Dr. O’s One Room Minimalist Living

Guess what folks! I’ve got a smashing epic New Year’s Eve post lined up for you. I’ve decided not to “Strunk” myself today (minimalism for writers) and this post hits a whopping 3,000 + words and a dizzying 14 photo spectacle. Enjoy it and I’ll see you on the other side of the New Year!

I recently caught up with a good friend of mine, actually the friend who inspired me to start my minimalist journey in the first place. Now there’s a funny phenomenon I’ve noticed about people. They love you, they’d do anything for you but the minute you ask them if you can post their name and pictures of their kitchen drawers online they start back-pedaling as fast as they can! No one wants to be exposed, whether it’s their clutter being hung out for the world to see or their non-clutter.

So today I’ve got “Dr. O” here for you. He won’t let me share his real name but he’ll let me post pictures of his neatly folded socks! People are weird and Dr. O is no exception! He’s a “non-minimalist” minimalist, someone who’s been living with “less” for over 35 years but doesn’t label himself as part of the minimalist movement. He lives effectively and gracefully in a studio apartment complete with entertaining, bedroom and office zones in one room. So join me on a fun rambler of an interview and a lot of great shots of one room living at Dr. O’s house. Let’s start with the photos then move on to the interview.

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The shot below is the same one as above, only diagramed out to highlight how he’s managed to comfortably and efficiently create all of his different living zones in one room.

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Now  here’s the bedroom zone. I was particulary taken by his ingenuity with the night stand. It’s actually a wooden file cabinet that stores all of his important papers. I love multiple uses out of furniture! Very efficient.

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Now here’s Dr. O’s office zone. It’s probably the most “clutterfull” place in his house. It serves his purposes great! What you don’t see in the photo is that there is another table just to the left against the wall. So he’s actually got what amounts to two computer desks in this space. I’m amazed!

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Now here’s the bathroom. It looks like a typical bathroom albeit a little more tidy and organized than many people keep them. What’s amazing is when I peeked in the undercabinet beneath the sink it was beautifully streamlined with only a few minimal items in it. Same for the bathtub area!

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Moving on from the bathroom we enter Dr. O’s decadently large walk in closet. How smart of the designers to create a large storage zone for a studio apartment! Dr. O still has plenty of breathing room in here including (gasp) empty spaces! I did wonder at his quantity of towels though. The man likes to stay clean!

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Here are two close-up shots of the other part of the walk-in closet that I didn’t get in the first shot. There’s a convenient shelf unit (with more empty space) and an area for his copious quantity of socks. Almost the whole second shelf is sockland!

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Moving on to the kitchen we see Dr. O’s spice rack. No not some fancy contraption with 99 spice jars on it, just the top of the stove. I asked if he had more spices hidden elsewhere and he said this was it. Hmmm, maybe Dr. O isn’t big into gourmet cooking but it sure is a tidy arrangement. Something for me to aspire to.

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Oh my god, the glorious fridge! I still tend to stockpile more food than I need to (although I’ve reduced greatly) and the site of his shelves and side shelves was awe-inspiring. Clean, stream-lined, functional. All I can say is wow, and Dr. O will you come clean out my fridge for me?

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Here’s a sneak peak into a few of his kitchen cabinets. Similar to what mine look like, very minimal with easy reach-in-and-grab capabilities. If your kitchen cabinets don’t look like this just know that you can aspire to this grande vision yourself. The pantry? Well mine never looked that minimal, probably never will but it makes me realize I’ve still got room for reducing!

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There were two kitchen drawers that had items in them (no junk drawer in sight). This is one of the drawers. I didn’t bother showing the other shot because it was a similar repeat, only filled with a few spatulas and cooking implements. Very simple, very clean.

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And now for my favorite shot of all. You know you’re a minimalist when you’ve got empty kitchen cabinets! Dr. O just couldn’t find anything to put in this cabinet so he left it blank. I know what a lovely feeling that is! Have you tried it? Give yourself the gift of one empty space anywhere in your home. It’s better than a spa treatment!

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And now for the interview…

Me: I’ve known you for close to 12 years now and I’ve never heard you call yourself a minimalist, but your home is very minimal. So two questions for you, first do you consider yourself a minimalist and second what prompts you to live a minimalist lifestyle?

