Mistress Cleanlove or: How I Learned to Stop Cluttering and Love the Nothingness

In eager anticipation of a move in just over a month from the bland suburbs to the Big City (Minneapolis), I have been mulling through design websites and magazines in hopes of killing our clutterbug tendencies. At the moment, we're in a cramped townhome that we outgrew about 2 years ago. The space we're moving into is going to be a completely refinished Midtown Minneapolis duplex. The other half of the duplex will be occupied by two fabulous female friends of ours. The house has a lot of windows (oh how I missed windows), lots of open space as well as beautiful new and restored hardwood floors. It's a dream house for us. So we decided, what better time than now to start designing a minimalist space for ourselves?

This does not come easily for myself or my partner. We both have mothers who collect various non-necessities and have a house full o' crap. Whether or not we like to admit it, we do too on occasion. The difference is, we don't want all this stuff. We really don't. Of course, these physical things we all tend to collect over the years are just a sign for emotional stuff that people push onto those items instead of just dealing with the problem directly.


The purpose of this blog is also to remove emotional bullshit clutter. Those people who seem to just take up space and don't really provide anything substantial or meaningful. Out with the old if it doesn't help you or serve a purpose. The core stays and we make room for new people and new experiences.

It's hard to find a space for it all and hard to decide what stays and what goes! I've begun the painstaking process of packing which has allowed me to toss plenty of things we don't use or wouldn't miss, but I've also discovered emotional attachments to some items that don't even really make sense. A recorded cassette tape of old radio songs and a torn but rare 'Under the Pink' Tori Amos poster I bought in London when I was 16. Would I miss these things if they were gone?

These are the difficult decisions I'll need to make as I decide once and for all what stays and what goes.

With the help of some web guides and motivational friends/stories/pictures, we're hoping to obtain a peaceful, minimalist space; where creativity and happiness can thrive and stress levels can decrease. Clean lines and open space make a happy space, in my opinion, and my partner and I are both Leos and both semi-hotheads who could do with a little more Zen and peace in our lives. I'm sure our 2 dogs and 2 cats would appreciate that as well.

As far as minimalist design goes, I want clean but not cold. I want warm woods and tones and pictures that center the attention. I'll drop pictures of stuff I love here from time to time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, we begin the dis-assembly of our current abode, and start tossing. Wish us luck.