{"id":6117,"date":"2018-09-06T11:21:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T11:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=6117"},"modified":"2019-04-06T11:48:55","modified_gmt":"2019-04-06T11:48:55","slug":"the-myth-of-minimalism-ikea-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/the-myth-of-minimalism-ikea-wisdom\/","title":{"rendered":"The Myth of Minimalism &#8211; IKEA Wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Decluttering and organizing is an on-going process. In the &#8217;90s, I read Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. It was one in a long list of organizing books I checked out of the library and tried. But, it was the first one that really worked for me. I still use 3 x 5 cards.<\/p>\n<p>Lately friends and family are inspired by Marie Kondo. I agree, decluttering and organizing is life-changing. But, I&#8217;ve got to share this from the latest IKEA catalog.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>The Myth of Minimalism<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Are you stressed out by your stuff? You\u2019re not alone. Our Life at Home Report shows that having \u201ctoo much stuff\u201d is the single biggest cause of stress at home. But paring down too much actually might cause more anxiety than relief. We\u2019re supposed to want to live with fewer things, but our belongings represent our memories, hopes and dreams. (Does selling that guitar mean you\u2019re admitting that you\u2019ll really never be a musician?)<\/p>\n<p>The items that are emotionally meaningful to us, even if they aren\u2019t practical, do bring us happiness. So, it\u2019s helpful to think about prioritizing and using storage solutions rather than just minimizing and tossing things out. Professor Russel Belk, a leading expert in the meaning of possessions, tells us that this is about a healthier behavior than immediately letting things go. We can temporarily try out living without them, which helps us reconsider and only move on when we feel ready \u2013 in a year or two, or, in the case of that guitar, never!<\/p>\n<p>Read more from our annual Life at Home Report: <a href=\"https:\/\/lifeathome.ikea.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lifeathome.IKEA.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Items that are emotionally meaningful to us, even if they aren\u2019t practical, do bring us happiness.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Decluttering and organizing is an on-going process. In the &#8217;90s, I read Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. It was one in a long list of organizing books I checked out of the library and tried. But, it was the first one&nbsp;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/the-myth-of-minimalism-ikea-wisdom\/\">&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-6117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-research","tag-ikea"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/featured-myth_of_minimalism.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4337,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/ikea-kitchen-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":0},"title":"Ikea Kitchen Inspiration","author":"Carla","date":"August 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"They have opened an Ikea store in Jacksonville, Florida. We had a shopping list for the new house, but spent some time wandering through the models getting ideas and inspiration. I like that they show a lot of different style kitchens. Most are pretty streamlined, modern, contemporary. But with different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Inspiration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ikea Kitchen Inspiration \u2013 Project Small House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4899,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/ikea-tiny-house-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":1},"title":"Ikea Tiny House Inspiration","author":"Carla","date":"August 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We spent a day of our vacation wandering around the models at the new Ikea store in Jacksonville, Florida. This model was VERY tiny. The kitchen was open to the living room through two doorways. The kitchen has everything. The cabinets, countertops, sink and appliances are all black. Undercabinet lighting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Inspiration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ikea Inspiration \u2013 Project Small House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/featured_image-ikea-kitchen-inspiration-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6110,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/ikea-ektorp-sofa\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":2},"title":"IKEA Ektorp Sofa","author":"Carla","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"We are getting the log cabin ready to be a vacation cabin. Since we are taking most of the furniture with us, we have to buy a lot of things. I have always liked the IKEA Ektorp Sofa. It is really comfortable and you can wash the slip cover. IKEA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Log Cabins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Log Cabins","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/log-cabin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IKEA Ektorp Sofa and Chair - Getting the Cabin Ready to be a Vacation Rental","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/featured_image-ektorp.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/featured_image-ektorp.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/featured_image-ektorp.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/featured_image-ektorp.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8196,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/ikea-sektion-base-corner-cabinets\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":3},"title":"Ikea Sektion Base Corner Cabinets","author":"Carla","date":"August 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Sektion has been Ikea\u2019s cabinet series since I got my first Ikea catalog in Canada in the 1970s. There are a lot of sizes of base and wall cabinets. You can design them to fit your space, then choose the doors you want. All of the Sektion cabinets are frameless.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Garages &amp; Storage&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Garages &amp; Storage","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/garage-storage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ikea Sektion Corner Base Cabinets","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/featured-ikea_corners.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/featured-ikea_corners.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/featured-ikea_corners.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/featured-ikea_corners.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15838,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/ikea-one-room-living-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":4},"title":"IKEA One Room Living Inspiration","author":"Carla","date":"March 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite things about visiting IKEA is wandering through the display houses. These IKEA display houses demonstrate Small House living. They are in the Jacksonville, Florida IKEA store. This display in the Jacksonville, Florida IKEA store looks like a beach house. They had the inside and outside set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Inspiration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IKEA Room Inspiration HYLTARP sleeper sofa SUNDVIK Children's table and chair STARTTID backpack","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15839,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/ikea-home-office-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":5},"title":"IKEA Home Office Inspiration","author":"Carla","date":"March 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When you first walk into an IKEA store, there are rooms to wander through for inspiration. This IKEA display demonstrates a home office with a sofa-bed living area. It is in the Jacksonville, Florida IKEA store. The office has a comfortable rolling chair, full-sized desk and plenty of storage. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Inspiration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025-office.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025-office.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025-office.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-ikea-2025-office.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6117"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6124,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117\/revisions\/6124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}