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I've always wished I could be more minimalist. But I love art, and books, and collecting odd little things. My walls are covered, and my shelves are filled. They fill my world with wonder. Maybe I should start with the bathroom. It would be easier.
I was wishing that too--and I am a collector of things as well. You know what I've been doing last year was identify things I really needed/wanted and started 'exchanging' them for a couple items I didn't need. That works generally well for me and my family lately. I grabbed a lovely wall-covering picture of a rope bridge in the foggy jungle morning, and replaced 4 art-pieces on my wall with it. 3 items less, and more lovely scenery.
My suggestion is take it a little at a time. Just make a small box, stick it at your front door, and go through something in random places for a while and say, "Hey, I don't really need this.." and put it in the donation box. At the end of the week, take it to donation, and start again. If you start struggling in a certain spot, move on to the next. After a couple months of that, you can really start looking at small sections and see what you kept trying to keep and what you wavered on, and analyze it.
I found it really helps to justify three things out loud:
1. How you got the piece
2. Why you kept it
3. What it does.
If you cant make words for those three aspects of it.. chances are it's not really important.
I've lived without a permanent residence for a year, everything I need fits into two small trolley bags. I've gotten by renting a room by the night and bunking down with relatives. I am getting a residence again ths year but I will hesitate to fill it up with furniture again. Furniture is a huge liability espeially when you move. After getting rid of my last bed I will never buy an innerspring again I'll go back to a futon which is cheaper to buy and easier to transport. All my old furniture was recycled by being sold or given away. I only now own my vintage espresso machine, my harp, my motorbike, clothing, an ipad and two lovable cats who are boarding with my mother temporarily. It makes my next move easy.
Still trying to find a very small house (less furnishings needed) on a decent bit if land for my permaculture stuff. Its actually really hard to find a small house. I didnt count on that at all. I love living frugal, so minimal goes well. My challenge this year is to put down roots again. The next move is to go off-grid in terms of money. I want to live with as little to do with the world monetary system as possible. I've spent years learning basic homesteading so I can increase my self reliance, of course I still rely on some basics (purchsed lye for soapmaking for example, although I'm keen to make my own from ash just once), once I'm settled I want to learn beekeeping, make a rocket mass heater and build my own hot water system so I can disconnect from the electricity grid. Growing enough food for health is easy, I've already doen it once and if you can't bring yourself to kill a chicken then you can always eat the eggs. So much to do....
I think there are plenty of ways to get this done!! The way I'm going is looking for a large plot of land and buying it, since small plots are impossible to find, and building my house from there. The way you're talking, I'd say it'd be so much easier to find someone willing to subdivide their property and buy a piece from them and build the house from there. If you do it right, you can install some awesome things like solar heaters and electricity and such and wire the whole house to those off-the-grid purposes.
... Though, if you do a composting toilet, you might as well make an outhouse. @_@ Those just smell bad no matter what you do.
I don't have a desire to live off the grid, but I do have a desire to be able to live on very little bills so that I can basically do nothing all month if I wanted to and not worry about money. I don't want to live month-to-month. I want to live. And a tiny house is the vehicle that's going to get me there.
I love the shape of the top one! Yeah, I have two maxi-dress-ish things, and since I lack assets, they're perfect since they roll up tiny for traveling and they're all that's required for the outfit.
