After almost five years writing this blog, my seemingly most popular post … included my suggestion to not own couches and nightstands. Most people haven’t questioned these items and were baffled by the idea of rejecting them from their homes. My intention wasn’t to change anyone’s mind about buying a throw pillow per se but, rather, to help uncover why certain home objects are considered a given. Status quo questioning and mindset shift are key components of a simple life. These strategies compel us to create a clear explanation of an item’s functional use in our home.

On a recent visit to my sister’s home, I saw that she’d just bought a new couch as part of her home renovations. This filled me with incredible delight! That may sound surprising given my recent tirade on such furniture but, in fact, proves my point. I was excited to sit on a couch because by not having one in my home, it’s become a luxury item for me. This is a product of mindset change. 

Why did she buy one? My sister has a family of four, and many neighbors and family members visit. They host often. The couch is small, opposite two armchairs; it’s not a sprawled out sectional. It’s the minimum viable product for their need. While incredibly comfortable, it isn’t a sink in sort of couch and it would be difficult to lay your body across it. It wasn’t going to promote any sort of laziness. In other words, it was a best use case for a couch and the correct type of couch.

When our friend came over and I suggested, with eagerness, that we sit on the couch much in the same way one might suggest going to the newest restaurant, she seemed surprised. Simply by not owning this item of leisure, any experience with it becomes a luxury. Sitting on a couch and talking with a friend, becomes a special activity unto itself. I underwent such a mindset shift that something so accepted without thought in her home was such a treat for me.

All this talk about a home’s assumed necessities reminds me of a few more items to question:

Do you have a coaster for your mattress? You know, a bed frame? It’s the contraption that lifts your bed from the floor. You might use this as a decorative accompaniment to your bedroom decor or support for your headboard. Perhaps it’s purely functional, giving you extra room to use under the bed. You might employ the additional space wisely or allow it to accumulate dust bunnies and an unknown assortment of objects and memorabilia. Before acquiring a bed frame, consider whether you need that extra storage space and, if you do, develop a system that will allow you easy access to the items under the bed. 

Is the headboard simply for you to sit up in bed? Could arranging your pillow against the wall do the trick? Some headboards even make it uncomfortable to sit up; many are almost entirely decorative. If it’s a conscious design choice, much like hanging up a painting, that’s one thing. Just think about it first.

Do you have a spoon rest? Is it because your cooking utensil is tired? There are many alternatives to having a spoon rest: place the utensil in the pan, on the food’s eventual plate, or on the counter (to be wiped down after cooking anyway). Put differently, a spoon rest is an alternative to living a minimalist lifestyle because it’s unnecessary, though, perhaps no more useless than a tissue box cover or paperweights.

Why is it important to question everything and engage this type of mindset shift? It’s to ensure our experiences are more meaningful and to make our simple lives feel like luxurious. It’s to ensure we don’t have certain things because we always have had them or think that we’re supposed to. It’s so we aren’t distracted by meaningless should’s. Paying attention to and rethinking assumptions is what makes minimalism an easy, money and space saving approach. 

What’s one item in your home that you can rethink?