Q&A Decluttering I Minimalism I Simple Living

Welcome to my first ever Q&A video. If you're new here, my name is Benita and I share videos about simple living, life in Sweden and in the past I've also made quite a few videos about decluttering and minimalism. I try to reply to every single comment I get in the comment section, but I thought it would be fun to see what questions you have that aren't directly related to a video. I asked on Instagram and there were personal questions, questions about pets, DIY, minimalism, decluttering, skincare and surprisingly many about how I create my videos. Let's hop right in with some questions relating to minimalism and decluttering. How do you reason with yourself to want less stuff? When I see something I like in a shop I always ask myself 1. Do I have something similar already? 2. Do I really need it? I often put things in my basket to carry around, and that allows my brain to mull those questions over. By the time I'm ready to leave the store, I've 99% of the time come to the conclusion that I don't need it or have something like it already and can put it back on the shelf. You don't need to buy things every time you enter a store, it's fun to just browse and window shop too. How do I persuade my husband to become a minimalist? If he doesn't show interest you probably can't persuade him. You can lead by example though and show him the results and benefits you achieve from minimizing your belongings. Him seeing the spaces that you've decluttered, how good they look, and how easily he can now see and find things in there can give him the nudge to start. Chances are he'll get inspired if you let it take some time. How can I be minimalist while living with other people, husband and son? I was married for 20 years and my ex-husband was very into his stuff so we compromised. I decluttered my stuff, he kept his, but he let me organize it in a way I could live with. I suggest explaining to your family why you feel the need to minimize. Tell them the reasons why it's important to you, that it stresses you out, that cleaning takes unnecessarily long because of clutter, and that you'd rather spend that time doing fun things with them. When you let them know why you need this, they'll most likely be more open to helping out than if you just complain about all the stuff. What's the best advice for getting rid of things and decluttering? Where to start when your home needs to be decluttered? The best advice I have is to just start somewhere. Avoid looking at your entire home and be completely overwhelmed before you've even started. Begin with something easy like your sock drawer or junk drawer. Spaces where there are inevitably things that can be decluttered without emotional attachment. Socks with holes. Pens that don't work. Instructions to appliances you no longer own. After those easy wins you'll have gained some momentum and can tackle another drawer, a cabinet, and you're on your way. How do you get rid of things that were expensive but you don't want anymore? I say donate to a charity that can make good money from them and feel great about that rather than feeling guilty about what you once spent. Out of sight, out of mind works for me. When I'm no longer reminded about the item by keeping it in my closet or cabinet, I forget about it and move on. Is your online course still available? I no longer offer the decluttering course. Were you always so minimal and how do you stay? At what age did you become minimalistic? When in life, how and why did you find minimalism and a simpler life? I've always had minimalistic tendencies but in my married life we had a lot of stuff as you tend to when you're in the accumulation phase of life with first home, family etc. When my ex-husband and I split up 15 years ago I pared down a lot but I would say 10 years ago is probably when I really started thinking more about a simpler life with less stuff. Do you keep anything from when your son was little? My kids are 7-11 and I don't want to keep everything. When my son was young I kept a lot for him. I did cull the millions of drawings he did along the way but I kept a lot of things. When he was in his teens we did a couple of major declutters of that stuff. We sat on our damn patio over fika and went through box by box and he said yay or nay as I held each piece up. I stored what he decided to keep until he had a big enough storage space so he could take over. What's the object your mind wants to declutter but your heart won't let you? This ties in to the previous question. Just like I saved a lot of memorabilia for my son I created way too many photo albums. I wish I would've done a couple at the most but there are 8 of them. They're heavy, they take up a lot of space and we very rarely look through them. I'm keeping them until Wille expresses an interest in taking them on but I wish I hadn't been as diligent with them as I was. Do you have any systems or tips regarding staying organized with kids? Small kids is so long ago for me but I highly recommend Delilah of Lupke's Life here on YouTube and Kelsey of my Simply Simple on Instagram. They have small children and share inspiring content on this topic. I'll link to them in the description box. Ok, moving on to some other topics and more personal questions. What are your family culture views on marriage and starting a family? I'm super liberal and think everyone should do what works for them. Get married, great. Not get married, great. Have kids, great. Not have kids, great. Have kids and not be married, that's great too. Whatever works for you. Do you celebrate your birthdays? If yes, how? I don't like the attention so I don't celebrate much. Perhaps dinner with my son or fika with a friend but that's the extent of it. What's your favorite Christmas tradition