The Power of a Minimalist Home
Last weekend I found myself in reflection-mode.
Next month marks the one-year anniversary of what I call “the chapter in our lives where we were home way more than I ever could have imagined.”
After transitioning to minimalist living two years ago, home became a peaceful, restful place to be. Never have I been more thankful for that than during this unpredictable past year.
To me, home had always meant a place for rest and family connection. But, before minimalism, our home environment didn’t align with my concept of home. Not even close.
Home was often a place of stress. A place where my energy reserves were quickly drained by the amount of clutter and responsibilities. A place where, physically, I was, but mentally I only checked in occasionally—when I came up to take a breath from the never-ebbing tide of to-dos.
The more I thought about home, the more I realized home mattered. Our home affected how I felt, how I interacted with my family, and how I spent my time.
I realized the environment that I wasn’t changing was the environment I was choosing. As I worked to minimize our home and my environment became more intentional, so did my life.
Author Erica Layne, in her book The Minimalist Way, puts it this way, “Our homes are the most visual representation of what we want our lives to be. Whether you want a life of adventure and playfulness, or tradition and security, your home is your staging ground. If it embodies what matters to you, you’ll build a life that matches it. That’s the power of home.”
Home absolutely has power. A recent Pew Research Center survey showed 71% of Americans are currently working from home, while only 20% did before the pandemic. The average American also spends 23 hours a day indoors. We’re spending more time in our homes now than ever before. If we haven’t yet considered how our home environment affects our lives, it’s time to start.
Our homes, which started out simply as a need for shelter, have become a reflection of who we are and what we value. But the concept of home goes deeper than that. We all have basic needs as humans that “home” is designed to meet. Rest, security, and acceptance are a few.
So how do we create a home environment that meets our needs and supports our journey toward our best self?
Live in a home with less stuff.
A minimalist home—a home filled only with what you need and love—has the power to not only meet your needs, but also be your launching pad for your best life.
Here are some examples of how:
1. Beauty
A minimalist home has the power to meet our need for beauty.
Author William Morris said “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
A minimalist home more readily displays what you believe to be beautiful. When you are surrounded by beauty and meaning, it’s easier to raise your heart and mind to what is true and good.
Living in an uncluttered (not perfect) space where everything has a place frees your mind. With fewer things to distract you, you can enter more deeply into the present moment and more easily derive meaning from the seemingly ordinary. Contemplation and reflection are the foundation for self-improvement.
2. Connection
A minimalist home has the power to meet our need for connection.
Connections thrive in simple spaces. These connections could be within your family, your faith, or even to yourself. With less things in your home to care for, family time, prayer, and self-care can become a daily theme, not a side note.
Connections also thrive in intentional spaces. Maybe you downsize into a smaller space to allow your family to share more experiences simply because you’re closer together in proximity. Or, maybe you arrange your living room furniture in an inviting way to promote togetherness.
A minimalist home can also foster connection by reducing tension between people living under its roof. Say you’re constantly asking your children to tidy their overwhelming amount of toys, but they keep refusing, leaving you feeling drained. A home with fewer toys is a home where children and parents aren’t battling over toy clean-up daily because children can maintain a small amount of toys themselves. This promotes a more positive parent-child relationship.
3. Rest
A minimalist home has the power to meet our need for rest.
Rest, one could argue, is needed for happiness. In his book Leisure the Basis of Culture, Joseph Piper said, “Repose, leisure and peace belong among the elements of happiness. If we have not escaped from harried rush, from mad pursuit, from unrest, from the necessity of care, we are not happy.”
Home is the place we return to escape that “harried rush.” It’s where we put up our feet after a fulfilling day. It’s where we take a day on the weekend to recharge for the week ahead. Where we pursue hobbies and leisure activities to balance our hours at work.
If home is an overwhelming chore, then we simply have very little free time. Our evenings will be spent trying to catch up on housework instead of leisure activities (reading, playing games with family). The weekends will be spent on home projects, cleaning, and organizing…not resting.
Minimalist homes have less stuff. This means less housework and more time for rest and the pursuit or what makes us come alive.
4. Values
A minimalist home has the power to meet our need for passing on values.
Minimalists identify their values and then build their lives around them. Once you’re clear on what’s most important to you, transmitting these values to your children happens naturally. When your home isn’t overrun by clutter, you have the space to really see what messages your home is sending your children.
If your home is full of possessions with bigger and newer models entering the home frequently, then what are children going to learn to value? Possessions and consumerism.
If your home is intentionally filled with intangibles like quality time and consistent eye-contact while listening, then what are children going to learn to value? Family and relationships.
Home is where children will first learn what is important in life. You get to choose the message your environment sends.
5. Creativity
A minimalist home has the power to meet our need for creativity.
All humans, I’d say, are creative beings simply because we were created in the image and likeness of our Creator. He is into creating and, therefore, so are we. But we need silence and downtime in our lives to give our minds a chance to enter into a creative space.
Our brains have different levels of brainwave states and our creativity emerges in the alpha or theta brain state. These states require relaxation and lower stress levels (which is why more ideas come to you on a walk, in the shower, or upon waking). If our minds are constantly in doing mode, it’s hard to tap into our creative mind.
With less stuff in your home to care for, you have more downtime, leaving more potential space for creativity. Your mind is more at peace and free to think creatively when it’s not bogged down with visual clutter.
Author Joshua Becker, in an interview with John Mark Comer (listen here) said, “Our lives have a purpose. Our homes have a purpose.” Becker said a home with purpose that meets our needs allow us to “go out into the world doing the most good for the most amount of people.”
He recommends considering the purpose of each room in your home and asking yourself, “What physical objects do I need in each room to accomplish its purpose so I can live my best life for those who need it most?”
Your home environment—the physical things you choose to surround yourself with—affects you. Is your home propelling you toward your best life?
I’ve learned those who most need me to live my best life are my husband and children. I’m the only one who can give them a cheerful, present wife/mom. If our home environment is a source of stress instead of meeting my needs, then being at my best becomes difficult.
An intentional home environment is the launching pad for an intentional life. And a life lived with passion and purpose has positive ripples effects on those around you.
If the way you feel in your home doesn’t align with what home means to you, then now is the time to change that.
Believe you can.
A minimalist home has power to change your life and the lives of others for the better.
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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist whose teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached thousands of people worldwide through her blog. Julia practices what she preaches in her Kansas City apartment home with her husband, two extremely lively young daughters, and 6-month-old son. You can also find her on Instagram.
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