Dr. O: It’s definitely not by design. I’m certainly not a minimalist by intent. It isn’t an intentional desire to live minimally. It’s more circumstance driven. Minimalism by chance? That’s a more accurate description for me. I think I’ve just never wanted to put roots down. I’ve never found the one place I call home, so I live minimally until that time arrives. But I don’t really call myself a minimalist. I would spread out if I ever felt ready to settle down. I could see having a wall lined with bookshelves and books.

Me: So you feel like your minimalism is simply because you haven’t found the place called home yet? You’re over 60 Dr. O! That’s a long time to search for “home”.

Dr. O: I haven’t lived in a house since I moved out for the first time in my teens. It’s always been apartments. The closest I got to a house was a duplex. Every place I’ve been in has never really felt like home to me.  The closest I’ve gotten was Denver. Denver almost felt like home. When I spent time in mountain communities there I really liked the environment but I couldn’t picture myself settling down there, buying a home, and living there forever.

Me: A rolling stone gathers no moss, hmm? Was there ever a time in your life when you owned more stuff? If I’d met you 30 years ago would you say you were living as minimalist as you are now? Also, was there a defining moment that changed your thinking towards living a simpler life with less possessions?

Dr. O: If you were brought up in a progressive, socially aware environment I can see how you could be 16 years old and pretty sharp. Your whole understanding of the world is based on the authority figures in your life, for most people, their parents. I grew up with an average mainstream working class American experience in the 1950′s and 1960′s. My step-father was always working 2 or 3 jobs to support such a big family (I have 6 younger brothers and sisters). I was never around adults discussing political ideas, big ideas, big issues. With this kind of upbringing you just kind of accept the general pragmatic outlook on life. It doesn’t lend itself to questioning anything. So I stumbled into things later than many people would have. In my twenties I graduated college, joined the military, went to the Vietnam war, and after getting out went to work for the IRS. All of these choices were an indication of my own “unawareness”. But it was those last two experiences, the military and working for the IRS that tapped me into awareness.

It didn’t take long at all once I was in these two institutions and exposed to the every day activities to realize I didn’t want to live that kind of life. Those two experiences removed the blinders from my eyes and caused me to look around a little more. Then the world really opened up for me. That’s when my world started broadening. I was 30 before that process began. I became much more freeform after my divorce and leaving the IRS. I started going inside of myself and exploring what “I” thought about stuff instead of what other people told me to think. I started living guided by my own instincts.

Me: So before your watershed moment of change you lived with more possessions?

Dr. O: When I got out of the Air Force, before working for the IRS I moved from Florida to Denver with a u-haul trailer. The level of knowledge and awareness I had was different so I had more possessions. I had a wife and I took a sales job that I hated for three months and then I worked for the IRS. Then my beliefs, my awareness, my attitude, my knowledge changed. After my watershed moment I’ve never moved with more than what fit in my car. When I moved from Denver to Washington D.C. everything fit in my car. When I moved from Washington D.C. to Nevada everything fit in my car. When I came here (Florida) from Nevada everything fit in my car. I’ve never even considered having a u-haul trailer since that first move over 30 years ago.

Me: So for you when you move, you only take the necessities?

Dr. O: Everywhere I go seems to have all the other stuff waiting for me. When I moved into this apartment, everything except the nightstand and my computer set-up was here, the couches, the bed, the coffee table were left by the previous renter. The same when I lived at Sand Cove, we moved in and everything was furnished already. It’s convenient that way.

Me: Going back to something you said in the beginning of this interview, you said you’re not minimalist by design and that if you ever settled down you would have more. You mentioned you would have bookshelves and books if you were ready to settle down. Now I’ve known you for many years and you always have a handful of books around, usually under 6 books, but they change, they’re different books. This is why I think you’re a minimalist. Many people would get a bookshelf for their books and start collecting now. You apparently switch through the books regularly and give them away when you’re done! So if you’re only an accidental minimalist why don’t you have more books now? Why do you give them away when you’re done reading them?

Dr. O: Because I move and I don’t want to move books around with me. If I felt like I was going to “live” someplace I would accumulate more stuff.

Me (Being Snarky): But in 15 years you’ve only moved 4 times, and each of those 4 times was in the same county.

