Vivez Bien * Live Well

Monday, January 25, 2016

Less is More, more or less

Stack of moving boxes.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how we spend the first half of our lives accumulating things and then spend the latter half trying to off load things - at least in my family that seems to be the case. My mother, now in her mid 80's  has spent the last 30 years giving away many of her possessions to her children. I used to be thrilled to receive these bits and bobs, but I seem to have now entered a new phase in my life - I want to declutter, pare down, off-load, but my children aren't really at a stage that they want any of it.

This approach is even extending to my clothes and accessories. There used to be a time when a wardrobe like this would have sent my heart racing....
 

 ...but now I am more drawn to something simple like these below...


  I have been reading about the concept of a capsule wardrobe and how when women have downsized their wardrobes to just a few basic items, they have found that it saves them both time and money and is so much easier to get dressed for the day - this is something that men have probably known for ages - but have been keeping to themselves! While I would like to drastically simplify my wardrobe, it is a process and a  commitment and will require a bit of mental adjustment  so will probably be the subject of another blogpost down the track.

 

In today's post I thought I would talk about bedrooms and how important I think it is to have this space be as calm, peaceful and uncluttered as possible. I believe that a cluttered environment leads to a cluttered mind and how can one have a good night's sleep with a cluttered mind! I also believe that so many of the illnesses suffered by our generation are stress related and surely, going to sleep or waking up in an environment that is overfilled with stuff adds to our stress. I'm not talking about going minimalist here - I am not and will never be a minimalist - but just the idea that your bedroom furniture could be limited to a bed, bedside table and perhaps a chair or chest of drawers and on your bedside table, you might only need 3 items instead of a surface cluttered with things  So here are some bedrooms that have inspired me and will hopefully inspire you to create a peaceful haven for your nightly rest.....


 













I feel more relaxed just looking at these. And did you notice that they are all decorated in subtle, muted shades, no bright colours here to jar the senses. I think I will sign off now because I feel I a little nap coming on. I will leave you with a quote....


Till next time

x Sharon


9 comments:

  1. You and I are on the same page. I am slowly getting rid of more and more things and making sure the things that I keep or buy are things that I love. I 'm excited at the thought of living in an uncluttered serene atmosphere...well as a mom of boys it's not going to be serene. lol! But it will look peaceful. :)

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  2. Sharon,
    I'm on the same page. I've been attempting to pare down since this time last year. I've made inroads, but it seems that there's more stuff every time I turn around. By the way, as the mother of son's, like you, be ready...they don't usually want much of your stuff. Our sons have both married lovely women, but they don't want your stuff either. Yikes. I'm not holding out that my granddaughters will want it. :-)
    I love the calm effect of simple bedrooms.
    xo,
    Karen

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  3. Wow what gorgeous bedrooms you've collected here! I could move right into almost all of them. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  4. Such a cute post and so true!!! I hope you are doing well!! xo Leslie Sinclair

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  5. Same here! I always loved having a lot of different clothes to wear to the office. But I've been out of that job for 10 years, so off the clothes went to an organization who gave them to those who could use them. Over the past year I have been starting to get rid of the other things like furniture and household items. I've always collecting things that I loved at the time, and now there is no place for those things. I do not have children to pass them to, so I'm giving things to my nieces as they have gotten older and into their own places. I'm trying to stay away from thrift shops, but I still enjoy the hunt. It's time for an etsy page ! I love the calm and serenity that these bedrooms ooze, but I don't think mine will ever look like this.

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  6. loved the rooms liked the purply one more. mike

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  7. Hi Sharon...love all of your examples of simple, but sophisticated rooms!

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  8. I think you're right about a cluttered room leading to a cluttered mind! These rooms are the perfect inspiration though, they'll motivate me to get it sorted!

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