family room and kitchen. Those are the areas that need the minimalistic touch as well.

Having a minimalistic home doesn't mean sparsity, or only using two colors. Of course, if that's the look you're going for, then great. If you're looking for a clean simple look, having a couple of colors does the trick. 

But minimalism can also mean bright colors and bold furniture, it just means less of the little stuff we don't love, and more of the pieces we love. My sister, who's an interior designer, has a myriad of clients who love both the busy and minimalistic look. She works for both kinds. So, it's not the "stuff" or lack of stuff necessarily that creates a minimalist lifestyle.

Minimalism can also mean art on the walls and plants in the kitchen. It can also mean lots of things you love around you. What minimalism is truly about is getting rid of the things that aren't you and don't make you happy to make room for what does make you happy.

Here are three questions I asked myself about my home's decor. 

1. Do I love it? 

Like won't cut it. We like a lot of things. I like coffee mugs, but do I really love the 25 I have? (Yes, I have 25 - one of the few items I haven't minimized because I adore vintage coffee mugs. I know I have a few I don't love and those need to go.) But that's what's filling up our homes. Liking something is almost common. You don't want common. You want sincere love. Do you love that recliner? Do you love that work of art? Does that centerpiece make you swoon? If not, let it go and pare down to what you love.

2. Do I need it? 

I know decor is decor is decor. It makes it look like we live in a homey, fun, well-loved place. But, what about only choosing the decor that is needed? I love plants. I had dozens of them in and around my kitchen at one point. But, I found (for myself) that I was becoming overwhelmed with plants. I gave away some, moved some to different parts of the house that needed greenery, and cleaned off the kitchen counter. Turns out I kept a lot of them, but I didn't need all of them. It feels and looks so much better.

3. Is this my style?

This really opened up my eyes. I have a relaxed almost southwestern vibe to my family room, but I didn't know it until I began to take out the things that didn't fit with this style. I got rid of a hand-made wooden whale I thrifted a while ago which was beautiful. But it didn't go with my room's theme. I took it out. Also, I had pillows I thought worked, but they ended up distracting from the room's look. I got rid of them and it looks so much better (and having fewer pillows on the sofa actually allows us to use the sofa!) Find a unifying theme and style for each room and stick with it for a cohesive, minimalistic look.

Just recently, I was honored to be a part of a blog post written by Pablo Alvarez for the Redfin Blog. 

Titled "How to Design a Stylish Minimalist Home: Interior Design Ideas for Simple Living," it takes a complete look at what minimalism for the home can look like. It's a detailed and fun read that outlines ten simple ways to create a simple, minimalistic home that's perfect for you. Read the full article right here.

Remember, pare down to love in everything in your life and watch it become the most enchanted it's ever been. These three questions have made my home a home I love coming back to.

The Minimalist Wardrobe and Athleisure Wear

Most articles and books - (Courtney Carver comes to mind) I've read about minimalism and clothing say that athletic wear, or the more modern term "athleisure" wear, doesn't count towards having a minimalistic closet. Which I understand. It's a separate part of our closet, really. And there can be quite a few pieces that go into having an athleisure/ athletic wardrobe.

These articles state that you should feel free to make your closet minimal, but when it comes to having all the sportswear, well, don't worry about it. It doesn't count.

But in actuality, it does count.

There's an obvious reason why that athletic drawer counts: there's a lot of stuff in there!

I just went through my drawer of athletic wear a few days ago. This drawer - a very over-stuffed drawer - is filled with clothing for golf, pickleball, running, gym, and yoga. That's a lot of clothing for a lot of different sports!

Now, I can combine some sportswear and wear the same thing for several (like golf and pickleball, or gym and yoga), but at the end of the day, that drawer is so full of clothing, I can't even find what I'm looking for.

So I decided I wanted the overflowing drawer of athletic wear to actually be a drawer that I liked to open (and didn’t dread having to close, which was always difficult with clothes spilling out of it) and shrunk the number of pieces I owned.

It's nice to have several outfits to wear for any of these activities, but I didn't need ten pairs of yoga pants. I tended to only wear four or five of them regularly (because I liked how they fit or didn't sag or pull where I didn't want them to) which left me to ponder: Why do I have the rest of these in here?

I repeatedly wear a favorite hoodie as a sweatshirt. Then why did I own five other sweatshirts if I never wore them? 

It felt like I owned as much in my athletic clothing drawer as I did in my regular clothes closet. Which was odd considering I spent only a fraction of my time in them. So, my goal was to lessen the amount of clothing I owned for a part of my life that I didn't do all day.

Pro tip: If you don't like your athletic wear and know they don't fit right, don't feel bad about starting over. After going through my yoga wear, I ended up donating a pile of stuff I didn't wear (hated the color, didn't fit right, etc.) and still ended up buying a new top and pants set. These were ones that fit right and I knew I would wear them.

Side note and side rant:

I have this thing about women wearing athleisure wear in public. And it's not a positive one.

While I'm not saying one should never do this (I mean, even I have hopped into the store after yoga), I find that it's mere laziness - more than anything - for women to continually do this. The only time I strive to wear yoga pants out in public is... when I'm going to yoga. 

I realize some of you don't care. You want to be comfortable. Great! Be comfortable. But for those of you who live in athleisure wear, why? Are you working out all day? I don't get it.

I think because I've sold vintage clothing for so many years and because I find value in owning and wearing quality clothing, my biggest question is this: Why would you let an opportunity to dress nicely evaporate because you'd rather be comfortable? There are plenty of comfortable clothing pieces you can wear that don’t consist of a sweatshirt and yoga pants.

Here's another big question: How often have you run into people you know looking just a bit shabbier than you wished? Were you wearing clothing that came straight from the gym?

Something to think about  

Okay, this post isn't about whether or not it's right or wrong to wear athleisure out. That's up to you (it just happens to be a pet peeve of mine).

But this post is about this: That drawer of soft, comfy, gym-worthy, or court-worthy clothes doesn't do you any good if you're not wearing them (or you have too many to wear like I did.) So pare down to love and keep only what you truly like and what you actually wear.

If you're like me, go through that drawer like you mean business. Maybe these clothes don’t count in the actual number of items in your closet, but my gosh. If you can't close the drawer, or you dread opening it (like I did), something is off... especially for a minimalist.

Make owning your athletic wear a better fit for you, literally and figuratively. Make that drawer (or section in your closet) of athleisure wear count. Really love it, really like it, and really make it count for taking space. 

-Heather