Tag Archives: decluttering

The Beauty of Pseudo-Minimalism!

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Howdy from the great State of Texas! I hope you are doing well in your corner of the world. As for the Summer this year, we have officially returned to ‘Hell’s Front Porch’. This is more like the heat we’re used to, except for the last two years, which were a lie. A colleague of mine moved here from Denver, Colorado a year ago and said our Summers were delightful a year ago….as of this week, they’ve ‘taken it back’. It’s been so hot that my front porch has been perpetually shaded for the past 3 weeks because my plants were wilting and dying under the scorching sun. Anyway, let’s get back to today’s post. It’s a topic I’ve unknowingly been on a journey toward, but didn’t realize it.

What is Pseudo-Minimalism?

According to Google, Pseudo-minimalism is a flexible, intentional approach to living with fewer possessions—borrowing core minimalist principles without committing to strict, ultra‑minimal aesthetics. It emphasizes buying intentionally, reducing clutter, and using what you already have while still allowing comfort, personality, and warmth in your space.

Pseudo minimalism is described as a practical middle ground between full minimalism and a more lived‑in lifestyle. It avoids stark, empty spaces and instead focuses on intentional choices:

Be intentional with purchases
Live with less, but not necessarily little
Use what you already own
These principles help reduce overwhelm and environmental impact without requiring extreme decluttering

You got this!

If you’ve followed Periwinkle Starr over the last decade, you’ll realize that I was unknowingly walking on this path without realizing it. The thought of this realization brings me so much joy. When I look back at how far I’ve come, I can truly say that it has been and will continue to be worth it. The best way to articulate it is to take a full inventory of one’s life and prune out all the things that don’t really matter, that take up space or contribute to stress. I’m actually applying it to every aspect of living, and it’s been wonderful.

Life is meant to be lived and not survived. Time goes by so fast that so many of us get on this wheel, and before you know it, the years have gone by, and we don’t know where they went. The beauty of pseudo-minimalism is the fact that life gets simpler, the way it was always meant to be.

Dear readers, I hope this resonates with you, and if you’d like to embark on this journey, it will be worth it. Thank you for being here, and until I come your merry way again, I remain,

Periwinkle Starr

Summer is Upon Us – Finding Cash in the Attic!

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Hello Y’all! I hope you’re doing great in your corner of the world. Summer is upon us, and it’s time to declutter and get ready for the new. Spring was amazing in North Texas. We had it way cooler than we usually get this time of the year, and it was fabulous! Spending time on long walks out on the trail, sitting on the deck, and enjoying the cool breeze and the sometimes annoying birds was a welcome treat.

Be Your Own King/Queen of Decluttering

You can do it.

I love to consider myself the Queen of de-cluttering ha-ha! But only because I believe living spaces should literally be just that – living spaces. I also have the belief that having balance in life is not just an internal thing, but also external. It’s also been proven by science that a person’s surroundings can often dictate what is going on mentally with a person. Even before my profession, growing up, I always liked balance, clean lines, a good use of space, marrying form and function, but also a sprinkle of “Feng Shui” aka funkshway – which is an ancient Chinese art and science focused on balancing the energies of a space to create harmony and enhance well-being. It involves arranging furniture and designing spaces to promote positive energy flow. Essentially, “Funk Schway” refers to the same principles of Feng Shui, aiming to create a harmonious environment.

As I swap out the last of my Spring items and organize my Summer wear, I extended this to the whole house; going through, organizing, throwing out, and setting items aside for resale. If you are a minimalist, this may not apply to you, but if you live like the rest of America….you probably have stuff sitting around that you don’t need or don’t use, and probably will never use, and is collecting dust. A lot of times in the past, I would tell myself I’d take care of it later, often reorganizing or temporarily storing it somewhere inconspicuous, but that didn’t address the issue.

