A few years back, Audra Boarman joined The Baer Minimalist team. When she’s not organizing, she runs Indy Go Green and Club Compost, which are incredible organizations that everyone should know about.

Over the course of more months than I’d care to admit, she slowly nudged me to give composting a go. In January of this year, we finally bit the bullet. The composting bucket sat our counter while I put off reading what could and couldn’t be composted. And then finally one evening I decided “why not start tomorrow.”

And I’m so glad we did. It has been so fun to get the kids involved, to learn more about the full cycle of growing and composting food, and working to eliminate food waste going into the trash can.

I wanted her to share a bit about her minimalist philosophy and why composting is a big piece of it. So here’s Audra, taking over the blog for the day.

Organized | RESOURCESMaria BaerJuly 19, 2023The Baer Minimalist, LLCCompost, MinimalismComment

No Spend January

Hi dear readers!

It is hard to believe that another year is wrapping up. And what a year it has been - both from a growth perspective with our business, but to the transformations we have witnessed in our clients homes, and all of the local organizations that we’ve been able to benefit with donations in the process of editing + organizing.

I’m certainly inspired to kick off the new year on a positive note and decided that I wanted to jump on board with a “No Spend” January, after seeing a few minimalist accounts share the challenge.

Well, after posting on Instagram, we now how a group of almost 90 members and I feel like this will certainly hold me accountable in the 31 days to come.

In true “organizer” fashion, I’ve put together an accountability guide/tracker for each of you. And if you’d like to join our group for additional inspiration and resources, just shoot @thebaerminimalist a message on Instagram.

Cheers to 2023! May it be your most organized year yet…and if you need a little help, we are just a phone consult away.

Organized | EVENTS, Organized | RESOURCESMaria BaerDecember 31, 2022The Baer Minimalist, LLCorganize, Minimalism, holidaysComment

The Everewear Style Box | A Review

Now that we’ve raved about how Everewear is revolutionizing fashion, I can’t wait to walk you through my personal experience of ordering a style box!

Organized | RESOURCESKamy MitchellFebruary 22, 2022The Baer Minimalist, LLCFashion, Everewear, consignment, MinimalismComment

Sustainable Fashion is Everewear

Do you love sustainable fashion and secondhand shopping, but dread the work of the treasure hunt experience? What if there was a way to find clothing that was tailored to your style without the hassle of the hit-or-miss experience in a thrift shop? Let us introduce you to Everewear (pronounced everywhere), a new way to experience secondhand shopping!

Organized | RESOURCESKamy MitchellFebruary 8, 2022The Baer Minimalist, LLCFashion, consignment, Minimalism, EverewearComment

A Journey Around the World to Find Minimalism with Margaret Henney | Part II

Let’s just dive right in to the rest of my conversation with Miss Marge at Large. If you didn’t catch the beginning, click here to soak up the start of her journey toward minimalism.

Now let’s talk about your wardrobe. Every time I see you, you are incredibly stylish and put together. What does your wardrobe look like?

Coming from you that’s a huge compliment! There is the tendency to imagine that minimalists’ wardrobes are limited and that “limited” equals boring. Not true! Minimalists can still enjoy fashion and be stylish.

The foundation of a great wardrobe for a stylish minimalist is the capsule wardrobe. This means buying very thoughtfully and with the goal that every piece works together effortlessly (and can be worn for many different seasons/occasions). Buying one dress for one event is not a part of this equation. You invest in staples that are the foundation of your wardrobe and fill in any blanks with other fun pieces (or rent them!).

Organized | LIFEMaria BaerFebruary 25, 2020The Baer MinimalistMinimalism, Clothing RentalComment

A Journey Around the World to Find Minimalism with Margaret Henney | Part I

For three years, I have wanted to share this story with you guys! Meet Marge…my best friend, world traveler, aspiring minimalist and ridiculously talented writer. She left life as she knows it back in 2015 to spend an entire year traveling the world. I’m talking five continents traveled with a single backpack.

