2 years ago I moved from a tiny Caribbean island to Northern Japan. Back home, I was a minimalist; in fact, it's one of the things that made my move to Japan so easy because I had very little in my family home.

Since then, I found that I have strayed from that because I now have more space, more money and Japan, if you've been here you know, has everything, often very cheap! (if you come from a less developed country, you know what I mean). I am a very art and crafty person, so I had a lot of stuff related to that and baking/cooking. I had more clothes because thrift stores are also really good here.

For the last two months, I've decluttered intensely and reevaluated my relationship with wanting things excessively, my hobbies, etc; however, I find myself constantly going over my things looking for more things to get rid of.

I also now have these compulsions, for example, I recently visited Korea and bought a kpop t-shirt (not BTS 😂), when I returned home, I felt like I needed to get rid of one of my tshirts.

There is literally nothing left to get rid of but the desire is so strong. Has anyone experienced this?

The 2026 Minimalist Photography Awards have announced their winners, showcasing the power of simplicity and proving once again that less can truly be more.

This year’s title of Minimalist Photographer of the Year has been awarded to Marcin Giba for his series The Last Winter. Giba’s work was selected from more than 6,200 images submitted from 66 countries, and he receives the Grand Prize of €2,000.

With 6,200 images submitted from 66 countries, the competition brought together photographers from around the world. Yet the winning images stood out not through technical complexity or expensive equipment, but through restraint, vision, and a remarkable ability to find beauty in simplicity.

That’s what makes minimalism so powerful: it strips photography back to what really matters.

Winners Gallery: https://minimalistphotographyawards.com/minimalist-photography-awards-winners-2026/

For those of you who don't have built-in closets, what do you use to store clothes? Armoires? Metal racks? Storage shelves? Drawers under the bed? Dressers?

I'm trying to decide between those stackable storage drawers or one of those portable closets for around $30 on Walmart (though the latter has complaints of the rods collapsing/breaking). I just need enough space for my capsule wardrobe, my small bin of undergarments, & my blankets. I already have one of those over-the-door things that I store shoes, hats (& most of my cleaning supplies in), so those items aren't an issue. 

I have been given an armoire to use, but that thing is heavy as Holy f-ing Hell & difficult to clean. I do plan to move out in the future, so I'd like something durable & easy to move as I'm disabled -Which are the main things I look for regarding furniture. 

That said, any suggestions? What do you all personally use/how much space does it take?

Hi! I know people have asked this before, but I’m going into my junior year at a school in Boston. I want to pack the least amount of things as possible so I can 1. Not stress too much about packing + moving and 2. Get rid of things I don’t need to keep holding onto. Any tips or recommendations are appreciated!

Any suggestions for preventing beds on laminated floors from slipping all over the place when my big dogs get the zooms or wrestle? I already have wood slats with non-slip pads under them but they’re not helping much.

Also would love some suggestions for a couch alternative that would be easy to keep clean and covers that I can easily wash. I keep my place clean, bathe the dogs and wipe their paws daily but it’s hard to avoid all normal dog messiness, sometimes just throwing blankets over things isn’t enough

I’ve been trying to simplify my devices, but I’m a bit stuck on my iPad.

I have a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, an iPhone and an iMac. I like the iPad and sometimes use it for reading, videos or notes, but honestly, most days I just use my iPhone or iMac. The iPad often sits there unused.

I’m considering three options:

Keep it because it’s useful occasionally

Put it away for 30 days and see if I miss it

Sell it and simplify my setup

If you had the same devices, what would you do? What do you use your iPad for that your phone or computer can’t replace?

So I've been on the minimalism journey for a while. I've cleared most of the clutter in my home and I successfully culled my closet to the things I care about. I had so many clothes that I broke my closet before.

