With a nod to the holiday song (and Oprah Winfrey) I’d like to suggest identifying your favorite things as one year turns to another. As a minimalist, I savor good design and I’d like to think that is reflected in the objects I purchase. One of the principles I try to practice when purchasing new things is thinking in terms of a final solution, so that an investment in quality pays long-term dividends. 

Being willing to invest in quality goods has not necessarily come naturally to me but I am gradually learning to prioritize design aesthetics when it comes to purchasing decisions. And the more diligence we exercise in the research phase of shopping the more satisfied we are likely to be with our selections. 

An unanticipated upside of the minimalist lifestyle for Linda and I has been the pleasure of using fewer but better things. In the book I am reading along these lines author Glenn Adamson writes expertly in Fewer, Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects about the aesthetics of quality objects and the attention that goes into creating them. 

“The reason we have too many unsatisfying objects in our lives is that we don’t care enough about any single one of them,” suggests Adamson. One of the ironies of living large with less is that the fewer things we own the more we appreciate the favorites that we possess. And the more we are willing to invest in the few objects that we choose to purchase.