You will LOVE reading her story, her philosophy on life and the happiness she has found with living with less (but amping up all of the experiences she enjoys). Let’s just dig in, shall we?

The Baer Minimalist's Twin Baby Registry

Registering for a baby (or two, in our case) can be daunting! It is a totally different experience than registering for a wedding, because there are so many foreign items that you are told you will need, but you have NO IDEA what they are used for.

So my #1 tip is to ask a friend for help, or utilize a resource like Lucie’s List. This was the best way to get a jump start on registering for me. I consulted their guide for twins and built my registry online through BabyList. What’s even better is that I only had to pop in to Buy Buy Baby once to “test-drive” strollers - because a store like that is completely overwhelming in my opinion for any first time mom-to-be.

For the most part, I was careful about what we registered for because I don't like a lot of clutter. I also didn't want to register for a lot of items that we wouldn't use within the first six months (i.e. high chairs, sippy cups, toddler toys, winter clothes, etc.). I am thankful that we did that because we received what we truly needed right at the beginning.

We also did not know the gender of our babies until they were born, so I refrained from registering for a lot of clothes, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, teethers and books. Again, this helped us focus on essentials and gave us the chance to pick out these “fun” items once they were born. Of course, I saw tons of cute items along the way and just kept track of them on Pinterest pages dedicated to Baby Style and Baby Gifts.

Location Independent Living with Crystal Grave

Selling your belongings, packing up the car and setting forth on a true adventure. Has it ever crossed your mind? I think about it often, although I’m not positive I could ever pull the trigger. But I sure love being able to live vicariously through those that do.

For Crystal Grave and Chad Starns, they took advantage of jobs that allowed them to work remotely and headed out on a cross-country adventure five years ago. Since then, they’ve lived in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Bozeman, St. Pete with plans to head to NYC next. In each city, they set up camp in a house or apartment for several months, before packing their car up again to hit the road. During this time, they’ve learned how important experiences are and have changed their beliefs on material goods.

Organized | LIFEMaria BaerJune 26, 2019The Baer Minimalist, LLCMinimalism, Travel TipsComment

My Life as a Minimalist | Part 2

And we are back with Part 2 of my chat with Lauren Mofatt of Spark HR. If you didn't check out Part 1, make sure to read it first before digging in.

You’ve got a husband and two kids. Were they on-board from the beginning? If not, how did you go about working with them to ensure you could all be on the same page about your new lifestyle?

The husband and kids were NOT on board in the beginning. So I did a lot of the decluttering when they weren’t home. I’d like to say that none of them noticed, but they did. At a certain point, I did shift with the kids and wanted to include them in the process so they would learn and be able to help manage their stuff too.

What helped with my daughter was to create 3 categories: Keep, Sell, Give Away. If she wanted to keep something, I really forced her to have a place for each item she wanted to keep (which included a used ice cream coconut shell, just wanted you to know what I was dealing with). :) That really helped resolve a lot of the unnecessary stuff she just wanted to keep for keep’s sake. The best part was, after she did go through her room, she felt so much better! She loved being in her room and could see what she had.

Organized | LIFEMaria BaerJuly 30, 2018The Baer Minimalist, LLCMinimalism, Declutter, Master ClosetsComment

My Life as a Minimalist | Part 1

Earlier this year at the Indy Chamber Women in Business retreat I met Lauren. This girl is an inspiration, I tell ya!

She and her family of four have been on a journey toward minimalism for the past few years - I'm talking downsizing their family home, ridding themselves of excess possessions and taking advantage of a life with less. We gabbed about the whys behind her decision and how she and her family have embraced this life.

I couldn't keep this chat to myself and wanted to inspire each of you - maybe you aren't ready to go full-on minimalist, but maybe, just maybe, you will be motivated to think twice before hitting up the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. ;)

So here we go....

Organized | LIFEMaria BaerJuly 23, 2018The Baer Minimalist, LLCMaster Closets, MinimalismComment

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