Comments on: Minimalist Furniture: The Bare Essentials

By: Kristina

Kristina — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:02:56 +0000

I feel affirmed–I’ve been eating off my coffee table for over a decade! I had a table and four chairs at one point, gave them to a friend when I moved out of state, and just never felt compelled to replace them. As an apartment dweller I actually like that open space better than a set of furniture that would be a pain to move, and which I’d probably never use.

My furniture consists of a bed, dresser, night table, bookcase, couch, three lamps, coffee table, tv, DVD player, and tv stand (still a lot more than you!). I can’t let go of the tube and DVDs just yet, but I’m tentatively considering it…funny how radical that decision can seem…

I don’t know if they technically count as furniture, but I do have two 50-gallon fish tanks with matching stands and canopies in my living room, which are still awaiting inhabitants. They might actually help me to let go of the tv, since I tend to watch my aquariums more than the television when they’re filled!

By: Lee Bones

Lee Bones — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:02:10 +0000

I love the idea of sleeping on just a mattress on the floor. I’d also like to live without chairs in the future, and a short legged table seems like a bit of a necessity. Your concept of using a coffee table for multiple purposes seems like a great idea. After all, they are short legged and should work for sitting net to without a chair.

By: Abby

Abby — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:36:56 +0000

I’ve just started reading your site and am obviously looking through the archives right now!

We also moved overseas and were quite spare about furnishing our apartment. Like you, we bought our furnishings at Ikea, for ease of re-sale and so we wouldn’t want to ship them back. What I don’t like is that I find this wasteful too – supporting a mass-consumer entity like Ikea, living with furniture made out of cardboard, turning over our furniture instead of keeping it forever, etc.

We’ve come to see that living overseas has its compromises, especially in terms of waste. Having moved coast to coast in the US, and then across the ocean, I do think moving is almost anti-minimalist. It helps me keep my “stuff” to a minimum, but I do end up re-buying the necessities and often from places like Ikea.

We did try to find as much as we could second hand, through the ex-pat community, so that was helpful. Interestingly, we were content to have a mattress on the floor, but ended up getting a second hand mattress with the bed tossed into the deal. We’re currently dealing with a very bad mold problem and are quite glad that our mattress was raised up from the floor. A lesson learned, I guess!

By: almost minimal

almost minimal — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:28:55 +0000

I am not quite a minimals, but that is in the future. I am so tired of cleaning up clutter. I have gotten rid of so many things as i moved several times. Yet, it still feels like I need to get rid of more “stuff”. I really do hate nik naks, and things. My daughter is now in her teen years and everywhere i look i see her hairclips, makeup, clothes, haircare products, blah blah blah. If i ask her to clean her room she says, “I like it like that.” I noticed that there are things that have absolutely no purpose in my home. I can’t take this type of lifestyle. It clutters my home, mind, and spirit. I plan to truely conform to minimalism. I am tired of being a slave to useless, endless “things”.

By: 100 Things Challenge « Adventures in Togetherness

100 Things Challenge « Adventures in Togetherness — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 03:46:50 +0000

[...] We haven’t drawn up a list yet. But if you would like to read more in the meantime, you might try here, and here. [...]

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:22:17 +0000

I’ve just moved into a much smaller space and had to leave most of my furniture behind. I now have a wardrobe, a bed, a set of drawers, and a desk and chair for my computer/office area.
I’ve found it amazingly uplifting, and seem to have lost a lot of the mental baggage along with the material.

I’m shocked that I’m so much happier with so much less. Why can’t the rest of society see this?!

{sigh}

Ben.

P.s. Many thanks for the read. As for those chairs…they are amazingly comfy, arn’t they

By: David

David — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 07:08:58 +0000

Love this blog, but just thought I’d point out that keeping your mattress on the floor can provide easy access for bed bugs. (Might have been brought up in the comment already)

By: janet

janet — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:50:57 +0000

please tell us if we can get the cube beds in the US. that is the perfect solution to our (becoming) minimalist home!

By: Henry

Henry — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:34:42 +0000

I love this post. I too have begun the journey to a minimalist lifestyle. After clearing out a two car garage full of stuff I got rid of the bedroom furniture and put the matress on the ground. It wasn’t too long later that I got rid of the matress and bought a Mayan hammock and I am even happier and I also sleep better.

By: All that I need, and can’t leave behind | The Single Supplement

All that I need, and can’t leave behind | The Single Supplement — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:02:43 +0000

[...] Minimalist has a post on Minimalist Furniture: The Bare Essentials. I’m definitely not there. But I get the idea that it is easier to move and make life [...]