closet clean-up, phase two

Guess what arrived yesterday?

Hangers! Beautiful, wood hangers! Who knew this would make me so excited?

(Oh, and the big cardboard box made the little people around here happy.)

I have slowly been working on sorting through the photos, papers, and other memories that also get stored in our closet. Again, I don't think I'm much of a packrat (if you have to keep saying it, does it mean you really are??) but I did come across crazy things in those boxes like cards from Dylan's baby showers and stacks and stacks of duplicate photos.

I ended up keeping four boxes - one of special photos for Dylan, one for Ella, one for Mady (which are now stored in each of their closets) and one for Matt and my assorted memories (extra engagement photos, Matt's high school photos, etc.) I am a scrapbooker so there wasn't a big need for me to hold onto a lot of this stuff since it's already in a scrapbook somewhere.

 

(Sorry folks, those awesome shots of Matt and I in our fall sweaters circa 2002 are long gone now.)

Matt got into the spirit of things and went through his closet as well. His giveaway pile:

Another shot of my closet before (our closets are separate but have exactly the same layout, just on opposite sides):

A couple bags of trash, a couple items relocated to the basement, and here is the finished product:

 

I added some polka dot bins from Target, reused the photo boxes from other spots in my house and obviously invested in the new hangers (I did end up getting the hangers on sale for about 60 cents a piece which is less than the $1 or so they would usually run you). We cut the number of hangers in our house almost in half and I'm hoping this will help us stay on track in the future - if we run out of hangers it means we have too many clothes.

As an added bonus the smaller white boxes the hangers came in have already been re-purposed to hold the kid's professional photos (that's an organizational project for another day) and all of our baby books and calendars (yes, I am that mom). The boxes line up nicely along the bottom side cubby in each of our closets. I love it when it all comes together.

I also have plenty of room for my high school and college memorabilia (one box each), our wedding albums, and a large square box for each kid to save special artwork, papers, etc. PLUS, there is still empty space...I could store more things in here eventually or just enjoy my uncluttered shelves.

And Matt's de-cluttered closet:

I don't know about you but waking up to a clutter-free closet starts my day off on the right foot. I don't spend a lot of time in my room during the day but it is still important to me that it's picked up and looks nice (until a year or two ago I was not a bed maker and now I do it almost religiously every morning as soon as I get up along with opening all of the blinds).

Next up: kids' craft supply storage. This drives me bonkers in our house because we don't have a good system which makes clean-up hard. Hoping to find something kid-friendly and inexpensive and a system that will transfer well to the basement when we eventually finish that space. Wish me luck!

[Note: My cousin Kristin posted her closet re-do here.]

closet clean-up, phase one

I got a little crazy last night.

10:45pm on a Friday night. Matt was out with the boys. I was talking on-line with some friends about my previous blog post - Project 333.

Before I knew it, I had emptied the contents of my closet onto our bed.

I haven't decided if I am going to go as extreme as the Project 333 people, but I did decide to only put back the items that I loved, served a purpose, and fit really well.

I also cleared out my four drawers in the dresser and my one drawer in our built-in along with sorting through my shoes that are spread throughout the house.

I'm partway through the process and I would say so far I have only put back about half of the items.

I still have a stack of items that need to be tried on - I think that will help make the final decision on those. I have one bag of trash, one pile in the hall of things-i-found-in-my-closet-that-don't-belong-there (weirdest thing I found: knitting needles), and one really big pile of items to donate, sell or give away (see below).

Matt came home at midnight and looked at me like I was slightly crazy, but then handed me a couple items from his closet that he no longer wanted.

Items that were easy to part with:

• Anything with holes and stains
• Nylons. Seriously. Does anyone still wear those?
• Old Navy flip flops that have served their $2.50 purpose well.