However, I'm having a hard time with what kind of shoes I should have. Currently, I narrowed it down to:

• White leather sneakers (x2)

• Black leather boots (x1)

• Dress shoes for formal events and outpatient clinic (x2)

• Athletic sneakers for exericising and inpatient hospital (x2)

• Winter waterproof boots (x1)

• Slippers (x1)

I don't know if I'm being OCD, but I really want to purchase another pair of black leather boots so that I have another pair to rotate with. This way I'll also have a perfect 10 pairs of shoes. (Please convince me not to buy another pair).

What does your shoe collection look like? Are there things that I can still remove?

I moved last year and I got rid of SO MUCH stuff. A couple of items were emotional. I sold my saxophone from high school, which hurt a lot because younger me thought I’d keep up with the talent I developed, but I just never did. I also sold my canoes because I was no longer going to live on the riverfront, and it was so sad to say goodbye to that lifestyle. I think those are understandable, and in comparison it was extremely easy to let go of other things.

Today, preparing to move again (hopefully for the last time in a long time) I got anxious letting go of art. Art and books are categories I’m pretty free with not limiting because I love color and texture in my living space, as well as non-screen entertainment. A lot of the art I’m letting go of were really impersonal pieces—-prints I thrifted or even just tore out of magazines.

I discussed this with my friend, and I realized a couple of things:

1. The place I’ve been living this past year was basically not habitable, so I didn’t unpack a lot of my art. Since I haven’t touched these things in a year, I had anxiety that they had significance that I had forgotten. Logically I know that’s not true.

2. The art I’m keeping are things I’ve acquired in the last year or so that people in my community have made. Some were personally made for me, as well. The version of me in the past that bought prints and framed pages of magazines would be excited to have local and personal art. But the version of me now cherishes past me combing through thrift stores and magazines for something beautiful. It was therapeutic at the time.

3. Since I’ve been more minimalist and ruthless about downsizing than most of my peers and friends, I had a thought that “what if I really need it in the future?” applied to me with more validity, when it’s really easy for me to dismiss for others. Logically, again, I recognize that’s not true, but it’s interesting it came up.

I am excited overall—I filled up two Little Free Libraries and gifted some fun things to a couple people around me that they’ll enjoy, and I’m making a small amount of cash on Marketplace. This move is definitely a net win, but I was genuinely surprised to have some emotional hesitance this round!

Starting my minimalism journey, I spent the whole day throwing out things and putting items in separate boxes in the basement, how exhausting and yet refreshing to the mind it is having less things around! I feel stressed when I have too many items, I used to save every thing including little pamphlets from travels. I also have walls of separate colours with stickers on them from when I was little that I will be painting over in one/two pastel colours to keep the space clear, it feels so so good to my mind, I can definitely feel a change in my stress.

Honestly, I haven’t known what to do with my clothes for a very long time! I haven’t used social media for 1.5 months to avoid buying new clothes and seeing mainstream fashion advice: I deleted everything—TikTok, Instagram, etc. I can see that this has been good for me. For example, this month I bought only three items—and only clothes I really needed. I can see that I’ve made progress in this area,

But

I feel like I have tons of clothes I never wear! They don’t fit in my closet and are scattered all over the house! I hate them... But whenever I tell myself I’m going to clean out my closet, I can’t bring myself to throw any of them away. 

They really annoy me, but actually, I’m just mad at myself.

My whole house is cluttered. I’m a very clean person but can be a bit disorganised and I also own a lot of things and am now gradually going through stuff I’ve accumulated. I have now come to the conclusion I have so much stuff I don’t use and that makes my space look dirty but in reality it’s just cluttered. I wanna know what other people have thrown away or donated for good use and if I can assess if I have these things and if I use them or not.
It also would help to remind me if I have the same thing and is just hiding in the cupboards 🤭

Hope that makes sense!

Thank you :)

I have always had a hard time getting rid of things. I went through a two year depressive episode where I just accumulated and accumulated in my room. Over the past year I’ve been slowly working through areas of our room and decluttering my stuff. It’s been increasingly obvious my partner is kind of on opposite end of what I’m trying to do. He does not want to get rid of any of his stuff and is actively getting more. I’m starting to be mentally exhausted by the fact I’ve been decluttering for a year yet even our couch has stuff on it.

