Yep, you read that right. I’m talking about FILLING your home, not just EMPTYING it. I talk a lot about decluttering and purging and getting rid of things in your home, and as a simple living coach, I’m still all for that. But the point of simplifying your home isn’t to have less; it’s to create a home that helps you live up to your highest potential. To have room for the BEST things – the experiences and the stuff that makes your life easier, more joyful and more purposeful.
I believe a home needs to be full of what you value and what will:
- inspire you
- calm you
- energize you
- help you be more efficient
- make you smile
- tell your story
- allow you to do the things you love
- promote healthy living
- create a welcoming environment for loved ones
That means creating an essentialist home.
I refer to the term Essentialism based on excellent book, . Essentialism is about focusing in on what is essential to living a meaningful life and meeting your goals. It’s about optimizing what we do and what we keep in our lives in the pursuit of living better. It focuses in on what we need for an abundant life that is meaningful, valuable and true to only ourselves and our dreams. This will, of course, be different for everyone as we all have different dreams and goals and preferences.
When it comes to our homes, I think of Essentialism as being the more moderate sister of Minimalism. It’s not about having only a certain number of items in your home or creating a capsule wardrobe; it’s about paring down anything that gets in the way of the essence of what you want your home and life to look and feel like. It’s not about reducing, but about increasing – love, experiences, health, productivity, joy and peace.
Therefore, your home can still be FULL of things, just the RIGHT things. Perhaps that’s:
- love
- friends
- family
- art
- photos
- flowers
- soft rugs
- books
- spirituality
- baking tools
- painting
- mementos
- plants
- beautiful dishware
- a big dining table for entertaining
- enough glasses for tons of friends drinking wine
- comfortable furniture, not trendy pieces for show
- exercise gear
- even lots of shoes, if that’s what makes you happy!
Just remember that for your home to be full of the right things, you’ll need to make room for them front and centre, not stuffed away in a storage box or shoved under your bed.
Take action:
1. Make a ‘love list’ of the things (include stuff and people) you want in your home that would make life better and more joyful.
2. Do a of anything currently in your home that didn’t make your list.
3. Bring out the things that did make your list that you might not have out on display or in use.
4. Take time to enjoy your essentialist home!