slash dish? How do you celebrate Christmas with your family? I'm not big on Christmas food. I enjoy the pickled herring, the salmon, the potatoes and the sour cream but that's pretty much it. We usually have a pretty quiet and simple Christmas Eve exchanging gifts and watching a movie by the tree. What do you carry slash pack in your crossbody when going out for the day as a minimalist? You probably refer to this bag and here's what's in it when I carry it. I currently don't carry a bag at all. I got this jacket recently and the pockets are huge so I just keep a few things in there and love the freedom. Favorite ever purchases? This statue is definitely a favorite. I got it at auction about a year ago for very little money. No one else bid on it and I love it so much. The size is great and it's so unusual. Favorite TV show? Friends and Downton Abbey. Do you like to read? What books are you reading? I don't read many physical books because it strains my eyes too much but I constantly listen to audiobooks. Almost exclusively crime novels like Nordic Noir. Can you recommend any simple slash slow living books? I really enjoy these by Natalie Walton. What candles do you burn? Do you make sure it's cotton wick and not paraffin? I only burn unscented candles and I do make sure they're stearin or beeswax and not paraffin. Do you like knitting? I'm pretty decent at a lot of crafts but knitting and for that matter crocheting are not for me. What are the most important things to you in your life at this stage in your life? Spending time with a few good friends and family is the most important. What did you study at uni? What profession did you learn? I love that you assume that I've studied something. I started my creative career as an interior design intern at the marketing department at the birthplace of IKEA of Sweden back in 1985. I stayed on for three years and based on that I then went on to work for other brands as a visual merchandiser and later on with e-commerce and social media. Aside from the internship at IKEA I don't have much formal education. I did study ethnology at the university for a while but that was only to get my foot in at the Nordic Museum where I wanted to work on exhibits and later did. How are you so peaceful? I'd love to know how you deal with anxiety. I don't suffer much from anxiety luckily. I do get a day here and there where I get stressed out or worry about work but other than that I feel quite calm. I have made it a priority to lead as simple a life as I can though. I don't take on more than I can handle and I don't put a lot on my calendar. I do recommend decluttering as it can relieve stress and anxiety. When there's lots of clutter and stuff lying around and when it doesn't have a proper place it can be a source of anxiety. Clutter makes it hard to relax because there's visually and mentally so much going on around you constantly. Do you budget or plan your monthly expenses? How? I don't. I get paid for my own business on the 25th every month and on that day I have some automatic transfers from my personal account to a couple of savings accounts. I pay my bills and whatever is left over is what I have for the rest of the month. Do you use any frameworks or journals to plan your year? What digital tools do you use to organize your life? The two main digital tools I use are Google and Trello. I use Gmail, Google Tasks and Google Calendar for communication and general planning. I'll share a bit more about Trello a bit later in the video. Do you use Marie Kondo methods of organizing, particularly folding clothes? I don't do the whole KonMari thing but I do sometimes file fold clothes. I don't personally have a lot of folded clothes and can easily see and know what I have without file folding. When I help others declutter and organize their closets I do share how to file fold and it's been really helpful for them because they can better see what they have. Any tips for consistency and discipline? How do you create a life around that? I wish Nike hadn't claimed just do it because that's pretty much my motto. If there's something that needs doing I just do it even if I don't really feel like it. Doing my least favorite tasks first to get them out of the way also works for me. Prepping for the next day is also helpful for me. When things are set up there's less of a barrier than if you have to start from scratch in the morning. Cleaning routine. Do you just do things as and when or do you have set days slash day for chores? I have a video where I share how my cleaning routines have recently changed and I'll link it below. What products do you use for cleaning your home? I get this question a lot so I wrote a blog post a while ago with all the details. I'll link that as well in the description box. Ok, on to some pet related questions. How are you doing? Missing the kitties? Do you think you will get another kitty one day? Do you plan to adopt another cat? It's been a year now since my cat Bonus passed away at 19 and almost 3 since Minnie passed at 17. They were the sweetest companions for almost 20 years and I love them so much but I don't miss having full time pets and won't be getting any. Having pets is a huge commitment with cats up to 20 years and it's not something you should take lightly. I'm not someone who can pass my pets on to a random pet sitter or cattery while I do other things so I felt a bit tied down. I'm very happy to look after my grand dog Saga now and again and it's the perfect arrangement for me. What's the sweetest thing about your grand dog? Does it know any tricks? Saga is such a goofball which I love. She's also so velvety soft and those eyes are just the cutest and I'm surprised at how open she is to learning new things. How are the Italian lessons going? Plans of travelling to Italy? I