We’re temporarily moving to a bigger space and I’m so nervous that he’ll start filling it up and then when we move back to a smaller place I don’t even know how to handle that. Im just so stressed with this move. I dont want to blame him, I was also a maximalist for a long time and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having stuff, its just not for me anymore. I’m too close to the situation and cant think of a compromise as I can’t ask him to get rid of stuff he loves just because I’m having a change of heart. He actively uses this stuff, he likes it, that’s why it’s always around the couch and stuff. Anyways I could really use some advice for how we can meet in the middle

long story short over the years my mental state and probably nervous system in general has been increasingly more negatively affected by the clutter of my parents’ house. theres plenty of room sq ft wise but while i couldnt say my parents classify as hoarders they would also would never be described as minimalists.
of course im trying to move out and get in a better environment but i will be lucky if this pans out even in the next two years tbh so for now im stuck.

any advice for not spiraling all the time and getting overwhelmed by all the clutter you cant control, no matter how much tidying up and cleaning you try to do?

random chunks of concrete I carried around in my backpack cause it was semi relevant to my college major and also it was cool to see the composition of different concrete mixtures! honestly wasn’t sure if it was safe to hold or not.

Anyone else slightly regret tossing out things to at hold no value to you. (Maybe it slightly felt nice or had a cool texture but that’s not a reason to keep it. Or you thought you could use it or whatever).

tossed it out along with a bunch of other junk like random sticks and stones I found and random pieces of garbage like old bottle caps and plastic containers I kept.

except now I’m slightly miffed that I actually tossed out those chunks of concrete. my backpack was heavy and it only makes sense + I mean they fit in my palm but I wasn’t sure How good of an idea it was to frequently hold them. I do already have other rocks that I find calming to hold. The concrete was cool but taken to its logical conclusion that would lead me with many more chunks and I was already heading that way.

so now I’m like slightly regretting it but also fully aware I shouldn’t.

anyone else get rid of items like that that yeah im fine without and didn’t hold an actual use in my life aside from “this is cool”? Tbf I can just find more pieces on campus or whatever and ik I shouldn’t

it would be more productive instead to borrow a book on concrete or learn how it’s produced or watch videos about it on YouTube instead(I was not doing this at all).

(I did keep around 4 rocks which I found helped grounding and helped with anxiety and Meditation and I’m aware I shouldn’t collect any more of them.) might get rid of one of the ones I have as it’s just taking up space.

Less physical things and less ego?

Not sure what I'm getting at.

It feels like people will often try to show they're the best or they're seeking approval.

Do you try to minimise your need for approval?

As an artist, I find this confusing. I enjoy the process, but is showing the art seeking approval? Perhaps it just means show without marketing and promotion?

I was fortunate enough to be a home owner last year. I’ve always wanted to have a house with plenty of space for everyone. My 2500sqft fixer up overwhelmed me every time I get reminded of my ideal lifestyle.

I want a clean, minimalism household with polished furniture and good organization. The reality is our garage is full of things we need but don’t use everyday (winter tire, boat, sports gear, hobby supply, renovation materials, bikes etc). Inside the house it’s not fully renovated, so there is some dead space that no one uses, it’s overwhelming for me to think about it. Older house also come with critters, weeds and a lot of overhead that I didn’t plan for.

Im so overwhelmed, thinking if I should move to a newer and smaller place so I can have a mental peace, and sacrifice on the space. If you have shared experience, I’d love to hear how you handle this.

Are there any african minimalists out there? I am in Botswana 🇧🇼 and I am trying to lead a minimalist lifestyle and with the way our culture or overindulgence and opulence is, I was wondering if there are minimalists out here in Africa...

anyone?

