Project: Simplify - Week 1

(sorry for my long hiatus, sadly not overly surprising for any regular readers. But I've had some stuff going on.)

So a friend, somehow or other, introduced me to a blog called Chatting at the Sky. and I've gotten hooked on her. Of course, I added her to my google reader right away. Last week I was reading the post I linked above about decluttering and this other person's book and their current challenge/project thing on that blog. So I went to check it out. I'm always game for a new challenge and external accountability and validation.

Hotspot #1 was to clean out your wardrobe. Closet and drawers. Well, I've been intending to clean out my spare room/office closet for awhile because I want to rearrange this room and get rid of a few of those things and put a few "out" things inside the closet. But the bedroom closet, I thought "I can do that!" I am not a "clothes horse" or a designer girl so I don't have a ridiculous amount of clothes nor very much that I don't wear. So I thought A) this'll be easy and B) it'll be something I get a quick reward on!

So I grabbed the half started bag of clothes to give away and set it in my bedroom. I cleared off my hope chest to have a surface to use if I needed it. And I dug in.

• I took the folding chairs out and put them next to the closet they rightfully belong in. Which is currently a tad overfull of other things so I couldn't put them away right away.
• I poked through my shelf of sweaters and tossed the 3-4 that I have disliked intensely for quite awhile but I keep because they fit.
• I went through all my hanging shirts and pulled out 3-4 that I also have not liked for quite awhile and one blazer type jacket that hasn't fit in like 5 years!
• I pulled my laundry baskets out to get them out of the way.
• I looked at the tote of sheets and realized I'd kind of prefer to have them in a drawer so they are more easily accessible.
• So I started checking through my drawers. I realized almost immediately that 2 of the 10 drawers in my two dressers are NEARLY EMPTY!! 3 small clothing items in each. AND one of them held the pajama pants I have been missing for MONTHS. duh!
• Cleaned out my drawer of nonsense, i.e. pantyhose I rarely wear, the slip I have because every woman ought to own a slip etc. Put them in a different drawer that made more sense.
• Cleaned out my "workout clothes" drawer.
• Moved my dress pants up a drawer and then moved my jeans up a drawer.
• Pulled she tote o' sheets out of the closet and put them into a drawer. And then put the tote into the office, out of my bedroom.
• Then I started on the upper shelf of the closet.
• I have a set of painting clothes, so I put them away in a drawer. but I took the ridiculous pajamas I haven't worn in almost 3 years that I was storing in the bottom of the bag with the paint clothes into the give away pile.
• Re-gathered my travel toiletry kit thing together.
• Pulled the box of old checks down and put it into the spare room where those things "ought" to be, in my mind.
• Pulled the box of Lia Sophia jewelry boxes and catalogs down. Got a bigger box because they were overflowing and reorganized that, as well as put the catalogs into the office "where those things belong."
• Pulled out the box for my bluetooth and cell phone I got over a year ago! and threw them away, but then realized I'd read a tip about putting stuff like that together in a ziploc bag to be stored elsewhere, so I did that and tossed the boxes and plastic molds.
• I grabbed my bag of cosmetics bags and re tidied that and put it into the hope chest with the rest of my travel-type bags.
• then I put my laundry baskets back.
• tossed all my house shoes/slippers into the empty space at the bottom of the closet, I think I'm going to get a basket or something for them.
• Lastly I reversed all my hangers. I'd read a tip quite awhile ago that if you're not really sure what you wear and don't wear, to reverse all the hangers in your closet (hang them from the inside, backwards), as you wear items put the hanger back the normal way, then after 3 months or whatever time you set, anything on a hanger that hasn't been turned gets tossed. I'm pretty sure everything in there is going to get worn in the next 3 months because WI is moving from winter into spring and shortly into summer. But we'll see.

My photos have been uploaded to Flickr and I am feeling pretty great about my wardrobe cleaning out. Although I did realize as I was writing that I did not go through my pajama drawer to check for items to be donated. And I also realized that some of the items in my donation bag may not be quite so appropriate for homeless people. Like the silky pajamas? or bras? Or that blazer I mentioned. So I think I'm going to go through that bag tomorrow and pull those items out and take them to the YWCA instead.

Now my office/spare room is a disaster. But I have a fair idea where I wish things were, AND I got rid of a giant bookcase I didn't want anymore that was occupying space in here. Plus my students are donating the clothes this week so I can get rid of mine as well as the extra bags I have been storing for them. I can start to adjust sometime later this week. It was a good project!!