took a break learning Italian over the summer house season but I'm back at it again. No firm plans to travel to Italy but it's on my list. When are you coming to Sydney, Australia? No plans to travel to Australia but one day I might. Such a long flight though. Where was your favourite holiday? It wasn't really a holiday but I did spend time in the south of France studying French on several occasions when I was younger and I loved it there. If you could choose to live in any city of your choice where would it be? Earlier in life I did dream about moving to France but nowadays I'm very happy here in Stockholm. I wouldn't mind an extended stay in Aix-en-Provence in France again though. Where does your sense of style come from? Aesthetic autodidact? Family background? I was adopted and my adoptive parents and I had very different tastes but when I got to know my half siblings a few years ago it turned out that my big sister and I share a lot of common ground in terms of aesthetics. Also apparently our birth mother was really tidy and organized so I think I got that part from her. How did you find your personal style slash uniform and were able to stop buying into trends? At this point in my life I just don't have much interest in trends. I know what's what in style and fashion but I don't have the energy to dress trendily if that makes sense. For me it's about being comfortable and for it to be easy to get dressed in the morning so I go for comfy classics that I can wear for a long time. How did you find the one style for you, especially for living? I love your interior style, how do you think it has changed and evolved over time? The style I currently have at home started to come about when I worked as a visual merchandiser. I was constantly surrounded by colors, swatches, samples etc and when I came home needed somewhere to rest my eyes and my brain so I went more and more monochromatic in my home because it's calming and relaxing. In younger years our home was more colorful and more cluttered but that's family life. When I divorced and my ex-husband took all his stuff with him I could start making all the design decisions myself and here I am. You draw from Scandi designs in your interior. What other country styles do you appreciate? I do enjoy Scandi and Nordic design which is probably ingrained in me but I've also always been really inspired by shaker style. It's minimal, functional and beautiful. What are your tips, ideas and goals you keep in mind when you're decorating? The questions you ask yourself before deciding a setup. The goal I have when I design a space for me is for it to be calm and comfortable. I make sure that all the furniture pieces I bring in will be used in some way. I don't like stuff that's just there for styling, it has to have some sort of function or purpose too. For that reason I avoid little occasional tables with random decor on and books that are just props and not something I'll read or reference. It doesn't all have to be 100% functional or practical, it can be a thing of beauty too but I try to keep decor to a minimum. This cabinet, please tell us more. I love your cabinet, did you buy it like this or did you change it? I used this image in the Instagram post when I asked for questions. It's the cabinet in my entryway where I keep my shoes. The base is an Ikea kids cabinet and I gave it a little makeover. I shared the process in a video so I'll link that below. Would love to know what kitchen type things you use and would recommend. Aside from the built-ins in my kitchen I don't really have many small appliances so not much there to share. Again I made a video about how I organize the kitchen and in it you can see what I use. I tend to not keep stuff that doesn't work for me or appeal to me so what you see I recommend on some level, either function-wise or aesthetically. Do you like or maybe even own Lithuanian design objects? I have a feeling this is a question from someone who already knows that I love my Lithuanian rocking desk chair from Moista and wants me to show it off. And I certainly don't mind doing that. I love this chair. I've had it for years at this point and also have a couple of them at the house. They're the best desk chairs in my opinion because you get some movement into a day at the computer. Dream furniture? I've been wrecking my brain to answer this question but I don't think I have any dream pieces of furniture. I like the look of a lot but not to the point where I'm dying to get my hands on them. Dream furniture to find second hand for the summer house? This one is easier to answer. I'm actually actively looking for a three seater carlanda sofa from Ikea. It's no longer in production but it would be a great sofa for the living room at the house and I'd get a linen look loose fit cover for it from BEMS. Favorite product at Ikea? I like to get core pieces from Ikea and currently have an Ikea bed and an Ikea kitchen. Back in the day I had what was then the Expedit shelving unit but is now the Kallax I believe. It was great for my son's room and I later also used it in my living room slash home office. And on that note, a few questions about Sweden and Stockholm. Do people in Sweden use SAD lights in the winter months because of the darkness, the night's daylight situation? What month of the year is the most difficult to get through when living in Stockholm? To be honest I don't hear much about people using those lights but this time of year it is really dark and we only get a little over six hours of daylight. Daylight doesn't mean sunshine though so those six hours can still feel pretty grey and dark. It did turn the other day though so little by little, day by day, from now on it will get lighter but January is probably the gloomiest of months with the festive season being