Tag: get rid of

I don’t know if it’s because last year was such a whirlwind of a year or I’m just sick of 90% of what I own, BUT I had the itch to do a full blown rigorous purge of EVERYTHING I own – starting with MY CLOSET.

BUT FIRST, LET’S TAKE A TOUR

So, the majority of my clothing is kept in a shared closet with my boyfriend attached to our bedroom. Surprisingly enough, sharing a closet with him isn’t too bad. He actually owns more clothes than I do! 

My little section consists of two rods. The top rod holds my short sleeve tops & tanks while the bottom half holds my long sleeve shirts & sweaters. All the clothing is organized in color order. But as you can see in the photos, my color palette is rather neutral with a few essential shades. I no longer have the urge to own every color of the rainbow when some just do NOT do me justice.

 On the shelf between the two sections, I keep hoodies. But we don’t need to showcase those as they are so incredibly frumpy but a necessity. 

Now, I COULD store all my clothing in this one particular area & be fine, BUT we have an empty spare room upstairs with an unused closet. So, naturally since I had the option, I was going to claim my territory.

*Chef’s Kiss* to the organization of this closet because even I impress myself sometimes. All the white bins are from Target. I knew I wanted tall containers for the top shelf because it’s a rather high & awkward space. The goal was to make the most use out of this shelf & I think I nailed it. In these containers, I store winter/ski gear in one & Christmas/ holiday shirts & accessories in the other. I don’t reach for these items that often so this was the perfect spot.

On the next shelf down, I have this wicker basket (also from Target) that holds winter hats, gloves, clutches, belts & other random accessories. And if you are wondering where my purses are, I usually store one next to this basket while others are hanging about my room.

So, I consider this closet to be for my formal wear & dress coats. The hanging cubby is a lifesaver for this space. Ideally I would love a wall shelf of shoes one day BUT we are still manifesting that. I store one pair of shoes (mostly) in each slot. The majority are heels (2 pairs of nude) & (3 pairs of black) as well as a few pairs of sandals. The floor of the closet (which isn’t shown) holds a few other pairs of boots & my memory boxes.

I’m a sucker for a good dress coat. These are all “investment” pieces that I’ve had for years. They are classics that won’t necessarily go out of style. In terms of my dresses, I tend to go through these quite a bit. Although I maintain an “outfit repeater” mentality, sometimes dresses are a one & done item. But I do still own a few classics I’ve owned for years. The one red dress in particular, I’ve had since I was 18!

TIME TO LET GO

Like I said, with this round of decluttering, I was going to be BRUTAL! I managed to get rid of 4 bags full of items (in the first round) – from ill fitting tops, worn out items, unused accessories, out of style pieces & even new but regretful purchases.

As a minimalist, you would think at some point the decluttering couldn’t be this intense. But I’ve only been on this journey for not quite 5 years & the beginning phase was slow. It hasn’t been since recently, I’ve developed the mindset of being more ok with letting things go. In a lot of ways, I’m still learning.

Along with this notion, all last year I did a low buy where I only purchased necessity items for the most part. So, it’s been a while since I’ve went on a shopping splurge & truly treated myself. I felt like I needed a fresh start & to allow myself to purchase a few replacements.

I would say, the biggest realization to a proper declutter was going through the items in multiple stages. Although the first round went well, I told myself to go through everything again…and again. After about 3 look throughs, I was satisfied with what was left.

You Might Be Interested In: I Want To Declutter, But Where Do I Start?

I HATE DRESSERS

Keeping dresser drawers organized is LITERALLY impossible. I’d much rather have everything in a walk in closet & ditch a dresser all together. The reason is because I hoard the most random items. I guess I consider it hidden away once a drawer is closed. This time, I was going to go HAM on my dresser & truly be real with myself. Here are a few before & after shots.

I managed to get rid of quite a few items out of my dresser drawers including worn out college t-shirts, free t-shirts from random events, socks with holes in them, & a few pairs of shorts & jeans that weren’t flattering anymore.

I plan to continue this journey throughout all aspects of my life including sentimental items, bathroom / hair essentials & social media to name a few. If you are interested in me making a post on any of the mentioned categories please let me know in the comments.

-B