dogs – Bri Clark

In 2024 I became a minimalist. When I say that I get a lot of reactions. Some people get embarrassed, some are intrigued, others are defensive, especially when I’m standing in their homes that they want me to renovate. (If you didn’t’ know I’m a residential home builder and renovator at Bri the Builder.) When I first mentioned it to my children, they rolled their eyes and locked their bedroom doors.

One year later I’ve accomplished so much.

The reality of my version of minimalism is about living life with intention. Down to the possessions I own. They have to serve a purpose, make me happy, or be useful. Since I became a minimalist, I have paid off $100,000 in debt. I started another business and doubled the gross income of the business I have now. I started a book and a blog. I lost 50lbs and reduced, sold, or donated over 75% of my possessions.

That is what I mean when I say I’m a minimalist. I do things with great intention and value. But people still sometimes don’t get it. So I thought I would use a visual example and a story. Because who isn’t visual and who doesn’t love a good story.

This was my living room after the Christmas decor was put away at the end of 2024. I was so excited to clean, organize and put away my decor that I did it on Christmas day. Only I still wasn’t happy with my living room. Which is where I spend majority of our time at home. It’s because of the couch that goes down the center of the room. We bought it two years before and the dogs and intermittent visitors sit on it. It was meant to create seating for our two college age daughters to sit with us. Only they are busy and when they are home they are in their rooms. So the couch wasn’t useful it was in the way.

Here is where minimalism by intentional living comes into play. I sold the couch. And moved it out of the way. Now the dogs are sitting on their little beds and in their kennels. I have a wide open space. There is plenty of room for activities. (But if the need for more seating comes up, I have a recliner in our parlor we can move that’s only a third of what was there before. That’s the thing about living minimal. It’s a verb not an adjective.

The flip side is Minimalism by design would be getting rid of that dog kennel on the floor by my bigger furniture kennel. I tried to remove it. My dog, Benjie, ran through the bars. He went and sat in the spot where his kennel used to sit. I want something cleaner and more pleasing. I’m not trying to make my dogs miserable because I have a design aesthetic in mind. That’s where I’m not a minimalist by design but by purpose.