Items that were harder to part with:

• Ann Taylor dresses I got a fabulous deal on before Dylan was even toddling around (I think I paid about $10 each for them). I tried them on, and they are beautiful dresses but don't quite fit the same and I don't have anywhere to wear them. Hoping they will make someone else out there happy.
• A couple of shirts that still have their tags on them. In a moment of honest, I realized that if they have been hanging in my closet for 2+ years and I haven't worn them yet, I probably never will.
• Skirts. I want to be a skirt person because they look so cute on other people but something about my body shape means I will really never be a skirt person. Letting that dream go now...

Happy things:

• A dress Matt got me from H&M last summer actually fits now and looks cute (thank you, workout challenge). Tuck that one away for the 10-year anniversary trip later this year.
• Got rid of three giant bulky hooded sweatshirts that were hogging precious closet real estate. They seem comfortable at first glance but the bulkiness and hoods on them actually drive me nuts (I have a thing with my neck...also in the giveaway pile, a couple of turtlenecks). Holding on to three zip-up sweatshirts that make me much happier - these are the ones I always reach for anyway.
• Consolidating my pants drawer down to just a few items - a pair of Big Star bootleg jeans (paid more for these then I ever have for a pair of jeans in my life but I wear them all the time), a pair of skinny jeans that I love, a pair of black leggings, a pair of work-in-the-yard jeans. That's it. So simple. (I am hoping to add one more pair of jeans to this collection once I get the chance to go shopping along...probably something straight-leg and dressier).

This morning it was quite a revelation to get dressed. I knew everything in there were things that I liked and that I had worn recently. No flipping past things wondering if I would (or should) be wearing that.

Phase two consists of buying new hangers, possibly adding some cute storage accessories (it's a girl's closet after all), and sorting through some photo/keepsake items.

(I do store a few boxes of those things in there...old photos, negatives and the kids keepsakes, artwork, etc. It works for me because I can put those things on the highest shelves and know they are safe from little hands and the humidity that lives in the basement).

By the way, I think this counts towards resolution #9: Surround myself with less stuff. Simplify.

I'm trying to create more space in my life - literally and figuratively - to make room for all the important stuff that usually gets pushed to the sides. Phase two post coming soon.

Project 333

I saw this link posted on a friend's Facebook page the other day and it caught my eye. It's called Project 333 and it was started by a girl last year who wondered if she could edit down her wardrobe to only 33 items for a 3 month period of time. Her guidelines: 

• When: January 1 – March 31, 2011 (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)
• What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear and shoes.
• What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring or another sentimental piece of jewelry that you never take off, underwear, sleep wear, in-home lounge wear,  and workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)
• How: Choose your 33 items, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of site.
• What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. Remember that this is not a project in suffering. If your clothes don’t fit or are in poor condition, replace them.

It's an interesting thought, isn't it?

It made me stop. And think. And then I decided I didn't really want to think too hard about it because then I would have to think about all the zillions of items clogging my own dresser and closet. I am not a hoarder by any means but there is definitely room for improvement in that area. 

Condensing your wardrobe to 33 items at first sounds interesting and challenging but also a little painful and, well, just hard. 

I think it's interesting to read how this girl found out that the project actually improved her life. Her reasons:

1. I am ready on time.
2. I don’t shop for clothes. 

3. I look better.
4. I am meeting really cool, like minded people.
5. I am maintaining a healthy weight.  

6. I have more time.
7. I have more money. 

What do you think? Does the thought of that make you excited? 

Scared?

Relieved?

We get used to living with so much as Americans - we are surrounded by choices everywhere, to the point that it can actually cause us stress. 

And how many times do you push back something in your closet because it's too big, too small, doesn't match anything else, etc.? Are you like me and only wear two pairs of jeans but own 6-8 pairs? Do you tend to wear your favorite clothes day in and day out and ignore the rest? Does the site of your overflowing closet ever make you a little crazy?

Doesn't seem like so much of a leap any more does it?

I think back to my three pregnancies and my maternity wardrobe and while it was somewhat limited, I also remember there being something freeing about it. I didn't wonder what pair of jeans to wear, what coat, what sweater, what swimsuit...because I had one or at most two of each of those items. Amazing.

I hesitate to ask this question...but who's in??