Becoming Minimal-ish

This is totally not my living room - it's the "ideal" minimalist living room

Over the past two or three years I’ve been taking a meandering minimalist journey through life. I have been decluttering my house; purging items I don’t feel bring value or beauty or have necessity in my home.
I’ve taken carloads of excess household items and clothes to the second hand store for someone else to enjoy.

I have challenged my husband and daughters to purge 100 items each on a weekend– and we succeeded.

And yet it seems like we still have a lot of stuff. Like a LOT of stuff. My kids have a ton of toys they only sometimes play with. I have a TON of stuff hanging around “just in case” I need them someday.
Even though my journey is still a work in progress, and I know that I have a long way to go, I think I need to set myself some rules to help guide me on the path to being a minimal-isht.
I follow a few famous minimalists (Leo Baubata, Courtenay Carver) who inspire me to live with less, and as much as I appreciate their guiding principles, it is hard sometimes to rationalize the idea of actually having empty rooms and empty shelves when the kids keep filling them up with toys and crafts. It’s going to require a bigger philosophical shift than I have taken so far.
I know that I am never going to be a true minimalist, but I think if I can guide my rules with a minimal-ish tilt, I may be successful. I’m still working on the minimal-ish rules, more on those tomorrow.