My 3-Step Plan to Decluttering

  1. Re-Gifting
  2. Resale
  3. Trash (Dumpster or Recycling)

It is daunting to set aside time to declutter your space, whether its an office, your home, or a storage unit. To ease my brain into it, I like to break it up into small sections or a room with frequent breaks. Every qualifying item is grouped into one of the three categories above. There are a bunch of sites to resell items. Here’s a link to a list of 10 great sites: https://www.top10.com/best-places-to-sell-your-stuff-online

Folks, Summer is already knocking at the door. As we race into the sun, freeing our lives and personal spaces from clutter will go a long way in improving our health and wellness. Do it for you, do it for your family, do it for your space…because you deserve it. Until I come your merry way again, enjoy whats left of the cool and get ready for sunscreen, brain freezing cold drinks and lots of sunshine in North Texas. I remain…

Periwinkle Starr

Cash In The Attic?!

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CITAPERIWINKLESTARR

Hello Y’all and Happy New Month! I hope you are doing well in your part of the world. It’s June already and I can’t believe it. This year has been interesting to say the least but just like the Timex wrist watch commercial, we have learned to ‘take a lickin and keep on tickin’. That’s about all we can do right now. The weather in North Texas is surprisingly cooler than the heat we are used to at this time of year but again, not many people have been on the road, pumping CO2 (among other things) into the atmosphere via fumes.

Quarantine has made us become more acquainted with our living spaces than we have ever been before corona hit. I will admit that I was more of a visitor in my own space, barely around during the week abnd home only on some weekends – and I was either out and about or getting stuff done and was never really there.  So I finally had time to look closely at what I was working with…ha ha!

 And then, it happened…

I was surfing channels one day, when I stumbled upon the show ‘Hoarding, Buried Alive’. It had been a while since I had watched an episode so it was a good distraction. As the name entails, the documentary shows the lives of people who have been overtaken with saving and keeping things for ‘future’ use that really never get used – if that makes any sense. Before you know it, I had watched three episodes back to back. I was appalled, shocked, and glued to the TV all at the same time. I realized something towards the end of the third episode that apart from a minute number of people that have mental issues, the majority of people don’t go to bed one day and while tucking themselves in, say out loud, ‘when I wake up tomorrow, I want to be a hoarder’. It often starts when something either tragic, traumatic or shocking happens in their lives, that is not addressed or dealt with and slowly, they start stacking up stuff.  The usual phrase I kept hearing was ‘I might use that someday, or this may come in handy, or we can put this to some use’. And before you know it, the home gets filled with stuff, in some cases to the ceiling with footpaths as the only means to get around or in most cases some spaces within the dwelling were deemed inaccessible. There were all kinds of animals, rodents, dead animal carcasses, and fecal matter all around – it was disgusting to watch. The aim of the show is to then have an intervention of sorts with the individual and then enlist the help of a clean up crew to clear out the home.

No One Is Perfect.

Those people could be us, our parents or our friends. I can assure you that the average person knows at least two people in their lives with hoarding tendencies.  They may not be so far gone to make it on to the show but the tell tale signs are already there. I kid you not, the very day after watching that show, I started reorganizing, I started sorting through things that I hadn’t looked at in years in an attempt to declutter my space.  Here are a few tips to having cash in your attic instead of clutter. So stay with me.

♦  Do your best to make peace with your life’s circumstance the best you can. Get     counselling, forgive, meditate, go to therapy…do something!

♦  Develop a waste not want not approach to life. This proverb means if you use a commodity or resource carefully and without extravagance, you will never be in need. So instead of hoarding items for an apocalypse that hasn’t happened and isn’t going to happen, take what you need and some,  not E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G in the store.

♦  Sort through your stuff and make a list, grouping your items into categories and how you intend disposing off of them.  There’s covid-19 going around now, so yard sales are a big no no.

♦  Become an online retailer and make some money off the stuff that you don’t need, don’t use and probably stuff that’s just sitting there and taking up real estate in your home.

♦  Donate what you can’t sell to your local community store. Someone less fortunate will be able to put it to good use.  If they are hoarders themselves looking for a steal, at least it’s off your hands and no longer your problem.

I believe the state of a persons personal space to some extent paints a picture of the state of their mind and gives you a view of who they are. We deserve to give ourselves the decency (in the way we live) that our humanity deserves. No one should exist in such deplorable conditions but still, it happens but I believe we can avoid ending up like that. So until I come your way again, I want you to try my 5-step plan and let me know how it goes. Do like, comment and follow my blog and be safe out there!

Periwinkle Starr♥