Calm & Soothing Minimalist Home Tour – Rachel

minimalist kitchen
Everyone’s way of embracing minimalism is different and that is very important to remember. When you are thinking about becoming minimalist, the whole point of it is to keep true to your authentic self. What is important to you, the things you enjoy and the life you want to live. I’m excited to share some real life examples of what minimalism looks like in different homes around the world.
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Rachel, who has kindly offered to share some images of her home with us:
flourish
Minimalist Dining Room
Rachel: We are a family of 5, my husband and I have been together 13 years and married 8 this summer. Our oldest daughter is 5, our son is 3, and our youngest daughter just turned one. I have found over the years that I really thrive in a minimalist environment and I live and breathe the mantra “outer order, inner calm”.
Minimalist Entry
Our kids are wonderful, creative and very busy people who never seem to have any issue with our minimalism, they help me sort through toys and clothes when we notice them piling up and help decide what to keep, what to donate and what needs to be recycled or tossed. I am a farmer and stay at home with the kids, so I need my home to be a place I want to be and I feel we have really created that in our home.
Minimalist Living Room
What square footage do you have in your home?
2800 sq. ft. So not small by any means. I find though that all the space in our home feels well used and by having a minimalist approach it actually isn’t difficult to keep a house this size clean and clutter free. I was worried that because it is larger I would want to fill the spaces, but I’m finding the opposite to be true, having big open spaces allows the house and our family to truly relax.
Minimalist Living Room 2
How many people live in your home?
We are a family of 5, there is my husband, myself and our 3 children who are 5, 3 and 1. We have a great Dane who takes up his fair share of space. We are also hoping for more children in the future.
Minimalist Family Room
What was your motivation for embracing simplicity in your life?
I find I am a much more grounded person when things are simple. I get anxious and depressed when things start feeling out of control so by getting my house in order and simplifying our home and possessions I found I was able to keep my anxiety in check. So my mental well being would be the key motivator.
Minimalist Family Room 2

How has minimizing your possessions made your life better?

Aside from improving my mental state, I find it allows us to focus on what is most important to us, our family. We spend more time engaging with the kids than picking up after them, or looking for things for them. I find we appreciate the things we have so much more than we did before. Instead of having 50 stuffed animals that the kids never played with they have 1 or 2 that have real meaning for them, it has definitely fostered a greater appreciation for the things we have. I find we are just overall so much happier now than we were when we were surrounded by stuff. Our home is calmer as there is not clutter jumping at us from every surface, our home is really a relaxing and safe haven for our family.
Minimalist Entryway 2
What was your biggest challenge in the middle of decluttering?
I found staying on task difficult, projects would get left half finished, or half sorted. I have 3 young children, getting distracted happened a lot. Another big stumbling block was that often times my husband was resistant to my efforts to purge and downsize, he did come around when the improvements started becoming evident and we haven’t looked back since.
Minimalist Baby Room
Minimalist Kids Room
Minimalist Kids Room 2
Did you involve your family or were you on your own?

I did involve them but definitely did the lion’s share on my own. My kids played an active roll when going through toys as I didn’t want to hurt them by removing something that still held importance to them. They really took to it and often times will come to me independently now telling me if they are no longer using a toy and want to give it to someone who would play with it more. I also didn’t want to sort through items that were important to my husband as those are things only he can sort through so he would take the time and go through his belonging as well when gently encouraged, it was not something he jumped at doing but had no problem going through things as they were brought to his attention.
Minimalist Main Bedroom
What unexpected reactions did you get from friends or family seen your new way to cluttered home?
My favorite reaction, or thing I hear most often is how calm and soothing our home is. That to me is the highest compliment you can bestow on our home as that is exactly what I want our home to exude, a peaceful, relaxing and calm place to be.
 

