Trying Furniture Free Living

My journey toward minimalism has caused me to declutter and release quite a few things over the last 4 years. It’s a constant work in progress, but we are diligent and removing things that do not add value and working hard at simply not bringing them to our home in the first place. This has affected pretty much every room in our home, in one way or another. I like a pretty clean and simplistic aesthetic. Clean lines, symmetry, balance, neutral foundations with pops of color, etc. Our home furnishings reflect this. In our transition to Washington, DC, we were offered no-cost housing in exchange for our services. The apartment is SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than our previous spaces, but we actually love it. We’ve had to be creative with furniture choices and make sure that everything is multi-purpose, even down to our beds, which are the IKEA - Friheten Sleeper sofas. These things are great. They aren’t your typical, old-school sleepers. They are actually pretty comfortable and have great storage. Like, if you’re considering a sleeper sofa for any reason,  I would absolutely recommend these! They are stain resistant, look great and can seat quite a few guests if you go with the sectional option like we did. 

By making furniture choices like these. We have managed create a pretty open space, despite lack of square footage. But lately, I’ve been looking at the ways that we might open up even more space. 

Now… this paragraph is going to seem like a deviation, but keep reading! I promise it’s related to the rest of this post.  When I was about 8 years old, I was thrown off of a galloping horse. I was sore for while, but didn’t seem to have any broken bones. From that point until now, I have had these random periods of time when my back was in spasm for an extended period of time. I always chalked it up to having slept wrong (what does that even mean?)  or moved too suddenly. As I have increased in age, the spasms have gotten less frequent and normally less extensive. Fast forward to 2020, after few weeks of stress from pandemic responses to tech clients, I found myself relegated to the bed. Everything hurt, down to my finger tips and toes. I could barely walk and I had a constant headache. My doctor finally sent me for imaging and it turned out that some of my disks were herniated and some other things I don’t remember. They recommended physical therapy, but because of pandemic, it would be a while before I could get scheduled. Armed with a diagnosis, I began to research on my own some things I could on my own.  One of those things I found was to go barefoot more and to switch to barefoot shoes. Turns out that ideas of arch support and supper cushioned shoes aren’t actually the best thing for our bodies. As I read more and learned more, I made the change and within a week or so, I could feel and see the change in drastic ways! After nearly 6 weeks of being relegated to bed, my pain began to subside and my body was strengthened just by changing my footwear and putting my body in  more natural positioning. I’ve been wearing barefoot shoes and taking every opportunity to be barefoot since. 

 A couple of weeks ago, after a month of  travel, I noticed a familiar pain creeping in. I had been sleeping in hotel and guest beds that were too soft and my body and spine were crying about it. I knew I could adjust for it by returning to my firmer sleep arrangement and with time hoped it would ease. Meanwhile my sister was given a rough diagnosis around her back that would require surgery. As I listened to her doctor explain what was happening with her, I recognized part of the report. It was almost identical to what mine had been two years ago, but progressively worse to the point that surgery is considered her only option. I thought back to my own mother who has lived with chronic back pain and her sister who has had back surgery and I realized that what we are dealing with is very possibly a hereditary issue. So, I began looking at other ways, beyond the shoes, that could slow, reverse or minimize the “nature” of my back.

Photo from Around the World

 As I researched, I stumbled across a video that talked about how sitting and sleeping on the floor is so much better than the softest of couches, memory foam, etc. At first, I was skeptical, but the more I read, the more it made sense. My mind went back to how walking on a firmer/flatter shoe or no shoes at all, allowed my body to naturally respond to the surface it was walking on. My posture has improved and my core has been strengthened tremendously. When I have attempted a “cuter,” or more conventional shoe, I can immediately tell how much I’m been destabilized. The articles I read and videos I watched pointed to Japanese cultures and others where it is more traditional to sit and sleep on the floor. Having traveled to some of those places, I was reminded of seeing elderly people squatting or kneeling for long periods of time, without chairs,  to eat or to chat and that sleeping on the floor or very thin mats on hard platforms is the norm. The more I researched the more I found to support the idea of spending as much time on the floor as possible. It encourages movement and builds muscle strength and so much more. Apparently, #furniturefreeliving has its own growing community on IG! Who knew?!

SOOOOOO…. all that to say that, after speaking with my husband, we agreed that we would give it a try. I began by transforming my work space which also happens to be our dining area. We’ve been trying it out for a week now and it’s been absolutely wonderful. All the items you see in the photo were thrifted or bought second hand and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Our next step is to transform our living room space which doubles as our sleeping space. I will be sure to document that transformation and share the process. 

This decision isn’t one I consider to be tied directly to minimalism. I absolutely believe that furniture can and does exist in minimalist homes. For us, this is about making the conscious decision to make sure that our home is completely healthy for our family. And yes… don’t worry, when visitors come, will still have a chair or two around for them to sit on if they choose. Although, we hope our other spaces will be inviting enough for them to give it a try. 

What are your thoughts? Could you live completely or mostly #furniturefree?