Dr. O: Yeah but I never had plans on staying in Florida for 15 years. That just kind of happened. I’m still planning on leaving. Besides I only buy books when I can’t find them at the library. Then when I’m done reading them I want to pass them on to other people who will learn from them as well. Since they’re harder to find books I’m sharing knowledge with friends that is harder to come by. It’s unusual for me to buy books. Right now I have these three because the library system didn’t have them.

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Me: One of the most amazing things for me about your home is the complete absence of decorative elements. Is there a reason you don’t have anything decorative at all?

Dr. O: That’s probably a sign of settling in. When I lived in Sand Cove there were 2 pictures on the wall. You don’t remember them? They were very subdued, kind of beachy. They count as decorative elements.

Me: But you didn’t like them enough to bring them with you when you moved?

Dr. O: I didn’t buy them in the first place! They came with the apartment so I left them up. Then when I moved I left them along with the other furniture for the next tenant. I didn’t really like them all that much. They were o.k. but I didn’t like them enough to move them.

Me: I can only dream of being as practical as you. I keep things minimal now but I like to have a few splashes of decorations around. So here’s my big question for you. If you could have any piece of art up in your home what would it be?

Dr. O: This may sound kind of sick. When I was living in Las Vegas years ago I dated a woman who was a therapist. She’d talk about her job some without revealing any client details, just the kinds of problems they’d come to her with. One day I said, “If I were going into counseling you know what I’d put on the wall? There’s a famous photo by Nick Ut that won a Pulitzer Prize during the Vietnam era. It’s a young girl running naked down a street after being doused with napalm. When a client came in I’d say tell me what your problems are compared to the problems of that little girl.”

Me: So that’s the picture you’d want on your wall?

Dr. O: No. That would be too heavy. But it would keep my own fucking issues in check. It would be a daily reminder to myself, “Are you really gong to complain about what’s going on in your life? No I don’t think so.” If you think you’ve got problems try to keep a little perspective, that’s what that photo would say.

Me: So you’ve mentioned some art you had up in Sand Cove and also the Vietnam photo. They are two examples of things you wouldn’t put up on your wall. What would you put up?

Dr. O: Evidently What I’ve got! If something appeared on the wall I’d leave it there but it doesn’t mean I would put it there on purpose. I like paintings, photography, art, museums but I can’t remember ever buying anything to put on a wall. I think I might have had a few posters up at sometime, maybe back in college. I’d rather experience the world than see the same art on my walls every day.

Me: Good outlook! I agree with that. I often get tired of looking at the same pieces too. My solutions is switching them out. Yours is to never put them up in the first place! Now, here’s one more reason why I think you’re a minimalist even though you’re not sure of the title. When I looked in your cupboards I only saw 1 plate and 1 bowl. One plate living is a classic minimalist maneuver. How long as a “non-minimalist” minimalist have you been 1 plate living?

Dr. O: Almost 4 years now, but I’ve recently added a new addition to my kitchen, a low pasta bowl. You may not have seen it as you scavenged through my cupboards for photos. I bought it for a special purpose. I like to make a veggie burger and pour some soup around it. With a deep bowl the burger is at the bottom and it gets covered in the soup. In the pasta bowl it’s more convenient, less digging and you see that nice little mound so you know where the burger is sitting. It’s all about presentation. This was frustrating me and I realized I wanted a low bowl, I wanted that combination, so as you can see I’m not really a minimalist, not with that pasta bowl.

Me: Yeah. 1 plate and 2 bowls throws you right out of the minimalist camp! I’ll have to retitle the interview “Interview with an Average Over-Consumer”.

(This is where the interview loses it’s flow entirely. Enter Patrick into the picture as Dr. O pulls out his low pasta bowl.)

Patrick: That’s a terrible bowl! How can you call that functional?

Me to Dr. O: Patrick has a weird thing about wanting bowls with deep sides. I have to search for deep bowls when I need to buy some or he’ll refuse to eat out of them.

Dr. O to Patrick: This is a perfect bowl, how can you call it non-functional? I bet it holds as much as any bowl you’ve got.

Patrick: Not without sloshing over!

Dear readers, I’ll spare you the messy details. The “boys” went on a long tirade for a while about different bowl shapes with each side fighting for either deep walled bowls or low walled bowls. They even had a contest where they measured the water levels that each bowl would hold. The end result? They both agree that the southwest flavor sunshine burger is the best veggie burger on the market… though they can’t agree on the bowls.