Minimalism in Scandinavian homes

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Before I moved to Norway I remember sitting down with my grannie and talking to her about my upcoming move. She gave me advice on marriage, in-laws, children, living away from family and one little bit of cultural advice that she could relate to. She told me at one point in her life she was a neighbor to a German lady and felt like her own cleaning skills were never up to par to her's. She told me if the Norwegians are anything like the Germans I would probably feel the same. She was correct. My cleaning skills are not up to the Norwegians and I'm not sure they ever will be. I feel like I'm better at tidying up, taking pride in my home and de-cluttering now than I was before moving to Norway, though I'm unsure if it's age, caring more, or adjusting to the culture.

Your typical home here in Norway is with white walls, succulents or orchids, and candles. Oh, and it's free of clutter and clean enough to make you wonder how the home owner has time to do anything else with their life.

The minimalist lifestyle is something I CAN jump on board with. However, I feel like I'm only a wannabe minimalist. I really love the idea of a lower maintenance, clutter-free life with just the essentials. As I look around my home I have a huge pile of laundry to be folded, misplaced this and that (all mine, no idea how my husband puts everything back in its place), and unfinished projects (again, all mine.) I can think clearer and I feel better when the house is tidy. Of course, this is difficult to achieve with two small children in the house.

Living in Norway, and living in a de-cluttered society I'm more inclined to learn to live with less mess and for that I'm happier. I'm in a better mental state when my home is cleaned, uncluttered, and I have fewer things. Fewer things equals more time and less maintenance.

There is a new decluttering trend called "Swedish Death Cleaning" since Margarete Magnusson published her book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning where at middle age you start to gradually throw out the things that are of no use to you. It makes sense because who wants to burden family with the job of cleaning up the junk you spent a lifetime accumulating after you're gone? Even prior to the book publishing from my own observations I've noticed the Scandinavians take to minimalist design and home living. Perhaps because this also goes along with making one's home life 'koselig' and you can't 'kose deg' being surrounded by clutter.

I think this is something we can all learn from Scandinavians. Minimalism has its perks after all. The biggest being less stuff equals more time.

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