Tag: interior

Interview with a Minimalist: Anna

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A few months ago I came across a lovely new Instagram account @our_simplestory sharing the life of a minimalist family (formerly @minimalist_mindset). I was especially excited because the word ‘minimalist’ was used. Most families and people I come across who take an approach of ‘less is more’ to their life resist using the word. I suppose it may be resistance to trendy words, feelings that one isn’t minimalist enough, or just a general malaise with labels. That’s all fine. But part of my goal with these interviews is to explore all the different ways one can live through a minimal lens, just like there’s more than one way to be a woman, a mother, a teacher, a writer, there are many ways to be minimalist. In so many ways less is more.

Anna is a minimalist, design enthusiast, and homeschooling mother of three, and the woman behind @our_simplestory. I’m excited to share her perspective on and story of finding her passion for minimalism. I hope you enjoy the read, let me know what inspired you.

Anna, let’s start with a little bit about you. Who are you? What’s your background?

I’m 32 and married to my college sweetheart. After finishing my degree in journalism and working in the field four years, our first daughter was born. That’s when my days at home raising our kids began. Today we have three young daughters. Our typical day consists of homeschooling, reading good books, going on nature walks, and creating. As a family we enjoy simple adventures. Camping at the lake and strolling the farmers market are among our favorites. 
img_3019What part of the world do you live in?

The Midwest [USA].

How many children do you have and what are they like?

I have three amazing little girls. I can’t even begin to explain how different they are from one another, which makes it all the more fun. My oldest is an affectionate extrovert, my middle is an artsy introvert, and my youngest has a bit of everything going on. Being with them every day has been a blessing, and one I take for granted far too often.

img_3024I believe there are many ways to be a minimalist and many forms of minimalism. What does minimalism mean to you?

For me, minimalism is about having less. As a family of five in a small home with a tight budget, we have to be mindful with all of our purchases and what we bring into our home. We have discovered how much happier we are with less things. So, what is your story, how did you start on a path toward a minimalist lifestyle?

I have a very strong interest in design, particularly interior design and architecture. Clean lines and clutter free spaces have always drawn me in. We bought our first home five years ago, and have been designing and renovating since the day we moved in. Because our home is small, we chose to keep it open, airy, minimal, and bright. We have a lot of negative space to keep it from looking overly crowded. For example, our tiny eat-in kitchen (which also serves as our classroom) doesn’t have any upper cabinets or storage. We only have a small pantry, six drawers and a couple of base cabinets. People are surprised when they see our lack of storage, but it suits our needs so well. Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to create more storage. It really forces you to think about what you bring in and what you hold on to.

img_3021 So, after integrating minimalist design into our home, I began to analyze each and every little thing we had, and if it was necessary or not. That is the when I realized my passion for a minimalist lifestyle.

Are there any books, websites or other resources that have inspired your minimalism?

On the design side of things, Remodelista, Kinfolk, and Dwell are my go to sources. When it comes to minimizing possessions and wardrobe, The Minimalists and Un-Fancy have great ideas. 
img_3027In what ways/areas do you struggle with keeping things minimal? What is your weakness?

Clothing and shoes have always been my weakness. However, I’ve recently downsized by creating a capsule wardrobe for each season. I currently have less than 40 items in my closet. I highly recommend this to everyone. You are faced with fewer decisions every time you get dressed, you only wear pieces that you love, and you put your money into high quality clothing that will last. Have there been any struggles with the other people you live with about living in a minimal way?

Not really. My husband is a furniture and fixtures designer, so he’s all about minimalist design. I think that helps him understand the value of minimalist living. My kids have been great with it too. We are constantly purging their things. I try to keep their selection simple and thoughtful, keeping only what draws out their imaginations, talents, and interests. For the most part, they are involved in decisions on what stays and what goes. They understand that they don’t need a lot to be happy or to keep busy. img_3023What have been some unexpected experiences (positive or negative) you’ve had with minimalism?

When you’re a minimalist, you don’t leisure shop as much. Instead of spending time and money shopping for new things, you have more time to spend with your family, and of course it’s easier on the budget. I’d say that’s a definite positive!

What advice can you offer to people interested in living a minimalist lifestyle?

You have to start small. Don’t feel pressured to give away everything you have. Just keep what you absolutely need. Start in one area of your home. The kitchen is always a good place to begin. Stuff can accumulate like crazy in all those drawers and cabinets!

Do you have any goals for this year or the next few that you want to share?

My husband and I have been dreaming about buying land somewhere in the country and building our forever, small space home. Lord willing, that day will come. In the meantime, we’ll keep looking for inspiration.

Thank you Anna! Readers you can find Anna on Instagram @our_simplestory

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You might also like:

Confessions of a Minimalist

The Mathematics of Love

Interview with a Minimalist: Katrien

Top post: Any Occasion, Sustainable Gift Guide for Children 

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glimpses into our home: at {mine}

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Hippie in Disguise At Mine Home Interior Dried Flowers

I’ve said more than a few times that I’m not inspired by interiors. But I suppose what I meant to say that I’m not inspired to photograph them. Really, all I want to photograph most days are my children’s activities and the beauty of the natural world. However, I’m very much inspired by the function and beauty of interiors and I love to look at beautiful interior spaces and design. But, am I compelled to pick up my camera and take pictures of interiors or my own space? No! And this is because I am most interested in capturing moments, more than beauty. Spaces without action don’t feel like moments to me. Interior home spaces are a retreat from action, as I see it. Our home interior is styled as a place of calm, like a sanctuary away from the busy outside world. At home I need to feel stillness, peace, and calm. As much as I love the bursting natural colour, texture, and busyness of the natural world (as depicted in the majority of the photos I share here and on Instagram) the same is not true for our home.

