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Adrienne Breaux Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media I grew up watching TV shows like "This Old House" and "New Yankee Workshop" with my parents, and learned early on that not only is it possible to remake your home’s surroundings to fit your lifestyle and personality, but that it’s also fun. When I got to college, I started in journalism but graduated with a BA in Interior Design from Louisiana State University. My entire professional career has been a mix of my passions: writing, photography, and interior design. I’ve worked at two different types of furniture stores (one ultra-modern and one full of antiques); I’ve worked on residential and commercial interior design projects; I’ve written about art, architecture, and design for print and online publications (a career highlight was interviewing famed collage artist and David Bowie collaborator Rex Ray for "Uppercase Magazine"); I’ve even been an architectural photographer. And for over 10 years, I've led Apartment Therapy's real home content, producing thousands of gorgeous house tours from around the world. I've also lived in a variety of homes, including a van, a former downtown store in small-town Texas, and a studio apartment rumored to have once been owned by Willie Nelson. It's made me passionate about featuring people making the best of their homes, no matter what shape that home is in, and inspiring others to create beautiful, functional homes. I truly believe that you can be your best self when you love your home.I love traveling, checking off Atlas Obscura wish lists, taking photos, making art, seeing art, throwing an incredible themed Halloween party every year, and staying up-to-date on the latest science fiction and horror movies. Currently, I live in my maximalist dream home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with my partner, a perfect dog, and a cute cat. Sofia Rivera Sofia RiveraAssociate Lifestyle Editor at Apartment Therapy The first thing I ever said I wanted to be when I was young was an interior designer. But, after years of waiting by the mailbox for my favorite magazines and seizing every opportunity to write, I decided to pursue journalism. I started my career at Boston magazine, before pivoting into strategic communications, and coming back to journalism when I joined Apartment Therapy in 2022 — the perfect union of my childhood dream and adulthood passion. I edit the Life section, covering wellness, money, career, small-space living, mental health, and all the items, habits, hacks, and pro tips that can help you level up your life at home. I love peeling back the curtain on the myriad fascinating ways people live at home, and relish writing and editing narrative essays, special content packages, and stories that answer that question you’ve always had. When I’m not editing a feature or chasing a hot tip about how to live your best life at home, you can find me rearranging my furniture, perusing a local bookstore (even though I’ve run out of shelf space), writing a newsletter about overthinking pop culture, or taking a veryyy long walk around the city.
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A minimalist lifestyle is not for everyone. But in this hectic world, many people are feeling the yearning to have less, to spend less, to do less, to need less.
You read about those folks who make huge, dramatic leaps into extreme minimalist lifestyles, giving away everything they own, and moving to an all-white room with just a mattress and a notepad. You can certainly get on the path to minimalism with a similarly grand gesture, or you can work on seeking simplicity more gradually.
Here’s your beginner’s road map for how to become a minimalist and live a simpler lifestyle at home. No one single thing will magically turn you into a minimalist tomorrow, but these ideas are a good place to start you on your journey.
1. Give yourself a clear, personal goal (and a timeline).
What is your personal definition of a more minimal home and life? Is it to have only the bare minimum of objects? Is it to declutter a whole room of stuff you haven’t looked at in months? Is it to learn to live with less or stop buying things you don’t need? There’s no “right” way to be a minimalist; everyone can all have their own definitions of simple and stress-free.
Just take the time to define it for yourself. Not sure where to start defining what you don’t want in your life? Focus on what you do want — what makes you feel alive, what you’re passionate about — and then begin to strip away the things (physical and otherwise) that are getting in the way of you doing more of what you really want to be doing.
Give yourself a clear goal, and write down why you want to live more minimally — less stress, more money, less stuff to haul on your next move — it can be anything that means something to you). Then, break it down into steps, and then give yourself a time frame to achieve each step. Consider setting calendar alerts to hold yourself accountable.
2. Decide how your home can help you live a more minimalist lifestyle.
Your quest for a more minimal lifestyle might point you in the direction of a smaller or simplified home. This is a big step for folks who own or rent homes, but not impossible. Again, start with a goal of what you want — be specific.
Not sure what you want? Do some traveling — and look to stay in homes in the size range you’re thinking about. You’ll be able to visualize your future life more easily if it’s a size you’re comfortable living in. Or perhaps the size and type of your home is okay, but it’s what’s in it that’s stressing you out.
3. Declutter.
And if that’s the case, it’s time to declutter. This seems pretty obvious, but it can be the most painful step for folks who have a real attachment to many of their items. Start slow and intentionally. Throw out or donate everything you obviously don’t need first. Then take and hide everything you think you could do without for a few months to give yourself distance and allow yourself to give them away more easily.
Keep reminding yourself that stripping away as much stuff from your life will make it easier to achieve a simpler life and allow you to have more freedom. You don’t have to only live with a bed and a laptop — you get to decide what living more minimally means to you.
4. Get over that decluttering guilt.
Do you feel bad donating that sweater your aunt gave you? Or recycling those old cards? It makes sense, but try to shed any guilt around downsizing by remembering that you don’t need to hold onto something to honor it. You can take a photo to remember it by, or simply say thank you and let it go.
5. Become the bouncer of your own home.
A surefire way to undo all your hard decluttering work is by bringing new things home regularly. Try to act as a “bouncer of your own home,” as minimalist life coach Dara Zycherman puts it, meaning you can and should graciously not let things you’re not excited about enter the club. Whether it’s a free T-shirt at an event or a gift you just don’t have use for, get comfortable saying no to taking it home.
6. Train yourself to live with less.
If you’ve been used to creature comforts for a long time, you might not be ready to take a minimalist plunge all at once. Consider having comfort-free weekends or months, slowly eliminating luxuries (even as simple as pricey haircuts or weekly movie dates) and seeing what feels okay to lose and what things are too valuable to your happiness to give up.
7. Ask yourself, “do I really need this?” all the time.
Here’s a simple mantra for how to become a minimalist: Before you swipe your credit card, ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” And ask it all the time. At first, you may easily justify purchases out of habit, but as the question sinks in, you might find yourself realizing you don’t need many of the items you impulsively buy.
8. Be a re-user.
Another great minimal habit to explore is learning to be a great re-user. Save packaging to reuse for other things. Learn to repair and fix things rather than replace them. Use old clothing for scrap fabric for DIY projects. Be open to being creative to find ways you can reuse something you already have rather than buy something new.
9. Invest in high-quality items.
When you do have (or want) to buy something new, splurge on high-quality items that are meaningful for you. Remember that it might be nicer to have a sparse home filled with dreamy designs you adore versus full of things you just sort of like. But also remember that, again, you define what minimal means for you.
10. Be clear about why you want to be more minimal (and remind yourself often).
Go back to the first step above regularly, especially when things get tough, so you can remember why you’re trying to live more minimally in the first place.
11. Forgive yourself and keep trying.
As someone who has given away everything they owned one and a half times now, I can assure you I manage to acquire stuff at impressive speeds. I sign up for a lot of work obligations, too. This is just human nature. But don’t give up on your quest for simplicity if you wake up one day and notice you’ve let a lot of unneeded stuff clutter up your home or schedule. Just start over at the top, breathe in, and keep trying.
Are you aiming to live a more minimal lifestyle at home and in other parts of your life? Share your thoughts, tips, ideas and lessons learned in the comments below!
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