Has anyone tried to be a minimalist? How did it go?

I'm a minimalist married to a hoarder. He likes the idea of being minimalist but has a seriously hard time getting rid of anything from nuts & bolts to cables to t-shirts from runs we did 25+ years ago. I've lived with a capsule wardrobe for 10 or so years and love it. DH uses 80% of our shared closet. 

I purged a lot of the kitchen appliances before an interstate move and think long and hard about anything that gets added. We do have enough dinner plates and flatware to feed about 25, but not a full set of side plate/bowl/dinner plate, etc.

We have one set of bedding for each room (plus a couple spare fitted sheets in case of illness) and one set of towels, although we have extra gym towels and 20+ beach towels.

I was happy to get rid of CDs, videos and DVDs as technology changed. DH hung onto a box of home recorded John Wayne movies on video that his dad's cousin gave to him well past the point that we owned a VCR.

The only place I'm not a minimalist is with my crafting supplies, although I have purged them significantly.

A minimalist would break out in hives if they came in my house.

While I sometimes think I would like to be a true minimalist (one set of dishes per person, 5 shirts, 2 pants, etc.) I know I could probably not be one. We have downsized things like dishes, clothing, etc. Craft stuff is my downfall. I still have way too much craft stuff. I would love to get it all in one room, without using the guest/office room like an overflow closet. But I keep saving it all because those will be my retirement "projects", or so I tell myself! And we will always have a lot of books. We love books too much. That guest room/office is the limit for our clutter. I am thankful in a way that we don't have a basement or attic. And we also make sure we can always park both cars in the garage.

If my house was big enough and I had enough storage to hide all my stuff, I could *look* like a minimalist.
But no, I haven't tried and have no intention of trying, I love having stuff!
Seeing that pair of pink shoes makes me happy, and seeing them in blue as well makes me even happier.
Empty space is cold and definitely does not 'spark joy' in me...so I have to get rid of it.

My single daughter is a minimalist. She cut her house and yard size in half. She has a set of dishes, pots and pans, etc. She just got rid of all of the extra stuff that was sitting around. That’s not to say she doesn’t have decor, her house is cute! She does what feels right for her. I’m proud to say that at age 43 her house and car are paid off!

Not a minimalist, as I have multiples of things for convenience and that works for us. But, we have gone over every inch of our home to declutter/purge multiple times. It’s an ongoing process. I do not like things out on horizontal surfaces, and I need a lot of white space on my walls and I’ve recently discovered that it is probably linked to my anxiety. Having no “stuff” sitting out calms me. When I go into restaurants that have items all over their walls I have to really just focus on our table or I will get so tense.

Anyway, decluttering is an ongoing process, one in one out type of thing if you want to maintain it. Decide how much space you are willing to designate to whatever, say shirts, and when that space is full you don’t get any more until you get rid of one. Period. It does help immensely, not only with my anxiety, we can both relax more when things are not out or around. We LOVE staying in hotels for this reason, very little is out (I put all the signs and menus in a drawer as soon as we walk in) and it is so peaceful to us. A big place that I’ve noticed improvement is with our laundry. We have MUCH less laundry to do now that DH really paired down his clothes. So much less. Most of our drawers have breathing room, it is just so much easier to find things and take them out, AND put them back which is the most important part. Having less things in general makes everything easier to find.

If you don’t own it you don’t have to have a home for it, pick it up, clean it, fix it, replace it, etc.

I consider myself to now be living a simple life.

Post divorce >> For years, I collected stuff for what I envisioned, a home with a....

Library (I took in every free and unwanted book). I had lot and lots of books. Several sets of encyclopedias and other set type books(History). The majority in boxes, since I didn't have a home with a Library room.

A bar, and by bar I mean ice cream/dessert counter type thing. I had dessert dishes, various shapes and styles of ice cream dishes. The majority in boxes, since there was never room for a home bar.

I had a lot of token type gifts(a random gift one gives to a receiver, a generic "one gift for all" type thing)....platters, individual brownie pan, cake stands, casserole dishes, wine glasses, margerita glasses, brandy decanter, goblet glasses, small kitchen appliances, etc....

I am a hot tea drinker. I had many, many, many tea cups, mugs, tea pots, etc... of various shapes styles and colors.  I never asked for tea items as gifts, but it somehow became a go-to gift if one didn't know what to give me. At one point I 30 something cute, fancy, tea pots and probably about 50 cups and mugs. None of which matched my home decor style, theme, colors.

I had a lot of stuff in boxes for my future "envisioned" home. The thing is, I don't entertain, I hate unannounced drop-in visitors, etc.., I do not enjoy being the hostess.

Then I rented a room and put the majority of my stuff in storage. 
I love small, one room living. LOVED it. I loved simple living.
Everything I thouhgt I wanted( my dream home), wasn't what I wanted at all.
I decided to downsize, and got rid of a lot of the stuff I collected or was gifted to me. I just let it all go, no guilt!
I ended up in a studio apartment with a kitchenette. I am the happiest and most content, that I've ever been.