My ideal home interior is a predominantly white with small touches of colour manifested in:

  1. pieces of the natural world (the world of flora: flowers, sticks, branches, pinecones, acorns, leaves, but also stones and shells);
  2. useful items that can add colour temporarily to a space (like hanging a beautiful dress or hand spun yarn on a hook on a white wall), and;
  3. art, handmade goods and heirlooms.

I hadn’t put much focused thought into what my interior style was until I joined at{mine}, an online social network focused on sharing real home interiors and the stories behind them. I’d always decorated the spaces I inhabited based on intuition, meaning: what made me feel comfortable in the space. But knowing that I was now putting my interior space out into the world, I wanted to sit back and reflect on what thesis our interior space put forward. With Instagram, having a large following, I am inclined to share moments and ideas that I hope will ignite thought, inspire action or create pause; having a large audience I reflect on what good could come from what I share. And so, I took this approach to my at{mine} page.

Now, our home is not entirely in sync with how I would love our home interior to feel, but that’s okay, I’d rather take a slow approach to decorating, and update things to my taste and comfort when updating is needed. Case in point: our home had been freshly painted when we moved in. Ro’s room was alternating bright orange and green walls. Yikes! (She called it her “pumpkin room”, not affectionately). However, we waited six years to repaint it, because environmentally speaking we couldn’t justify painting over perfectly good paint.

Dried flower crowns made in the summer hung as decor (post: “Mindful Picking”)

So, coming back to my interior’s thesis, I reflected on the spaces in our home that felt right to me, that aligned with my sensibility, and then asked: ‘What do these spaces evoke? What do they look like?’ Well, first, they are white. A white canvas, not to be coloured in physically, but mentally. A blank slate upon which I can daydream because I don’t feel overstimulated visually.

Second, these spaces have small touches of bright colours from flora or useful objects that infuse energy and liveliness. My emphasis on natural objects comes from an interest in bringing nature and natural colour into the home, reminding us of our embeddedness in nature, that we are not separate from nature, but are nature. When it comes to decorating with useful objects, this is me in my ‘minimal mode’. I do not like having things around that are not used (except for art, which serves a different use function, see below). You will not find a knick knack in my home (if the term ‘knick knack’ is not colloquial to you it means: household trinket or ornament). I know that many people are quite the opposite, my husband is one of them. He loves a space jam-packed with things, for him this visual stimulation leads to new connections of ideas, it’s stimulating in a good way. (Don’t worry, I let him clutter up the basement to his heart’s content.) But for me external clutter, clutters my mind. The bad kind of stimulation, over-stimulation.

So, back to useful objects. I like to decorate with useful objects such as clothing with beautiful textiles, hand bags, balls of yarn, copper mugs, and so on. These items add colour to a space, but serve another, more primary purpose in the home. I like this especially because the decor can change easily according to mood and season. With a white canvas background, there are infinite possibilities when you decorate with low cost, dual purpose items.

Mustard peasant skirt by Nico Nico hung on a cupboard hook, living wheatgrass grown in an appetizer dish

Finally, art marks our interior space significantly. As I’ve said before, I live in family full of professional and amateur artists. Literally, everyone but me is an artist. Because of our family fortune — that is, being born into a family of artists — we have a lot of beautiful art to hang and display, mostly paintings and illustrations. We also dedicate a good portion of our wall space to display Ro and Sen’s work. Our walls are not covered in art, because I do need white space to calm my mind (I know what you’re thinking: “Danielle, you need to meditate more!” I know, I know). But living in a space filled with art is important to us. Art is beautiful, and beauty in itself is important. But art also has a use function in terms of intellectual stimulation and inspiration. It’s always been important to Matt and me that our children are exposed to art, fine art, public art, all art, and that the children always have access to art materials. Every room in our house has a piece of art hanging, something made within our extended family, that is beautiful and inspiring. Going to a gallery is one thing, an important thing, but more important to me, is seeing the beautiful things that people we know, people we share blood with, made. In this way, the children don’t see art-making as out of reach, they see it as part of their everyday life.

One of Ro’s first weavings, from her cardboard loom, hanging from a window hook

So, all this long-winded intro is a way of saying that I’ve been thinking about our space and what I wanted to share with and inspire in others. You’ll see on my at{mine} page that I’ve shared my approach to interior spaces:

“interiors inspired by minimalism and nature, decorating with useful, beautiful, artful and organic objects.”

Pretty simple, right? But it took a while to get there. What I intend to share with this ‘philosophy’ is a sort of mindful decorating informed by our human connection with nature, our need for beauty and creativity, and conscious of environmental impact. Mindful decorating is slow, conscious, thoughtful. Slow decorating means decorating once. Not every few years to update with trends. It means knowing yourself so that you bring objects into your home that will always bring you joy.   With my philosophy on decorating a little more refined now, I’m excited to be part of the at{mine} community so I can explore how others set up their spaces. As always, I’m primarily interested in what feelings are evoked by a space, more than the stuff that fills them. But for those of you you may like to know where items in others’ homes came from the photos are often tagged with the store source. I would love it if you joined the community or visited my page, it’s free and super easy. Like, easier than signing up for Instagram! And you can join without having to share images, if you are just looking for inspiration or to connect into conversations about interiors.

Visit my at{mine} page: at{danielle chassin} (to see the photos I didn’t share here)

Or, explore the at{mine} community from their homepage

If you are on at{mine} comment below and leave me your user name so that I can follow you back!

I would love to know your thoughts on interior space. How do you approach decorating your interiors?

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