over and still not much daylight. I made a video on this topic a while ago so I'll link it in the description box if you wanna watch. What are the price differences in Sweden compared to the US? I haven't been to the US in a long time so I'll let anyone who has more intel share that in the comment section. What's the best neighbourhood to stay in when visiting Stockholm? If you're only here for a few days I'd stay at Norrmalm or in Gamla Stan. Basically as central as you can in the city that way it's super easy to get around. What museum would you suggest to visit in Stockholm? My number one tip is the open air museum Skansen. The Nordic museum also has a great exhibit about Nordic life which I highly recommend. Do you get along with your neighbours? I do. We don't interact that much but 95% of them are friendly and nice. Are there any updates slash changes you're planning for your city home in 2026? Do you plan to renovate any room in your home soon? I don't have any plans to renovate or update my city apartment because it doesn't need it. There are a few little tweaks that I want to make but nothing major and I'm actually tempted to move. I love doing all the projects at the summer house and when I'm in the city over the winter months I feel a little bit understimulated. I'd love to find a place that's perhaps a bit run down and renovate it. I'm mentally prepared to move but perhaps not financially. The housing market is currently very shaky here so we'll see but watch this space. How did you learn to do all that work on the summer house? I have a video that answers this question so I'll link that for you. What did you craft or build for yourself when you first discovered your handy passion? At our first apartment in the late 80s my ex-husband and I built in some bookshelves and later at our first house we made so many built-ins and pieces of furniture. Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure. Do you have any crafty or carpentry YouTube channels you would recommend? I currently really enjoy DIY Wife. Okay, moving on. I got quite a few questions about video creation. Do you still enjoy making videos so much? Filming process. All the behind the scenes, the work involved and how do you manage to edit? How did you learn to edit video and what program slash app do you use? Please show us how you create, plan and execute your videos. How do you film and edit your videos? I do still really enjoy making these videos for you. I started my channel about 7 years ago with no filming or editing experience. My tools back then were the camera I already had for taking photos and iMovie which comes with a Mac computer. I pretty much just googled how to film and edit video and watched a ton of tutorials here on YouTube. Now I have a camera that's better suited for video and I edit in Adobe Premiere Pro. You can totally get by using your iPhone for filming though. I actually stopped bringing my camera with me a couple of years ago when I'm out and about so any footage that's not in my apartment or at the house is shot on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I've collected the gear I use on my Amazon storefront and I'll link to that list in the description box. I mentioned Trello earlier in the video and I used the free version of that digital tool to plan, script and organize my video ideas. There are so many steps in making a video, working with brands on deadlines, adding information in description boxes etc etc and Trello has worked so well for me. I make cards with the video ideas and when I decide something is ripe for a video I move it into a different section and keep working on it there. I write my script, add my checklist, template, thumbnail image etc and after the video has been published I move the card to the done section and hop on to the next. Before I start actually filming anything I write a shot list. It's basically just the shots I want to include in the video so I don't forget. I do the bulk part of filming over a couple of days depending on what type of video it is. Since I don't talk to the camera I need lots of footage to make a cohesive video. I try to shoot a few angles for each segment and that does mean that I will do the same motion several times because I only use one camera. When I have all the footage I need I upload everything to my Mac computer, organize clips that belong together for segments into files and then upload all those into Premiere Pro where I edit. If you want to start making videos, if I could do it, you can too. There's so much information here on YouTube and I still look up tutorials when I need to learn how to do something specific in Premiere Pro. Where can I get XYZ? I got some specific requests for sources and I replied to those questions individually but can I just remind you about my website? I've collected as many sources as I can there and I've tried to update along the way. I do have the Amazon storefront too that I just mentioned. I know that a lot of people don't like when Amazon is shared as a source but with the amount of questions I get with requests for sources it's the only way I can keep up by quickly adding something I get asked about. When you click on some of the items it might say they're not currently available but I still left them in there so you can see what they are and find another source. Some of the sources I list are only similar to the items I actually own. I mostly shop in local stores that aren't online or don't ship abroad so I've tried to find items so you can get the look if that's what you're after. And lastly, I also got a lot of questions about skincare, beauty etc and this video is already very long so I'll save all that for a separate video in January. Stay tuned! Thanks so much for watching! I'll see you in the next one! God jul!