Simple living isn't for everyone, but it wonderful for me.

Affter reading some of the replies, I thought I would edit and add..... I have a set of four dishes, bowls, dessert/appetizer plates, silverware, towels, kitchen linens, etc... In no way, have I gone extreme minimalist. 
My scrapbook area is definitely maximalist. 

I’m in this camp 100%. If she still owns the items, but stores them in another part of the house, she isn’t as minimalistic as she is trying to appear to be. 

I have certain places that I put things. If it’s full, I purge or find another solution. Almost every piece of furniture that I own stores things in some way.  I still own the items, but they are kept out of sight.  I don’t want to live with 2 pairs of shoes or 5 shirts or 10 books. I like options. A tidy house and options is what gives me joy. 

You’re my sister from another mr.!  I think of “winnowing down” as my super power. I’m as sentimental as anyone, though, so I do keep a reasonable amount of non essentials, like photos, cards and important childhood toys from my kids.

I am not a minimalist but I like the look of a kitchen counter without all the small appliances on it. Like others of you, I watched a lot of videos during lockdown and decluttered. I found homes for my kitchenaid, air fryer and IP. Everything looked nice and neat.

And now, obvious not because of that, I have osteoarthritis in my low back and it hurts to bend down to get the items in and out. So they sit on the counter again. (I do still put the IP away for now but I’m questioning it.) And now it annoys me more than it did before I knew better.

Ha ha, no! I’m not a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination but I fall in and out of love with things, my taste evolves and if I got rid of things while I was out of love with them I would wish I hadn’t later on. I also like variety and a little bit of a change up so I wouldn’t enjoy being restricted to the same clothes/plates/appliances/bedding etc I love so many styles and I like to impulse buy sometimes so if I saw a duvet cover that grabbed my attention and worked with my bedroom colours and I loved, I will get it regardless of whether we ‘needed’ it or not.

I consider myself a maximalist.  I'm not a hoarder, but so far in my life, I'm not put off by clutter.  I am beginning to think about truly what I need and what I don't need.  What I want and what I don't want.  I consider myself evolving at this point in my life.  My kitchen is a disaster.  I love to cook.  I don't have an appliance problem but I do have issues with spices/seasonings/oils/vinegars, etc.  Half my refrigerator is condiments and sauces.  And my counters are cluttered with things I feel I absolutely need.  To the point where I don't have much counter space to work. 

I have taken steps to minimize the amount of yarn I'm bringing into my house.  But, I'm keeping more of my projects lately than giving away.  I used to give away a lot of projects but I have found some people very unappreciative and I have found others to be a bit greedy, as in, I'd be happy to take these things off your hands.  I am a bit put off by attitudes like this, so I am finding I'm creating just for myself.   

My craft room right now is doubling as an office.  It was decided going forward we would do a hybrid work schedule so I'll be here regularly and I've got to downsize a bit.  My current project is purging my craft room.  I've also switched to project life scrapbooking and I have to say that I have found I can work with far less.  

I am also thinking about my clothing.  I've never been a clothes-horse.  But I still feel I can do more with less.  So I am exploring where I can clean things out and not bring huge amounts of new things in anymore.  I am thinking a lot more about fast fashion and the environmental and economic impacts of that.  Where I can do my part to reduce and reuse.  

These are my biggest areas of clutter that I need to focus on.  And I'm in the infant stages of doing so.  

This appliance lift  might work for you if you have single lower cabinets with sides. If you don’t, you can probably have a wall installed I side a double cabinet if there is a center support, we had that done by a cabinet installer aftermarket. There are other manufacturers, I’ve just never used their products whereas our kitchen has tons of Rev-A-Shelf and we have been very pleased with every purchase. Also, this is intended for a full cabinet, without a drawer, so that the shelf comes up to countertop height. The intent is that you can just use the appliance on the shelf and not move it at all. But we are going to install it on a cabinet with a drawer to just help with the process of lifting. Saves the back from bending over and lifting, which is my issue.

I am exactly the same about countertops, the only appliance out is our Kitchen Aid but it’s black and in a corner you can’t see from most of the downstairs. And as soon as we get around to buying and installing the linked product that won’t be an issue any more! In over 25 linear feet of counter space we have 3 canisters (which we don’t use because everything is in airtight containers in the pantry ), a ceramic sign with Chez LastName and the date we purchased our home, 2 decorative balls by that, paper towel holder, a ceramic tray (with EVOO, balsamic vinegar and a salt cellar), basket of hand towels, Alexa and the Kitchen Aid. Everything but the towels and ceramic tray are shoved in those deep corners you can’t easily use so as not to take up valuable working counter retail space. It is so relaxing to cook in there. Anyway, hope that lift might work for you!

jeremysgirl . My BFF is exactly like this with her countertops, but it works for her. Does it work for you? Come join us in the Declutter/Organize thread, lots of encouragement and advice if you need it!