Letting Go

Look at all that junk. Who needs that many clothes? I decided a few weeks ago that I don't, I can't - this many belongings were more trouble than they were worth. Luckily my husband jumped on board and went through what felt like hoarded items.

We let go of clothes that fit funny, things that needed mending that we wouldn't get around to because we didn't love that item, pieces that had fallen fate to dryer shrinkage, spit up, olive oil, paint, wear. Clothing we didn't wear last season and the ones before that.

I found that letting go of things that I felt didn't look great on me were the hardest part. The items where cute, and somewhat costly, but I knew I would never wear them. What was the cost of a overstuffed closet? I couldn't see my options because all of them were so tightly packed in a more than adequate closet space. Strangely enough once we let all of these things go I felt like I had more. I felt like there was a concentration of better options looking back at me when getting ready for a party last Saturday. It was easier to get dressed, and has been since me and my dirty laundry parted ways.

We held on to our bests, and let go of the worsts in order to make room for more bests. More necessary items, a few classic pieces, we wont likely go back to bulging closet. We will choose carefully. Quality over quantity. Buy things we really love, versus a dress that's on sale or a thrifted shirt for D because it costs three dollars.

These first two photos are some mobile uploads I took when spring cleaning almost a year ago. Needless to say I wasn't ready to really let go until this past week. I stress that you have to be in the right mood to take on a project like this, or you will end up with more of the same. I really focused myself and let any alliance that I had to stuff fall. I set a goal to get rid of 75% of my clothing and I think I hit pretty close to that. David went through his belongings too, and our closet is noticeably lighter now.

This is what things started looking like when we pulled everything out. I offered up some dresses on Facebook and then divided the clothes in to two piles: one is going to Platos Closet (what they pick over will go to Cilies) and pile two went straight to the Habitat Restore.

I hope to be able to sell a good bit of of the first lot. I normally don't sell my clothes, but because I am parting with so many nice items I wanted to be able to reinvest what I make on a few key pieces.
 
David helped me raise the shelving in the closet by purchasing two 1x4 at Lowes. The original carpenter of this closet set the shelf too close to the hanging bar and it was incredibly cumbersome to access the hangers. I'm learning that nothing has to be permanent- through closing up doors, opening up new ones, rearranging furniture, and redesigning our laundry room to open up more space, although that project will come later next year.

I'm loving my new "wooden" storage basket below. I originally purchased it (at TJ Maxx) to store Singer's toys that get out of hand in the living room, but once I got it home I realized it wasn't quite sturdy enough for soon to be toddler play. It currently houses my sweaters.

I've called in another basket (50% off at Hobby Lobby) that may or may not work perfectly under the new bed.  I'll give you guys another peak once I finish everything up since the bedroom and closet are still in a very transitional phase.

Our (somewhat of a) guest room was taken over by clothing:

The big plaid bag below on the left is full of Plato's Closet hopefuls, to be dropped off tomorrow. After I filled the bag up I went back through the closet and picked about 30 more items to donate/sell. I proudly filled up two huge black trash bags in addition to the plaid bag.

Right now my spring/summer clothes are in the blue Tupperware box that you see above. I'm looking for better storage, such as more baskets and sturdy boxes that will fit on the top shelf of the closet. That guy is far too big to fit, so I'm calling in reinforcements.

I think I'll retire the Tupperware to its intended home, the garage. Backyard games could fill it up nicely. We worked on cleaning out the junk in there last weekend and now we are pondering the best way to organize what's left. Just like I'm doing in every other room of our abode. I've become immersed in getting rid of things like never before. Less to tie us down, I don't want it. What I do want is a home that flows nicely, where we can raise a slew of children. Before we outgrow it, or I go mad, because everything has to have a place.

We're also working on new storage for lingerie, comfy pants, and t shirts. I'm donating my beside table/chest of drawers to Singer. This piece will fit nicely in her room. (You can view it in the first picture posted on this blog.) It was given to me by my mother for high school graduation, and has a cheerful bouquet of flowers painted across its drawers. As soon as the new bed gets set up this week it will become her new changing table. Her toy chest will have to be moved to the attic, or possibly used as winter storage for her papa's side of the closet.

We've been using a playyard/changing table in our room for the last 8 months, and with the addition of a larger bed its time for this staple to be folded up and used later.

With the loss of a bedside table that has substantial storage I might be forced to part with even more clothing items, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

We've had a proud little one in the house for about a month. In addition to standing she has enjoyed opening and closing cabinets. This past week she grew her world even more and began to climb in the cabinets. In order to be sure she didn't run in to any trouble I've set limits. She has free range of the Tupperware cabinet and I turned the board game storage in to her new toy storage. The cabinets still need to be rebilt, or given some simple updates, but this transition will get us to that point and help us understand what will work best for our lifestyle when the time comes to tackle them.

The first load of giveaways:

I've still got a lot of work to do, but I feel like I'm making good progress towards something simple and manageable. Next on the list, cleaning out our bathroom again. Each year I go through expiration dates and clean out beauty products that I no longer use. Over the last ten years I've switched to an incredibly simple regiment that I'll go over soon. The more I've let go of the lighter I feel. What have you recently let go?