Compliments of hebedesign via Flickr

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” [Hans Hoffman].

Recently MSNBC has begun a “Back to Basics” series outlining a material conservatism paralleling the fiscal conservatism that we currently see in our economy. Websites such as “Cult of Less,” blogs like Leo Babauta’s mnmlist, and posts on his Zen Habits blog point to a movement underway, a pendulum shift from the more is better mentality that led in part to the financial crisis in which we’re now embroiled. A parallel to this shift in consciousness has manifested in the “tiny” movement, in small houses that are under 500 square feet built only to house what we truly need. Less space mandates by force that we reexamine what is important, as in the case of an apartment owner in HongKong, who ingeniously crafted his cramped quarters into a multifunctional living space. Despite this trend however, the nightly news reported that one in ten people rents storage. Turn the page…