Video

Congratulations on your new home! It's beautiful!

Hi Sarah! Your home is beautiful!! I love the white walls. Alot has happened since I talked to you. My son discovered my house has a lot of damage. Termites and some structural damage. It would be cheaper to build a new one instead of fixing this one. So...in the process of building. Hoping to move in at the end of October. It's a tiny house..14x24. It's so cute. Walls will be white and bright. Only having a small chair instead of a couch. Taking my bed and a bookcase and cabinet. Of course appliances. I am going to live in it to see how I want to decorate it. I only know so far family photos. I have boxes and boxes for the flea market. My kids and grandkids are building it. It is a labor of love. And I help too. So excited! The Scotland trip is on hold for now. But we will eventually get there.

Hi! As a minimalist parent, I use things like wall maps and photos in frames to teach my baby and toddler about the world Very frequently. If you get a continents map as described, this will be very helpful. When choosing a design, more detail (countries and cities) equal more opportunities to use the map for reference. Also, having photos of yourselves before kids can be a favorite for them as well. It is helpful to me to have photos of my favorite family members and ancestors so that I can tell stories about them and help my kids call their family members correctly by name. You can accomplish this with a homemade book, so you don't have to have their faces on the wall necessarily. Keep in mind screens aren't recommended for under 2 years old, so digital frames are out for us currently. Our home has 2 fireplaces and a nook above the stairs, and I use these for photos in frames because I don't like to commit to having certain things out all the time or deal with having to spackle and repaint nail holes. Keep in mind that you won't have the time or energy to change your decor during the first year, so don't plan on any seasonal rotation until your child is more independent. I feel like it's good for your mental health to have some current photos as well as old ones that help remind you of the things that were most significant to you in the past. Having a baby can be hard on you physically and emotionally, so anything that makes you feel good about yourself works. There was some mouse study where they found that mice who didn't have babies were repulsed by them, but mice with kids enjoyed the baby mouse photos. So if you don't like that kind of decor right now, that's natural and doesn't mean you'll always feel that way. Don't beat yourself up over it. I would say leave the centerpiece of photos in your home open for those baby photos. 100% buy a professional baby photo shoot. I've had it with and without, and I kick myself every day for not having booked ahead professional photos of my second child. I will never get that opportunity back. Keep in mind that you will not be able to visist a hair salon with a newborn baby, so either book a place that does your hair and makeup and gives you a dress to wear for the day (great for us minimalists), or be prepared to diy it. You will likely take thousands of photos of your children, so it is helpful to have a back up system in place and have a lot of free memory when you're about to give birth. Montessori recommends having "good art" especially great works of art in frames at toddler level in children's rooms, featuring bright colors and subjects such as nature, animals, and happy children. I personally never did this, but if you have such works in your photo collection, you can fasten those to a nursery wall. Waldorf recommends more muted colors and less stimulation. It's more minimal and encourages the child to find creativity in a more blank environment. If you do art at child level, use like a bamboo or wood/fabric type mount and not glass. Babies like to be hands-on with all the photos, so keep that in mind when choosing the frame. I am so happy for you two; best of luck with your dreams of having children. I think you'll love it, as we do!

This is aspirational. I want to do it similarly when we move into our house in the future. All the people say that the space will clutter up and that basements and attics will automatically fill up. But I don't agree. You can leave spaces empty and calm.

My husband has an incredible online archive for photos with over 13,000 photos from our weekly trips! 🏞️📸 We love capturing our favorite moments, and to keep them close, we use a digital frame in our bedroom that showcases our top picks. We also have a gallery wall in which we print and rotate our favorite shots every year to reflect our newest adventures. It's such a fun way to celebrate our memories and keep our home filled with the stories we love but without cluttering the house since we also moved recently and we want to continue to keep it clutter free. Hope this inspires you to find new ways to cherish your own photos!

Hi Sarah and congratulations on your home!!! 🥳 I am also currently going through the process of renovating and decorating a new home right now and it was so helpful to see your video. It gives me more hope and confidence that we can “get through it” and come out with our sanity intact. 🤪 I love how you broke down the intentionality behind everything-thanks so much for this video!

So nice to hear from you, everything looks great.

Congrats on the new home! How about choosing just 3 photos of your travels with Jake and put those in beautiful frames and then rotate to 3 different photos once every season or every year. Or find a designated space like a hallway where you put a lot of your favorite photos, like a gallery wall. But then in the living room or other designated spaces put up the child pictures (or leave space for them right now untill you have children).

For the photos dilemma, we've used electronic picture frames for a few family members, and they've all loved them. You can set how long a picture will display, as well as pick what pictures to rotate. For those who have hundreds of photos, it feels like nothing is "left out." Perhaps amid your wall of absolutely favorites, you could have an electronic picture frame that rotates through the "runner ups"? And when rotating pictures feels overwhelming, you can turn the screen off, or set it to one photo!

Sarah, I love that blue rug. I think it fits the space really well. I practically live in my loft. Congratulations on your new home! :)

Such a nice home, congratulations! As for photos, the idea of a travel wall is excellent. Personally, i would put it on the wall in the dining area so they are on display. As for family, same, have a family wall. Decide what family members and how many and then swap them out as time moves on. Id also do travel photo, no people in them tho, in your office space. Nice memories for you both during your working hours.

I enjoyed this long-awaited video and look forward to the official home tour! I like all your choices, such as keeping all white walls, going big with area rugs, and getting a king-sized bed. The organization solutions, especially the bins in the pantry and the small storage boxes are perfect too! I guess my only questions would be how/where you store larger items like your Christmas tree and seasonal decor and what your window coverings will be.