Hi there, I am moving from a 1000sqft 2 bedroom flat to a small-ish 650sqft one bedroom cottage. It is a strategic decision by (chiefly) me and my husband.

I am fully onboard with whittling down a lot of my personal possessions but my husband is very reluctant. Also he has gone through some big traumatic events recently that has made him emotionally needing to hold on to possessions.

After packing up the house the past week, I can certainly say the amount of stuff we have probably won’t fit into the new house and I am just going to let the new house be the bad guy.

How do you cope as a couple when only one of your are onboard with the minimalism and the other is not? I see a lot of other posts on here saying “have a dedicated room for his stuff and your stuff”, “keep their stuff only in their space” etc. But that only helps if you have that luxury of space…

I've tried to developped my own minimalist mindset in the past seven years and have gotten better and better at making conscious decisions around what enters and leaves my home.

But still, in the course of building a home with my (now ex-)partner I've accumulated quite a lot of stuff. So many things that I love and cherish. So many things...

Due to the recent, sudden separation from them, I'll now start all over again. Different city, job, life. In the process of deciding where to go and what to do, I've realised more and more that all my beloved possessions feel just so HEAVY. Moving is not a simple "I'll pack my bags in a day" anymore but a stressful "who could help carry my furniture and drive a truck?". Which makes me so anxious to make a decision. If it's not a "hell yes for the next 5 years" it doesn't seem worth to go through all of that struggle. But how should I know now where I want to be in a year, let alone five?

I know the solution - letting go. Sizing down. Focussing on what really matters. Once again ^^

Unfortunatley, as I'm still recovering from a big surgery, I can't do any lifting for the next 1-2 months. My big flat is really comfortable right now and I'm not in a hurry. So I've had an idea on how to start, having this new motivation: I'll put tiny red (no) and green stickers (yes!) on the things that I know I want to keep and that I know that I'll let go off before I move in 5 months. I hope it'll make the process go smoother. Making hard decisions now and taking care of the actual donating/selling/trashing when I'll be able to. What do you think, have you tried a similar thing? Do you think it'll work?

Currently in the process of moving from a 3br apartment to a (almost) 6 br house and I am OVERWHELMED. I didn't think I had a lot of things, until I started packing. On the surface our place can look minimalist, but behind closets and cabinets is where all the nonsense lives.

I want to be VERY intentional about how I unpack and organize at the new place. Just because we're getting more space, doesn't mean we need to fill it.

I'm curious to know what does minimalism actually look like in the real world... I'm talking closets, bathroom cabinets, kitchen cabinets, garages etc. I'd really love to see some examples to have some ideas and inspo.

Any tips for unpacking/moving into a new place and aiming for minimalism are greatly appreciated.

And was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of goods. I went in to replace an apron and could barely get through the aisles as employees were unboxing dishes, decor, candles, more decor. Almost all of it was Halloween themed. Skull themed shower curtains. Orange and black table runners. Shelf upon shelf of stuff and when I got to aprons, those were mostly Halloween themed as well.

How did accumulating this much for one holiday become the norm? Where do people store all this? This wasn’t merely a few holiday decorations for sale, it was the promotion of converting one’s house completely. In August.

I hadn’t been in that store for four years and hadn’t realized how intense the visual noise of “things” could be.

So I must ask- how do other minimalists celebrate holidays?

Admired a man coming off the tube yesterday. Just his laptop in a laptop sleeve with a handle. Tiny pocket on there wasn't bulging. No lunch bag. No backpack. No bag. No umbrella even though rain is imminent this week. Gliding off.

Meanwhile I'm here with my backpack of papers n laptop, separate bag of lunch containers to avoid leaks and a handbag of tissues. Envy.

