20 Questions Minimalist Style: Christine @ The (Mostly) Simple Life

Welcome to the 1st 20 Questions Minimalist Style! I am very excited about today’s 20 Questions Minimalist Style participant, Christine, with The (Mostly) Simple Life! She is one of my favorite bloggers who strives for a simple lifestyle.

I hope you enjoy learning more about her and her minimalist lifestyle! Be sure to visit her blog, The (Mostly) Simple Life, and leave her some encouraging words!

Now let’s get to the questions!

20 Questions Minimalist Style: Christine @ The (Mostly) Simple Life

1. Tell me about yourself. Who are you? What do you do?

My name is Christine, and I live in West Michigan. I’ll have been married for 6 years in April, and we have an adorable fur baby named Mozzie (like Ozzy with an M in front).

I started blogging a few months ago for something creative to do because my job is not creative at all.

2. What are you passionate about?

Dogs. Dark Chocolate. Sunny Days. Simple Living.

3. What was your life like before you became a minimalist?

I actually have had a tendency towards minimalism pretty much since birth. Growing up, I remember going through all of the stuff in my room, and if I hadn’t used it in the last 6 months, I wanted to throw it away!

I’ve always been energized by getting rid of things and organizing things. It just makes me feel good! I’m a bit odd like that.

4. How did you discover minimalism?

I really discovered the minimalism “movement” online by looking into tiny houses. I’m kind of addicted to looking at tiny houses and then thinking about what would be my essential belongings if I only lived in a 150-square-foot home.

5. When you need to escape from reality, where do you go, and what do you do to gain serenity back?

I really try to make our home an escape from reality. I want it to feel good and safe and relaxing, especially after a crazy day at work. Home should be one of your favorite places to be!

If I’m really overwhelmed, and our house feels like it’s a disaster, I shut myself in our bedroom alone. I can clean our bedroom and make the bed in, like, 5 minutes.

Then I have a clean, calm space to be in so that I can relax and escape. Lighting a candle that smells good helps too!

6. How did you begin the transition to a minimalist lifestyle?

Minimalism in my adult life kind of happened out of necessity. Throughout college and after, I usually moved every 6-12 months, so it was convenient to be able to pack most of my belongings in one carload.

Now that we own a house, I try to be careful about what comes into our home because it’s easier to keep something from coming in than it is to get things out once they’re in!

7. What does being a minimalist mean to you?

No clutter. Owning only things that I actually use or love. It’s easy to look at your home and think, “I use everything I own.” But if you really think about each item, you might realize that it’s been 5 years since you really used certain things.

8. Where are you currently with your minimalist journey?

Well, my parents moved away last year, and we acquired far too much of their stuff. We’ve been going through everything and trading out our old hand-me-downs for the new, nicer hand-me-downs we got from them ☺

It was really overwhelming at first, but we have worked through it slowly.

9. Where do you hope to be in the next 6 months with your journey?

I’d like to own a lot less in 6 months! We are not sure if we will be moving in a year or two (depending on job situations), and I’d like to go through our storage closet and other areas of the house to weed things out.

Once we know we’re going to move, it will be a lot harder to purge when we’re focused on packing. I know that the next few months are the time to make this happen!

10. How has minimalism changed your life?

Good question! Our house is calm and peaceful, with less clutter and fewer belongings. It’s rare that I lose something because I know where everything is.

We don’t spend much money shopping because we don’t buy something unless we need it. We have time to develop other hobbies because we don’t let shopping become a hobby, and we don’t have that much to clean and take care of.

11. What things have you changed in your life since becoming a minimalist? Examples: becoming a vegetarian, less waste, using no plastic, etc.

Hmm, nothing as noble as your examples! But I am more sensitive to clutter now. It’s like sensory overload when I’m at the mall or at someone’s house that is really packed full.

I really appreciate a space that is uncluttered and only full of necessary or pretty things. It’s like my eyes need that empty space or “white space” for breathing room, if that makes sense.

12. What is the biggest obstacle you have faced? How did you overcome it?

Haha. My biggest obstacle is my husband. He likes to keep everything, and I like to get rid of everything.

My ways are slowly rubbing off on him, but I’ve learned that I can’t push him to get rid of things that he’s not ready to get rid of. It’s a work in progress.

13. Explain your current wardrobe. Are you following a specific capsule wardrobe project? If not, what guidelines do you use [if any]? What color palette would we see? How many items do you have in your wardrobe?

I wrote a whole post about how I keep my wardrobe simple: 7 Tips for Simplifying Your Wardrobe

I love looking at capsule wardrobes, but I haven’t tried it. I’m able to wear most of my clothes year-round with different layers, so I don’t think I could divide out a chunk of clothes to wear as a “capsule”.

My goal is to pare down my closet so that I wear everything in there pretty much all year, which would make a capsule wardrobe seem unnecessary. I try to go through my closet about twice a year to get rid of clothes from the last season that I didn’t wear.

So, it’s time I go through things again, and if there are winter clothes I didn’t wear in the last 6 months, they can probably go. This sounded fun, so I counted what was in my closet. I didn’t count underwear and PJs.

Sweaters: 7
Fleeces/Sweatshirts: 7
Jeans and Work Pants: 9
Long Sleeve Tops: 15
Short Sleeve Tops/Tank Tops: 14
Dresses: 4
Skirts: 3

And while I was counting things, I found a few items I don’t need anymore. Excuse me while I go get rid of stuff ☺

This picture is of the closet that my husband and I share. It’s all of our clothes except for a dresser that has undergarments in it.

14. What is/are your favorite Minimalist Blogger(s)?

Andrea Dekker

15. What is/are your favorite book(s) on Minimalism?

Eek! I can’t think of one!

16. What is your favorite part of your day?

Any part that I can be home cuddling my pup.

17. What is the last thing you let go of?

A pair of brand new blue tights. We just went through prime tights-wearing weather, and I didn’t think to wear them once!

18. What is one thing you wish you could let go of but haven’t yet?

I’ve been eyeing my craft supplies dresser for a while now. I truly haven’t used most of my craft supplies in over a year, and I’m sure there’s plenty to get rid of. But I kind of like having them, just in case. That’s the next space on my list to go through.

19. What is the number one benefit you have received due to becoming a minimalist?

A less chaotic home and mind.

20. If you could give advice to someone who wants to start their minimalist journey, what would you say?

Pretend to get rid of things and see how you feel. If I’m not sure if I’m ready to get rid of something, I put it in a box someplace out of the way for 6 months.

If I really need or want that thing later on, I can go get it out of the box. In all of the times I’ve done this, I don’t remember ever missing what I put in the box and going back for it! After 6 months, I got rid of the box for good.

Final thoughts about my interview with Christine at The (Mostly) Simple Life

For more information about Christine, please visit her blog, The (Mostly) Simple Life. If you have any questions for her or me, leave them below in the comments!

Be sure to check out the entire 20 Questions Minimalist Style series!