About Rachel Jones

Hi there! I’m Rachel Jones, and I founded Nourishing Minimalism in 2012 at the beginning of my minimalist journey. If you're looking for encouragement in your journey, I created a FREE Facebook Group - feel free to join me there: Nourishing Minimalism Facebook Group and I share videos each week on YouTube

17 Comments

  1. Jen on 02/18/2017 at 3:02 pm

    seriously amazing

  2. Daikuro @ SimplicityBlogger.com on 02/20/2017 at 12:19 am

    Even the children’s bedroom is so minimalist and organized. This is my dream house.

  3. Steven Snow on 02/21/2017 at 3:24 am

    A touch, a feel is necessary in the sweet home which can be found effectively by the creative work. Here creative concepts applied to get the sweet home space. Everything is properly organized, and I love specially the use of wooden furniture’s which help to offer coolness during summers and natural warmth in the winter.

  4. Gail on 02/22/2017 at 4:07 pm

    Truly thanks to everyone who shared their stories and photos. My only concern about reducing decor items was that I will reach A point that house looks sterile not calm(desired feeling). I have reduced items but now can see, i can do more, if inwant.
    Clothes, duplicates, stored items …all taken to limit that pleases me…just the visual doo dads left to go

    • Rachel on 02/23/2017 at 5:45 pm

      I recommend going one room at a time, removing everything, deciding what pieces you really love, giving them a place of honor on the wall, then step back and see how it feels. Add pieces back in one at a time, each time, seeing how you feel about your space and the decor. Each room has a “sweet spot” that you will find as you work your way through it. 🙂

      • Laura on 03/27/2017 at 3:34 pm

        I did the take everything out and put back in your favorite plan. Best idea ever. Highly recommend that.

  5. Amy Hensley on 02/27/2017 at 1:40 pm

    Another beautiful, inspiring minimalist home. Thanks for sharing! If only my kid’s rooms looked like that. They would be so much happier.

  6. joyce eveler on 03/27/2017 at 3:41 pm

    Beautiful!

  7. Rachel on 03/27/2017 at 4:47 pm

    I absolutely love this – and not just because it’s another Rachel 🙂 I agree that the house looks calming and would love to get to that point with my own home. While I believe in “Outer Order creates Inner Calm”, I have not achieved that level in my home so I am not living it every day. Definitely something to aspire to. Thanks to both Rachels for sharing!

  8. MamaC on 06/24/2017 at 2:00 am

    Just began my third round with decluttering. One post said she did several rounds through rooms before she finally got there. I have found that the easiest for me. This time I bought bankers boxes that I will use later at the office. I cleared everything into them since they stack in another room well until I finish. . This time I am painting or doing touch up before putting anything back. Wow! I dont want to put all that stuff back now that it looks so pretty.. almost finished with the second room. And looks like a lot of the stuff I put in boxes will go to the goodwill. . I would not have been able to get this far if it were not for someone suggesting that I do this in rounds! I plan to do another round after this just to be sure and keep doing a round here and there to keep things up. Love this!

  9. Suzanne on 12/25/2017 at 1:25 am

    Beautiful home! So calming. My favourite rooms in my house look similar, but I still have a ways to go.
    Can I ask what the main gray colour in the house is? If you happen to know it. I’ve been trying to find a welcoming and calm neutral for my entryway and kitchen but I’m having no luck with paint swatches.

    • Sandra on 09/04/2018 at 12:48 pm

      Ageeable grey is my favorite. I believe it was shermin williams but home depot has the mixture in their computer. Just right coolness and warmth

      • Aimee on 01/19/2019 at 4:54 pm

        We have Agreeable Gray in our living room, as well, and love it!

  10. Fiona on 01/08/2018 at 9:55 pm

    This is a lovely home, and very inspiring, thanks.

  11. Theresa on 07/27/2018 at 2:51 pm

    Do you have an office area? A desk/ bookshelf/ filing cabinet? Where do you put those types of things like papers, bills, etc?

  12. Marie Caldwell on 08/25/2018 at 6:23 am

    Great blog

  13. Lisa Bass on 10/30/2018 at 10:52 am

    It is awesome that she has so many pieces of furniture for storing all that extra stuff so it is hidden. The square footage of the home helps too!

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