It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily episode 2755, Owning Less is the Best Storage Solution, by Amanda Brownlow of hellobrownlow.com, and I'm Justin Mollick. I'm keeping this intro nice and minimal for Minimalist Monday, so let's get right to it and continue optimizing your life. Owning Less is the Best Storage Solution, by Amanda Brownlow of hellobrownlow.com. I've gotten comments, DMs, emails, and more about what we do with storing our extra items.
These people have the best intentions by wanting to get their home organized. As much as I'd love that and I'd love to help, more storage solutions are not the answer. You need less stuff. Owning Less is the best storage solution you'll find out there.
Ouch, yes, that's my general answer almost every time, though I try to be nicer than that. I believe that we've created this lust for organizational tools because they're so well marketed towards us, as are most other things we've accumulated in our home. Using the home edit as an example, as their Netflix series was wildly popular, part of the success is the chemistry those women have. Who doesn't want to work with your fun best friend?
The other part is that they make storing your things so aesthetically pleasing, and they're good at it. What the show doesn't spend a lot of time on, although they do show it, is the edit or decluttering portion before they get organized. I know, who wants to see the old junk people get rid of? That's not what makes good television, although I would certainly watch it.
We just want our stuff to look as nice as their stuff, so we definitely, sarcasm, need those clear storage bins that cost mucho dinero at the container store. So let's dive deep into why owning less is the best storage solution that is so exclusive you can't buy it anywhere, and that's because you already own it. You have to declutter first. If owning less is the world's most exclusive storage system, then my house must be super exclusive.
Just kidding. Decluttering to own less helped us find more space in our home for things we actually loved. We can now show off cherished heirlooms or have space for hobby items. A new best storage solution isn't what we needed, we just needed less stuff.
A few things about decluttering. Decluttering and minimalism looks different for everyone. Just because I refuse to own more than one hairbrush doesn't mean that you are required to only have one hairbrush. Go hairbrush crazy if that's your thing.
Just make sure you let go of the ones you don't use or are damaged. Here are a few things to keep in mind while decluttering. Number one, make a goal of what you want your space to feel like, not look like. Aesthetics are not important at this stage.
Number two, it's okay to start with easy things first. Number three, if you feel overwhelmed when getting started, declutter the smallest space first like a single drawer or cabinet or even your car. Number four, realistically decluttering your whole home won't happen over a weekend, but you can sure make progress in a short period of time. Give yourself grace.
And number five, find what motivates you. Before and after pictures, a like-minded Facebook group, or seeing all of your donations bagged up and in your trunk. All are great things to keep you motivated. Stop the flow of incoming things.
No storage solution will help you if you have an unending flow of new items into your home. We learned this the hard way. I was so frustrated that no matter what I did, even the best storage solutions seemed to fail. A few things helped me out of my spending and buying habit.
Number one, no spend months. We put all unnecessary spending on hold for an entire month. No target runs, no new clothes, no treats like lattes or fast food. Seriously, no extra spending.
Number two, question every purchase. There are a set of questions I ask myself before I bring anything new into my home. Number three, there's more life than shopping. Cutting out shopping altogether is hard, but there are things you can do that are way better than shopping.
And number four, use a list. A simple 72-hour list helps curb impulse purchases by waiting three full days before making a purchase. When the constant influx of new things into your home slows or even stops, organizing your items and keeping them tidy is a much more manageable task. Use what you have.
There is no magical one-size-fits-all best storage solution for your belongings. Often the best storage solution is already in your home. Creativity goes a long way when deciding how to store things. A few ideas that have worked well for us.
Number one, put items in their designated space like a shelf in a cabinet before you buy any type of turntable bin or basket. This gives you a test run of how easy or hard it might be to get to that item. Number two, repurpose bins and boxes. After we decluttered, there were almost a dozen containers and baskets left empty.
We use these to make storage of our everyday items easier, like shoeboxes for our son's clothes and his dresser, a small set of plastic drawers for medications, and small baskets for spice packets. Doesn't have to be fancy to be functional. And number three, identify which items are high-touch or high-use and store them appropriately. If you use your measuring cup every day, place it in an easy-to-get-to spot in your kitchen, like on the front of a shelf in your cabinet.
Using one-touch storage allows your high-use items to be up front and actually easy to use, and your occasional or low-use items to be stored in more out-of-the-way places. Reusing items like jars, shoeboxes, packaging, and more can not only save you money, but save you the time of finding that perfect storage solution at the store. But what if it fails? I bet you'll know within a week if something isn't working out how you originally organized it.
If you or your family gets frustrated with putting something back where it goes, maybe the system isn't what your family needs. Yes, it takes time to teach your family the systems you've put in place, but even the best storage solutions can fail you. I've tried a variety of storage ideas for our everyday items, wallet, keys, sunglasses, hats, etc. Bowl on the counter, bin on the washing machine, bench by the door.
Nothing seemed to work to contain our everyday things that travel to and from places with us. Our problem was that we didn't have enough of a container for these things. So instead of throwing things on the counter like we used to, we purchased a small shelf with hooks underneath. There's spots for keys, bags, sunglasses, and just about anything else we're carrying around on a daily basis.
It keeps clutter off the counters and keeps things easier to find because they have their spot. You might find that something is too organized for your family to operate it. Instead of a hyper-organized storage option, consider having general baskets for your items. The opposite is also true.
If your general baskets get junked up quickly, consider something more organized. Maintaining storage solutions in an easily tidied home No home is perfectly minimal, but minimalist homes are easily tidied because of fewer items in the home as well as storage systems that work. When things start to feel cluttered, a quick declutter may be in order. That's all part of maintaining the storage system.
There are days that may feel like the mess is too much. I feel that often. Set a timer for 15 minutes and see how much you can get done without distractions. Setting a timer several times a day helps to reset your home.
It's not meant to be a deep clean. Oh goodness, no. These pockets of time are meant to reset your home back to a more tidy, organized state. This way you won't always have picking up on your to-do list and organizing becomes much more doable.
The key to an easily tidied home is truly owning less. The less you have, there's less that needs to be picked up or cleaned. Less to maintain means more time in your day. You just listened to the post titled, Owning Less is the Best Storage Solution by Amanda Brownlow of hellobrownlow.com Thank you, Amanda.
She mentioned that she asks herself some questions before making a purchase and actually has a separate article talking about those, so I thought I'd give you a little cheat sheet of what some of those questions sound like, save an idea of things you can ask yourself to discourage impulse shopping. So one is, how am I going to pay for this? That's an important one because if it's going on a credit card, will you be able to pay it off in full when that credit card bill comes? If you listen to one of our other podcasts, Optimal Finance Daily, you know how bad those interest rates on credit cards are and how important it is to pay them off in full every month.
Another question, is this useful to me right now? If it's something that may be useful sometime in the future, then it's probably better to wait. Along those lines, how long will I actually use or like this item? Does it have a place in my home?
Do I already have something similar or something that serves the same purpose? There are a few other questions, but you get the idea. Just taking a moment to pause and reflect can make a difference. So do take that pause and that moment.
Thank you for being here and listening to me in this moment and for subscribing to the show. Have a great rest of your day. I'll be back tomorrow reading to you Where Your Optimal Life. Oh, wait.