Hi Sarah! You mentioned having a mortgage. Do you intend to pay off your home quickly? Your home is lovely :-)

This pantry looks amazing! I love your home ❤

Enjoy your new home together! We’re moving house later this month, so thank you for your tips and insight. A digital photo frame could include many of your photos without overwhelming your walls. And you could hang just some in frames.

So happy for you! You did a great Job there and it looks very inviting and open! For your Q and A: If you would live somewhere else outside the US - where would it be? And I‘d love to see Jake and you together talking about how this move and all the change of being a houseowner is ❤

Thanks for sharing your home. I have white bins in the pantry as I love white. Bins make it so easy to categorise items neatly. The floorboards look so nice with white walls. ❤ I think with the photos you could have an area with the photos you and Jake have taken. Future family ones could be in another area. You could have them in the same colour picture frames. youture child comes. I recommend Ashlynne Eaton videos and Alison Mcphail for ideas❤

I agree with another comment that a photo frame would be a good idea to display photos.❤

I'm thrilled for you both, the house is beautiful. And I really like your furniture choices. We also moved into a new build last year. It's almost painful to drive those nails into virgin walls. You might use 3m picture hangers where you can. You can always switch out photos for the walls seasonally or year to year, just keep printing them the same size and switch them out for the same frames.

I love the sunroom but I would want to look out the windows so maybe a swivel chair or two.

Beautiful home!🏡

Thanks for sharing, Sarah! Congrats on your new home, it looks great! I love white walls because it makes rooms brighter & you don’t have to worry about things matching it. The universal floors throughout is such a clean look.

Everything looks amazing! Where did you get those big kiwi birds? I have seen small ones at Crate and Barrel…. Enjoy the process and you are smart to take your time!

Stunning home Sarah!!! I am so happy for you and Jake:) Congratulations🎉

Your house is awesome Sweetie, love how you have decorated it. With the travel pics, I think I would choose a nice wall and make a gallery wall with them. Take your time choosing art and pick art that you really enjoy. Don't forget mirrors, these are awesome at bouncing light and making areas look brighter. Enjoy your new home Sarah, it looks beautiful!!! You decorate like me!!! 🤩

You've build yourselves such a lovely and calm home. Stunning!

Beautiful home….blessings for many years 😊❤️

Yeah a video from Sarah. Sarah, Jake and your home is absolutely beautiful. We love the layout, the colors and your choice of furniture. Sarah most of the pictures we have on our walls are of nature and they're from our favorite place which is Hocking Hills/Logan, Ohio. Some favorite spots are Ash Cave, Rose Lake, Ceder Falls, The Rock House and Old Man's Cave. Try to pick your most favorite pictures of your travels. ❤❤❤❤

We use our TV as a big digital photo frame, and just have a slide show playing. We also have a handful of photos framed throughout our house.

Tip from my support worker - keep a small supply of paint that matches the white of your walls so that every time it gets marks on it, you can paint over them without having to wait until you get as far as going out and buying the paint.

I'm so happy for you & Jake! It's so lovely 😍

Nice job on your home so far. I'm interested to hear what advice you're provided on hanging pictures. 😊

So exciting to see your new home. Congratulations!

Looks great but yikes to the carpet under the table. Kinda asking for stains.

Hi Sarah. Lovely to see you and your new space. Looks like you're settling in, being intentional and strategic. You have a mature, smart, considered approach that I like about you. Balancing buying items to live in your new place while making extra principal mortgage payments. To answer your query, I like clear empty walls. Digital frames seem like a good idea. Photos on walls or surfaces can become stagnant somehow to me like frozen in time rather than showing the flow and changing times of life.

Your new home is looking good! You’re wise to take your time with decor. You may want to put the photos from your travels I. A gallery on your bedroom wall. That’s your history as a couple. Save the hall or main room walls for your future family photos as you move forward.

Congratulations and thanks for the tour! The good news is that photos are not permanent. You can take them out of frames later and add new ones. It might be nice to put travel photos in the living room to enjoy and family photos later going up the stairway like you see in some homes.

Regarding family photos in my home: I prefer not to have family photos in public areas. We have a fairly large home so photos are hung on the wall in the den and primary bedroom. Most of the photos of grandchildren are in photo books.

Your house looks great!! I love that you chose the same floors throughout the house, that makes such a huge difference, and I also love the big rugs. And I agree about white walls, they get too much hate. I only have white walls (except in the bedroom where I like a little bit darker and calmer vibes), I really like how fresh and clean it makes the space feel. Good luck in your new home! 🫶 Looking forward to following along and seeing how it evolves.

What about a digital picture frame? I think you can buy one that is wall mounted or surface standing. I think there are some that allow you to load numerous photos and will create almost like a "slide show".♥️🇨🇦

Some of these "little" things are actually big things, in my book. 😊

Thanks Sarah❤

Great points! I left the teaching profession because the workload never diminished and I was struggling to spend time with my daughter, who was 6 at the time. The tradeoff for having subsequent jobs with set start and end times was lower pay but that was worth it to me.

Thank you Sarah. Some helpful tips. ❤

☮️🌎🌲

❤A lot of these are things I’m currently working on. I love standing more. So much more healthy and energizing than sitting.

Dear Abundantly Minimal I hope you are well. Your recent videos look great but aren't reaching your target audience. No matter how good your video is, without proper SEO, keyword research, and correct titles, descriptions, and tags, you won't stand out from your competitors. This results in losing views, which is a big challenge for your channel. Fixing these issues will help you gain more viewers and subscribers, leading to higher rankings on CZcams, all organically. If you'd like, we can discuss your channel further and provide a report highlighting the issues with your channel. I believe this will be helpful for you. Thank you!