How to Live a Simple Life Without the Stark White Walls, 100 Items and Tiny Home

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Charlie Brown of Simple and Straightforward.

Too many people worry about how simple living or minimalism is supposed to look. The wardrobe, the home decor, the lack of clutter. The empty diary.

These external signifiers tell the world that you are now a “minimalist.”

The problem is, coming at minimalism from this POV is kind of pointless if bright white rooms and muted wardrobe colors leave you feeling cold.

Many of us approach minimalism the wrong way. We look at the external signifiers and decide it’s if it is or is not for us purely based on the look of it. Whereas the more useful thing to do is to consider what a simple life can do for you from the inside, and work from there.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Consider how much simplicity you need to make your life yours.

If you’re going to build a simple life from the inside, this is question numero uno:

How much simplicity do you need in order to make a life you actually want?

Most of us consume more than we can ever afford, that we can ever use, that we need in order to seek fulfillment and contentment. We’ve gone way past the point of “enough” into a realm where more is better, bigger is better, excess is better.

It’s the reason simple living advocates bang on about living with less. It’s not because they think happiness can be found in an empty room, it’s because they know that most of us live with waaaaay too much.

How much simplicity do you personally need in order to live a life well-lived is a question only you can answer but here are some areas to think about to get you started:

Living situation: Tiny house or family home?

When it comes to housing, the most famous external signifier of the minimalist movement is probably the tiny house. And however awesome they are (I can’t say I’ve not tinkered with the idea of owning one), they are certainly not the only option if you’re looking to simplify your life.

If you want a simpler life, housing is probably the most difficult area of all to approach. Many people are intensely attached and emotional about their abode, so it wouldn’t do much good for me to come in and prescribe what size house is “suitable” for you. You would hate me for telling you to downsize if you love your big house.

Having said that, if you’re living in a pile of bricks that is costing you way more than you can afford, is way bigger than you need, and fills you with anxiety, it’s probably time to put emotions aside and consider what you could do differently. Because the emotional attachment you have to a home shouldn’t be put above your actual wellbeing.

Back when I owned a three-bedroomed house, I knew that my husband and I could easily live in a one-bedroomed apartment. But more than that, I wanted to live smaller. I knew it would make me more content and better suit my life (and I was right).

An internal approach to simple living absolutely includes weighing up your current living situation with your needs. In fact, it’s probably the most important place to start.

Items: 100 or 10,000?

The external minimalist signifier here is probably something like the 100 item challenge, where people are challenged to live with just 100 possessions.

An interesting experiment, but wholly impractical for most people. And since we’re forgetting about the “look” of minimalism here and looking inward, again the question you should be asking yourself is:

How many — and what — items do you need in order to live the life you want?

I actually am one of these people who lives with around 100 items. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — the only reason I live with so little is that it fits my desired lifestyle, not because of an arbitrary number.

For you, your number is likely to not be 100. But the stats would suggest it’s fewer than you own now because #modernlife #consumerism #biggerisbetter.

100, 1000, 10,000, it doesn’t matter much. What matters is that your items work for you, not the other way around.

Diaries: Appointments a-go-go or empty pages?

Managing how I use my time is probably my biggest simple living conundrum because what I want and what I need are two very different things.

I love being around people and being busy. When I was younger I was the one persuading my friends to go out every night of the week. But as I’ve hurtled toward my 40s, I’ve come to the realization that an incredibly full diary doesn’t do much for me other than fill me with anxiety.

These days I leave blank spaces in that diary of mine — sometimes whole weeks. I avoid meetings as much as I can. I say no to clients and social engagements, even though sometimes I really want to take on more work or see more people.

My question for you is, how empty does your diary need to be in order to rid you of that overwhelming feeling of busyness? Find that point, and work toward it.

Decor: Bright white or color?

I actually love the minimalist aesthetic. Give me a white-washed wall and a light-filled room any day of the week.

But my mother, another simple living advocate, doesn’t.

She loves color. She’s an artist. Her paintings are incredibly vibrant and they adorn pretty much every wall in her house. She’s all about yellows and oranges and reds and she’s been known to chide me if my wardrobe isn’t colorful enough.

Somewhere along the line, the minimalist movement adopted the minimalist aesthetic as if they were one and the same.

My mother will tell you that they are absolutely not.

You want rooms to look like this?

Then go ahead, my friend.

And if every item in that room is intentionally there for its use or beauty, then don’t let anyone tell you you’re not “doing minimalism right” just because your home doesn’t look like this:

That’s simply not how minimalism or simple living works.

Cars: Dinky hatchback or monster truck?

If we’re talking about external signifiers of the simple living movement, when it comes to cars, we’re talking about owning no car.

I have to be honest with you here — I don’t understand cars. I certainly don’t understand big cars, they just make me anxious to drive (how am I supposed to maneuver the darn thing??) and I can’t stop worrying about the environmental impact.

But that’s me. I know thousands of simple living advocates who love cars and wouldn’t ever consider not owning one (because of both love and necessity).

I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but your car choice is up to you and your lifestyle. You could live somewhere where public transport options are extremely limited so not owning a car could pay serious damage to a simple life.

I would say however that unless you are a total car nut with plenty of money, a small(er) car will get you from A to B in just as much comfort as a large one with the added bonus of smaller (or no) car payments.

Make the choice. Just make it intentionally.

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If I was going to use one word to sum up the last 1200 words or so, it would be this:

Intentionality.

There is nothing intentional about blindly following external expressions of minimalism like owning 100 items, tiny homes, or stark white walls. That’s just following a — frankly clichéd — trend.

If you’re intentional about your life choices, if you dig deep and consider long and hard about how you want your simple life to look (and what you can realistically afford), then you’re being intentional. If the result is color, stuff, plenty of engagements in the diary, or more than three pairs of shoes, then great.

Your simple life can look however you darn well please, so long as it truly works for you.

Intentionality is what will get you there.

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Charlie Brown is a British writer and full-time traveler. She is founder of Simple and Straightforward, a weekly mail-out focusing on simple living, minimalism, and living life on your own terms.

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