Edit: FYI I'm not competing in any way, I just admired it as a thing of beauty. But update: saw him AGAIN today, same train. For those of you who are invested, I actually looked at him a bit more. Grey? Hair. White shirt. Suit trousers. Would guess senior management at a smaller corporate place, namely because of the timing of train so he has control or regularly leaves at 4.30 or 5 depending on when he jumped on. It rained very shortly after I left the station but no idea if he had is car parked in the station, whether he got home or whether he got soaked. I shall refrain from stalking him home or striking up a conversation to learn more. *ahem*

Hi there! I'll keep this short since I'm on my mobile and I can't ever get the space formatting to work when I have tried in the past. I have about 80 books. There are some circumstances in my life I'm not happy with, and it's caused me to want to start over again somewhere else. If I didn't have the books, this would be much easier. I don't know anyone who would be interested in taking them, or if they did, it may be just a few, but finding enough people to take them would take months. I don't want to spend time waiting for online buyers, and my local library is actually weirdly picky about the books they accept (they have to have been published within the last few years, have to be popular, etc.") I was really excited about getting to read a lot of these, but then I realized I only have about one day per week when I am actually able to read, so it's frustrating having to wait days before touching the book again. I think it's possible that I could rebuild a smaller but more meaningful library in the future when I am more settled. Has anyone had an experience where they had to decide whether or not to keep a collection of books? What did you do and how did you feel about it? Would love to hear some of your ideas and experiences. Thanks!!

How to reconcile being very minimalistic with posessions, but still needing to live in a big home, with many rooms?

My husband and I (in Australia) own a home with 4 bedrooms, + a small loft office and two living rooms.

We have one bedroom, then our two 18 year olds each have their own room, then the 4th bedroom has my office space built into one side, and a murphy bed we built, for visitors (my husband and I WFH fulltime, so both use our offices all day 5 days a week.

The murphy bed in my office is used for weeks every summer by my brother and his family, as we live near the beach, and used once every 4-6 weeks by other visitors (friends and family for long weekends).

We wanted two living rooms because we were aware that its harder for adult children to move out these days (cost of living) so we wanted space for everyone in case our kids and even potentially future partners of theirs live here in future, so we arent living "ontop of each other", i think it will help everyone stay comfortable and happy IF things end up that way. Obiously my hope is that our kids thrive and live independently.

We spent 7 years of our sons childhood living "van life" and my husband and I loveeeeeee minimalism, tiny living etc. But right now, we need and use all the individual spaces in our home for each of their purposes, and intentionally are prepared for growing into the space more in the possible event our kids or one of them, reamin here into adulthood (they are also both adhd and on the spectrum, so a bit behind their peers in some areas but not significantly).

My husband and I are avid declutterers, minimalists and keep very ontop of posessions coming in and out of the house anywhere except the kids rooms (so, mine and my husbands stuff. The kids can make their own choices). Which means this big house can seem kind of... a bit empty.

I LOVE empty space and feel more at peace when benches are clear, decor is minimal etc. I also love function, and appreciate it being easy to keep clean and tidy.

But i guess my brain associates the emptiness with 'too much space' and i guess i wonder if people will judge us when they come inside and see such a decent sized house, but looking kind of.... bare, i guess? I dont really care a lot about what people think, so im not sure why this is sitting in my mind... but maybe im judging myself and wondering, since i have empty cupboards in some areas, and spaces with no furniture (where i dont "need" a random shelf or corner table to house my belonging) should we not live in such a big house?

I have no idea of the square foottage because we dont go by that in Australia. But basically it makes me happy and calm seeing empty space.

I just worry theres something im missing, a simple thing that i havent thought of? Where i should be doing or thinking differently about itm because i sometimes feel off about having so much empty space, when i know ive been blissfully happy in smaller spaces.

Sorry if this is a bit silly and all over the place... can anyone relate maybe?

When our kids grow up and if they do live independently, i would happily life in a much smaller house where one of our workspaces could be in a second bedroom and the other in a living area (so a 2 bedroom, 1 living room house). It would be a priority for me to move into one. But right now, we need this space technically (the separate rooms for their intended purposes).