My sister and I grew up in what could only be called an ‘anti-minimalist’ environment. If there was space, it meant something was:
A) stolen or B) we had rebelliously thrown something out (in secret, because mum never ever threw ANYTHING away).

This went beyond war-time frugality. It has been called hoarding by some, but I think anti-minimalist fits better, as her philosophy was about creating an environment with loads of shit around, because she hated blank space. She thought it was a waste The more crap the better. NO BLANK WALLS. No floorspace. And even the porch was just another ‘outside storage space’.

Our aunty tried to remedy this many times (she’s also more minimal and likes to move around. Her thing is portability) but whenever she’d throw something out, three things replaced that item, or sometimes ten. A good example is when we said we needed a new door for the bathroom, she bought 10. The doors just lingered around for years, in our bedroom, with the 4 wardrobes, because the glass in the doors was pretty. We moved out- but they are now in her shed ‘just in case’.

So as for us, we dig minimalism. Give us space- LOTS OF SPACE. And don’t you ever dare try to put a carpet where none is needed (rolled up, we might add). The key is to FEATURE one beautiful thing, not drown your goodies in some crazy colage so the house looks like a Moroccan market theough the lens of a hash dealer.

I love to travel, so being a minimalist helps me save money for my next trip, and frees me to up and leave a place if I want to, without having to worry about a whole apartment full of things I need to store.

I love a clean, almost stark look. I like deserts and adobe houses and Japanese design. Possessions get in the way of that aesthetic.

I have bad habits like nail-biting and hair pulling that come out when I feel anxious or stuck. Too much stuff overwhelms me, but minimalizing relaxes my mind.

I’ve always been attracted to the challenge of getting by with less. Minimalizing is my real life response to wilderness survival fantasies.

* I do make plenty of money. This enables me to let go of things… I know I can re-buy if I find I really need them. Most of you are saying that the opposite also makes you a good candidate; I don’t understand the dynamic but I guess it just shows that minimalism can work at various perceived income levels.
* I don’t have a lot of time, so I don’t want to have things that are high-maintenance.
* I live in the city and have already been getting by without a car for years (prefer this anyway; cars are high-maintenance.)
* I’m childfree by choice and have never had a TV, so there are two more classes of objects I’ve never needed.
* I grew up in an atmosphere of both poverty and clutter, with things always being lost in the messy environment. This has made it very hard for me to learn non-cluttered patterns, but I’m also motivated, because I don’t want to live the way I grew up.
* I don’t like to clean, either. When I must, I’d rather it be easy.
* Like others, I value things that are not physical: work, fitness, learning, friendships, snuggle-time with my family, etc.
* I’ve always found physical possessions to be a bit of a burden. Even in college I remember debating with friends about the cost of stewardship.

Do not be sad for me. I am totally at peace.

* My husband and I have both appreciate quality over quantity. We’re both really tired of cheap plastic crap that breaks way too easily.
* We’re both trying to be more frugal, be more eco-conscious, and just generally reduce waste.
* We also are trying to save money because we are trying to pay down debt. * We both love simple designs.
* Neither of us like to clean, but we like things to be organized and look uncluttered. And it is easier to clean when there’s less stuff in the way.
* We don’t really entertain often personally, but we have a roommate, so having things less cluttered helps the house seem a lot larger than it is, I think. While our roommate has a child who stays with us every other week, she’s good about putting things back into her mom’s room.
* My husband and I have no plans to have kids of our own — at least any time soon, so we don’t have to worry about where to store kid stuff. We have five cats and that’s enough for us.
* As my husband and I were recently discussing, we both really like change and trying/learning new things. We’re both always looking for a better — and especially simpler — way to do things.

We’re still far from truly minimalist, but we’re doing a lot better than we are. We’re still cutting back but perhaps more importantly, we’re a lot more careful about what we add to our collections now.